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    American public education is a remarkable enterprise; it succeeds best where it fails. Imagine an industry that consistently fails to do what it sets out to do. a factory where this year's product is invariably sleazier than last year's but, nevertheless, better than next year's. Imagine a corporation whose executives are always spending vast sums of money on studies designed to discover just what it is they are supposed to do and then vaster sums for further studies on just how to do it. Imagine a plant devoted to the manufacture of factory seconds to be sold at a loss. Imagine a producer of vacuum cleaners that rarely work hiring whole platoons of engineers who will, in time, report that it is, in fact, true that the vacuum cleaners rarely really work, and who will, for a larger fee, be glad to find out why, if that's possible. If you discover some such outfit, don't invest in it. Unfortunately, we are all required to invest in public education.

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  13  /  26  

We believe at once in evil, we only believe in good upon reflection. Is this not sad?.

We believe at once in evil, we only believe in good upon reflection. Is this not sad?.

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  14  /  24  

A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at read more

A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.

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  11  /  11  

Scientific progress consists in the development of new concepts.

Scientific progress consists in the development of new concepts.

by Ernst Mayr Found in: Society Quotes,
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  11  /  18  

Adversity is the first path to truth. - Don Juan.

Adversity is the first path to truth. - Don Juan.

by George Gordon Byron Found in: Society Quotes,
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  12  /  10  

To our real, naked selves there is not a thing on earth or in heaven worth dying for. It is read more

To our real, naked selves there is not a thing on earth or in heaven worth dying for. It is only when we see ourselves as actors in a staged (and therefore unreal) performance that death loses its frightfulness and finality and becomes an act of make-believe and a theatrical gesture. It is one of the main tasks of a real leader to mask the grim reality of dying and killing by evoking in his followers the illusion that they are participating in a grandiose spectacle, a solemn or lighthearted dramatic performance.

by Eric Hoffer Found in: Society Quotes,
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The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat.

The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat.

by Lily Tomlin Found in: Society Quotes,
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Jefferson thought schools would produce free men: we prove him right by putting dropouts in jail.

Jefferson thought schools would produce free men: we prove him right by putting dropouts in jail.

by Benjamin R. Barber Found in: Society Quotes,
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  8  /  13  

The test of civilization is the estimate of woman. Among savages she is a slave. In the dark ages of read more

The test of civilization is the estimate of woman. Among savages she is a slave. In the dark ages of Christianity she is a toy and a sentimental goddess. With increasing moral light, and greater liberty, and more universal justice, she begins to develop as an equal human being.

by George William Curtis Found in: Society Quotes,
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If you pray hard enough, water will run uphill. How hard? Why, hard enough to make water run uphill, of read more

If you pray hard enough, water will run uphill. How hard? Why, hard enough to make water run uphill, of course!

by Robert Heinlein Found in: Society Quotes,
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