NOVEMBER 2009

It has become somewhat of a joke amongst those who attend my regular classes (Talmud Class--Sundays at noon; Judaism 101--Mondays at 7:30 PM) that one thing you will never get from me is a simple answer. On the contrary, every question elicits another question or set of questions. Some seem to find this challenging and educating; some seem to find it frustrating. At times I am asked, is there nothing that I am sure of, about which I can deliver a simple and focused answer. 

In thinking about this, I have taken some time to examine my thoughts about teaching and education. Notwithstanding this quotation attributed to Winston Churchill, "It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations", I would like to share some of my favorite quotations about education, with the hope that they will illustrate my thoughts more articulately than I may be able to myself. None of these statements are mine; I attribute as many as possible to their authors. Interestingly enough, the more quotations I read, the more I learn that there is not necessarily agreement as to who actually said them. I guess this proves "my point"--the more you learn, the less you know!

[Education is] Man's going forward from cocksure ignorance to thoughtful uncertainty. --Kenneth G. Johnson

A succession of eye-openers each involving the repudiation of some previously held belief. --George Bernard Shaw

Education is not filling a bucket but lighting a fire. --William B. Yeats

Good teachers are those who know how little they know. Bad teachers are those who think they know more than they don't know. --
R. Verdi 

I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think. --Socrates 

Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance. --Will Durant 

Education would be so much more effective if its purpose were to ensure that by the time they leave school every boy and girl should know how much they don't know, and be imbued with a lifelong desire to know it. --Sir William Haley 

What is important is to keep learning, to enjoy challenge, and to tolerate ambiguity. In the end there are no certain answers. --
Martina Horner

It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question. --Eugene Ionesco Decouvertes

The important thing is not to stop questioning. --Albert Einstein

I respect faith, but doubt is what gets you an education. --Wilson Mizner

I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me. --Dudley Field Malone

All learning begins with the simple phrase, "I don't know." The one real object of education is to have a man in the condition of continually asking questions. --Bishop Mandell Creighton

Do not judge my intelligence by the answers I give, but instead by the questions I ask. -- Mark McGranaghan

If you have both feet planted on level ground, then the university has failed you. --Robert F. Goheen

It's a miracle if curiosity survives formal education. --Einstein

Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one. --Malcolm Forbes

Education is that which discloses to the wise [and disguises from the foolish] their lack of understanding. --Ambrose Bierce

A liberally educated person meets new ideas with curiosity and fascination. An illiberally educated person meets new ideas with fear. --James B. Stockdale 

To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge.  -- Benjamin Disraeli

The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.  
 -- Bertrand Russell

So, for those who have (or want to have) questions, I once again invite you to join our classes, if you haven't already. 

Rabbi Steven Axelman

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