I have never known any distress that an hour's reading did not relieve.
Baron De MontesquieuRead
We receive three educations, one from our parents, one from our school-masters, and one from the world. The third contradicts all that the first two teach us.
Interpretation
We learn from our parents, teachers, and life experiences, often with conflicting lessons.
In this quote, Montesquieu emphasizes the different sources of education in our lives: parents, formal schooling, and the broader world. He suggests that while parental and educational teachings provide foundational knowledge, real-world experiences can challenge and sometimes contradict those lessons, illustrating the complex nature of learning and personal growth.
In practice
In a graduation speech to emphasize the importance of diverse learning experiences.
I have never known any distress that an hour's reading did not relieve.
Law in general is human reason, inasmuch as it governs all the inhabitants of the earth: the political and civil laws of each nation ought to be only the particular cases in which human reason is applied.
To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them.
Love of the republic in a democracy, is a love of the democracy; love of the democracy is that of equality. Love of the democracy is likewise that of frugality.
It is not the young people that degenerate; they are not spoiled till those of mature age are already sunk into corruption.
If you would be holy, instruct your children, because all the good acts they perform will be imputed to you.
Medical knowledge and technical savvy are biodegradable. The sort of medicine that was practiced in Boston or New York or Atlanta fifty years ago would be as strange to a medical student or intern today as the ceremonial dance of a !Kung San tribe would seem to a rock festival audience in Hackensack.
There are more men ennobled by study than by nature.
Fundamentally, the solution to economic insecurity is economic prosperity - an achievable goal. But for anyone who has grown up without financial security, there's a shadow that lies over even those who move towards independence: lack of financial literacy.
There should be no such thing as boring mathematics.
The most accomplished way of using books is to serve them as some people do lords; learn their titles and then brag of their acquaintance.
The progress of the world depends almost entirely upon education.
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