Authors like cats because they are such quiet, lovable, wise creatures, and cats like authors for the same reasons.
Robertson DaviesRead
The greatest gift that Oxford gives her sons is, I truly believe, a genial irreverence toward learning, and from that irreverence love may spring.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the value of a playful and questioning attitude towards learning as a pathway to genuine understanding and love for knowledge.
Robertson Davies suggests that the unique educational experience at Oxford nurtures a spirit of irreverence among its students, encouraging them to question and challenge traditional ideas. This attitude not only makes learning more enjoyable but also fosters a deeper affection for the pursuit of knowledge, highlighting the importance of curiosity and creativity in education.
Themes
EducationIrreverenceLearningCuriosityLoveKnowledge
In practice
Example use cases
During a commencement speech, to inspire graduates to embrace learning as a journey rather than a task.
More from Robertson Davies
All quotes βPessimism is a very easy way out because it is a short view of life. If you look at what is happening around us today, you can't help but feel that life is a terrible complexity of problems. But if you look back a few thousand years, you realize that we have advanced fantastically. If you take a long view, I do not see how you can be pessimistic about the future of mankind.
Robertson DaviesRead
This is one of the cruelties of the theatre of life; we all think of ourselves as stars and rarely recognize it when we are indeed mere supporting characters or even supernumeraries.
Robertson DaviesRead
Everything matters. The Universe is approximately fifteen billion years old, and I swear that in all that time, nothing has ever happened that has not mattered, has not contributed in some way to the totality.
Robertson DaviesRead
The egotist is all surface; underneath is a pulpy mess and a lot of self-doubt. But the egoist may be yielding and even deferential in things he doesn't consider important; in anything that touches his core he is remorseless.
Robertson DaviesRead
The world is full of people whose notion of a satisfactory future is, in fact, a return to the idealized past.
Robertson DaviesRead
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