Saturday, June 13, 2009


“Next, you must secure, as you go, your own education. One man cannot educate another man. Every man must educate himself. The school gives him a chance; books give him a chance; teachers facilitate and help; but, after all, the man is the schoolmaster as well as scholar. He is both pupil and teacher.
Many men are said to be self-taught. No man was ever taught in any other way. Do you suppose a man is a bucket to be hung on the well of knowledge and pumped full? Man is a creature that learns by the exertion of his own faculties. There are aids to learning, of various kinds; but no matter how many of these aids a man may be surrounded by, after all, the learning is that which he himself acquires. And whether he is in college or out of college, in school or out of school, every man must educate himself. And in our times and our community every man has the means of doing it."


This is such a pertinent issue as I have grandchildren just entering High School. I may be somewhat partial, but I think all my Grandchildren are very bright, but without the above application, it will be no advantage.

H.W. Beecher - Photo from the Internet




3 comments:

Mel said...

That is the secret. How many lessons have I learned the hard way in my life that I've tried to teach to my children and/or friends, to spare them the same pain and discomfort I went through, only to have them repeat the exact same mistakes (or worse) and endure the same kind of pain (or worse). But how do you motivate someone to want to learn? Or read? Or do anything else for that matter? It's a stumping problem. But one that definitely bears meditating upon and praying for insight into.

You've done it again, Fred. My brain is munching on the food you've provided for it. :)

Joseph Pulikotil said...

Hi Fred:)

You can take a horse to the water but you can't make it drink.

A friend of mine spent quite a lot of his earnings to put him through a college education. But the boy stayed at home on some pretext or the other and did not attend the classes. In the end the boy did not even write his exams. The father was not told of this. When the father ultimately came to know about this, he was overcome with remorse and anguish. He worked so hard and made many sacrifices to save money and pay the college fees. Every thing was wasted. The boy of course lost three years of his life pretending to study.

Have a wonderful day Fred:)
Joseph

FCB said...

Now you've got my brain munching :)
This surely is a universal problem with children, and adults. I began with so little that I found the pain of going without a handy motivater. I won't launch into a long thought now but I will try and did up some practical helps.
God bless,
Fred



Hi Joseph,
That is a dismal story about your friend, and not all that rare I suspect. I'm looking to you to come up with some answers to this dilemma. Let's work on it my friend,
Fred