I had always insisted that a good education was a synthesis of book learning and involvement in social action, that each enriched the other. I wanted my students to know that the accumulation of knowledge, while fascinating in itself, is not sufficient as long as so many people in the world have no opportunity to experience that fascination. Howard Zinn
About This Quote

In a world where every day we are bombarded with information, it is unbelievable that some people have been convinced that education is no more than a means of adding to the bank account. I am sure that had the opportunity been given to John F. Kennedy to speak with our students today, he would have said that education must be more than accumulating knowledge for its own sake, but must also include the spirit of service and social involvement in order for people to acquire the critical thinking skills needed to make informed choices.

Source: You Cant Be Neutral On A Moving Train: A Personal History Of Our Times

Some Similar Quotes
  1. We have to allow ourselves to be loved by the people who really love us, the people who really matter. Too much of the time, we are blinded by our own pursuits of people to love us, people that don't even matter, while all that... - C. Joybell C.

  2. The love of learning, the sequestered nooks, And all the sweet serenity of books - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

  3. Most of us must learn to love people and use things rather than loving things and using people. - Roy T. Bennett

  4. Before, I wanted to say: "I found love! " But now, I want to say: "I found a person. And he belongs to me and I belong to him. - C. Joybell C.

  5. Because I trust in the ever-changing climate of the heart. (At least, today I feel that way.) I think it is necessary to have many experiences for the sake of feeling something; for the sake of being challenged, and for the sake of being expressive,... - Jason Mraz

More Quotes By Howard Zinn
  1. TO BE HOPEFUL in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine...

  2. But human beings are not machines, and however powerful the pressure to conform, they sometimes are so moved by what they see as injustice that they dare to declare their independence. In that historical possibility lies hope.

  3. The willingness to undertake such action cannot be based on certainties, but on those possibilities glimpsed in a reading of history different from the customary painful recounting of human cruelties. In such a reading we can find not only war but resistance to war, not...

  4. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.

  5. Before God and high heaven, is there a law for one man which is not a law for every other man?

Related Topics