I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.
Will RogersRead
Why don't they pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting anybody from learning anything? If it works as well as prohibition did, in five years Americans would be the smartest race of people on Earth.
Interpretation
The quote humorously suggests that preventing learning would paradoxically lead to greater intelligence among people.
Will Rogers uses satire to critique the absurdity of prohibiting education. He proposes that if learning were forbidden, the resultant determination of individuals to acquire knowledge would ultimately make them smarter, highlighting the value and resilience inherent in the pursuit of education despite restrictions.
In practice
During a debate on educational reform, one might use this quote to illustrate the value of learning.
I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.
People who fly into a rage always make a bad landing.
The 1928 Republican Convention opened with a prayer. If the Lord can see His way clear to bless the Republican Party the way it's been carrying on, then the rest of us ought to get it without even asking.
Let advertisers spend the same amount of money improving their product that they do on advertising and they wouldn't have to advertise it.
The man with the best job in the country is the vice-president. All he has to do is get up every morning and say, 'How is the president?'
Heroing is one of the shortest-lived professions there is.
It is essential that we enable young people to see themselves as participants in one of the most exciting eras in history, and to have a sense of purpose in relation to it.
The student is to read history actively and not passively.
Every child's taste is different. Don't worry if they're not reading 'War and Peace' at age 12. First, build a good foundation and a positive attitude about reading by letting them pick the stories they enjoy. Make friends with a bookseller or librarian. They are a wealth of information on finding books that kids enjoy.
In college, I was an education major and qualified for several jobs. But the fame that came with the Olympic medals was too threatening to many people.
I'm of a fearsome mind to throw my arms around every living librarian who crosses my path, on behalf of the souls they never knew they saved.
Not long ago, an English writer telephoned me from London, asking questions. One was "What's your alma mater?" I told him, "Books." You will never catch me with a free fifteen minutes in which I'm not studying something I feel might be able to help the black man.
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