I am not impressed by the Ivy League establishments. Of course they graduate the best -- it's all they'll take, leaving to others the problem of educating the country. They will give you an education the way the banks will give you money -- provided you can prove to their satisfaction that you don't need it.
Interpretation
The quote criticizes elite educational institutions for being exclusive and not truly contributing to broader education.
Peter De Vries critiques Ivy League schools for their exclusivity and the way they select students, implying that they cater only to those who are already privileged and do not address the education needs of the wider population. He compares their education not to a generous offering but to a restrictive banking service, accessible only to those who can demonstrate their independence from its support.
In practice
Sharing this quote at a graduation speech to inspire critical thinking about education systems.
We must love one another, yes, yes, that's all true enough, but nothing says we have to like each other. It may be the very recognition of all men as our brothers that accounts for the sibling rivalry, and even enmity, we have toward so many of them.
There are times when parenthood seems nothing more than feeding the hand that bites you.
The universe is like a safe to which there is a combination. But the combination is locked up in the safe.
Who of us is mature enough for offspring before the offspring themselves arrive? The value of marriage is not that adults produce children but that children produce adults.
Confession is good for the soul only in the sense that a tweed coat is good for dandruff - it is a palliative rather than a remedy.
The value of marriage is not that adults produce children but that children produce adults.
As more men become more educated and women get educated, the value system has to be more enhanced and the respect for human dignity and human life is made better.
It gives me a very keen satisfaction that, after listening to my blather all those years, former students are now seeing that I wrote a book, that I did have it in me.
Books, too, begin like the week β with a day of rest in memory of their creation. The preface is their Sunday.
In the long run, your human capital is your main base of competition. Your leading indicator of where you're going to be 20 years from now is how well you're doing in your education system.
An educational foundation is only part of the equation. In order for creativity to flourish and imagination to take hold, we also need to expose our children to the arts from a very young age.
The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.
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