If you have the guts to be yourself, other people'll pay your price.
John UpdikeRead
The Founding Fathers in their wisdom decided that children were an unnatural strain on parents. So they provided jails called schools, equipped with tortures called an education.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote criticizes the education system as being punitive and unnatural for children's development.
John Updike's quote reflects a critical perspective on the education system, suggesting that the structure imposed by schools is detrimental to both children and parents. He implies that the Founding Fathers, in their wisdom, recognized the burden children could impose and attempted to control this through an institutional approach, resulting in a system that feels more like punishment than nurturing education.
Themes
EducationSchoolsChildrenParentsSystemWisdom
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about educational reform, one might quote this to emphasize the burdensome nature of traditional schooling.
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Museums and bookstores should feel, I think, like vacant lots - places where the demands on us are our own demands, where the spirit can find exercise in unsupervised play.
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The reader knows the writer better than he knows himself; but the writer's physical presence is light from a star that has moved on.
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To guarantee the individual maximum freedom within a social frame of minimal laws ensures - if not happiness - its hopeful pursuit.
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