This is what language does: organize the world into manageable, and in some sense artificial, units that can then be inhabited and manipulated.
Stanley FishRead
The purpose of a good education is to show you that there are three sides to a two-sided story.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Good education broadens your perspective by revealing multiple viewpoints in any situation.
This quote by Stanley Fish emphasizes the importance of education not only in acquiring knowledge but also in developing critical thinking skills. It suggests that a well-rounded education teaches individuals to recognize and understand various perspectives, highlighting that many issues are more complex than they initially appear. This awareness encourages open-mindedness and informed decision-making.
Themes
EducationPerspectiveCritical ThinkingUnderstanding
In practice
Example use cases
During a seminar on conflict resolution, this quote can be used to illustrate the importance of considering multiple viewpoints.
More from Stanley Fish
All quotes βLanguage is not a handmaiden to perception; it is perception; it gives shape to what would otherwise be inert and dead.
Stanley FishRead
It is of no help to us that there is an absolute truth of the matter of things because unfortunately, none of us are in a position to say definitively what that is - although we all think that we are.
Stanley FishRead
In general, higher education does not know how to speak for its interests. It offers a stance that is defensive, cowardly and likely to be ineffective.
Stanley FishRead
Opinion-sharing sessions are like junk food: they fill you up with starch and leave you feeling both sated and hungry. A sustained inquiry into the truth of a matter is an almost athletic experience; it may exhaust you, but it also improves you.
Stanley FishRead
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Governments decide they know best and they're going to tell you what to do. The trouble is that education doesn't go on in the committee rooms of our legislative buildings. It happens in classrooms and schools, and the people who do it are the teachers and the students. And if you remove their discretion, it stops working.
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By the time I got to school, I had already read a couple hundred books. I knew in the first grade that they were lying to me because I had already been exposed to other points of view. School is basically about one point of view -- the one the teacher has or the textbooks have. They don't like the idea of having different points of view, so it was a battle. Of course I would pipe up with my five-year-old voice.
Alan KayRead