--- title: "2 English class Quotes By John Taylor Gatto" description: "2 English class quotes by John Taylor Gatto. Plus more from John Taylor Gatto and more English class sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c4/john-taylor-gatto-4736_business_i-ve-noticed-a-fascinating-phenomenon-in_666159.png" --- > [“I've noticed a fascinating phenomenon in my thirty years of teaching: schools and schooling are increasingly irrelevant to the great enterprises of the planet. No one believes anymore that scientists are trained in science classes or politicians in civics classes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/i-ve-noticed-a-fascinating-phenomenon-in-my-thirty-years-of-teaching/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c4/john-taylor-gatto-4736_business_i-ve-noticed-a-fascinating-phenomenon-in_666159.png) > [I’ve noticed a fascinating phenomenon in my twenty-five years of teaching - that schools and schooling are increasingly irrelevant to the great enterprises of the planet. No one believes anymore that scientists are trained in science classes or politicians in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/i-ve-noticed-a-fascinating-phenomenon-in-my-twenty-five-years-of/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd0/john-taylor-gatto-4736_believe_i-ve-noticed-a-fascinating-phenomenon-in_1449265.jpg) ## More by John Taylor Gatto > [If you live in a material universe where acquiring things is very important to you, then family is an absolute deterrent to maintaining that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/if-you-live-in-a-material-universe-where-acquiring-things-is-very/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness - curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight simply by being more flexible about time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/we-could-encourage-the-best-qualities-of-youthfulness-curiosity/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [There isn't a right way to become educated; there are as many ways as there are fingerprints.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/there-isn-t-a-right-way-to-become-educated-there-are-as-many-ways-as/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [The truth is that schools don't really teach anything except how to obey orders. This is a great mystery to me because thousands of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/the-truth-is-that-schools-don-t-really-teach-anything-except-how-to/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [“Any economy in which the most common tasks are the shuffling of paper, the punching of buttons, and the running of mouths isn’t an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/any-economy-in-which-the-most-common-tasks-are-the-shuffling-of-paper/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [This was once a land where every sane person knew how to build a shelter, grow food, and entertain one another. Now we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/this-was-once-a-land-where-every-sane-person-knew-how-to-build-a/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [Self-knowledge is the only basis of true knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/self-knowledge-is-the-only-basis-of-true-knowledge/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [Schools were designed by Horace Mann and Barnard Sears and Harper of the University of Chicago and Thorndyke of Columbia Teachers College and some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/schools-were-designed-by-horace-mann-and-barnard-sears-and-harper-of/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [You need experience, adventure, and explorations more than you need algebra!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/you-need-experience-adventure-and-explorations-more-than-you-need/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [A lot of the strings that hold us like puppets are really inventions of our own minds. I'm not saying that there aren't armies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/a-lot-of-the-strings-that-hold-us-like-puppets-are-really-inventions/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [Is there an idea more radical in the history of the human race than turning your children over to total strangers whom you know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/is-there-an-idea-more-radical-in-the-history-of-the-human-race-than/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [School is a twelve-year jail sentence where bad habits are the only curriculum truly learned. I teach school and win awards doing it. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/school-is-a-twelve-year-jail-sentence-where-bad-habits-are-the-only/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [“Pick up a fifth-grade math or rhetoric textbook from 1850 and you’ll see that the texts were pitched then on what would today be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/pick-up-a-fifth-grade-math-or-rhetoric-textbook-from-1850-and-you-ll/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [I feel ashamed that so many of us cannot imagine a better way to do things than locking children up all day in cells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/i-feel-ashamed-that-so-many-of-us-cannot-imagine-a-better-way-to-do/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [The shocking possibility that dumb people don't exist in sufficient numbers to warrant the millions of careers devoted to tending them will seem incredible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/the-shocking-possibility-that-dumb-people-don-t-exist-in-sufficient/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-class/john-taylor-gatto/#itemlist", "name": "2 English class Quotes By John Taylor Gatto", "numberOfItems": 2, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I've noticed a fascinating phenomenon in my thirty years of teaching: schools and schooling are increasingly irrelevant to the great enterprises of the planet. No one believes anymore that scientists are trained in science classes or politicians in civics classes or poets in English classes. The truth is that schools don't really teach anything except how to obey orders. This is a great mystery to me because thousands of humane, caring people work in schools as teachers and aides and administrators, but the abstract logic of the institution overwhelms their individual contributions. Although teachers to care and do work very, very hard, the institution is psychopathic -- it has no conscience. It rings a bell and the young man in the middle of writing a poem must close his notebook and move to a different cell where he must memorize that humans and monkeys derive from a common ancestor.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Taylor Gatto" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/i-ve-noticed-a-fascinating-phenomenon-in-my-thirty-years-of-teaching/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c4/john-taylor-gatto-4736_business_i-ve-noticed-a-fascinating-phenomenon-in_666159.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c4/john-taylor-gatto-4736_business_i-ve-noticed-a-fascinating-phenomenon-in_666159.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c4/john-taylor-gatto-4736_business_i-ve-noticed-a-fascinating-phenomenon-in_666159.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I've noticed a fascinating phenomenon in my thirty years of teaching: schools and schooling are increasingly…” — John Taylor Gatto", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I’ve noticed a fascinating phenomenon in my twenty-five years of teaching - that schools and schooling are increasingly irrelevant to the great enterprises of the planet. No one believes anymore that scientists are trained in science classes or politicians in civics classes or poets in English classes. The truth is that schools don’t really teach anything except how to obey orders.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Taylor Gatto" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/i-ve-noticed-a-fascinating-phenomenon-in-my-twenty-five-years-of/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd0/john-taylor-gatto-4736_believe_i-ve-noticed-a-fascinating-phenomenon-in_1449265.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd0/john-taylor-gatto-4736_believe_i-ve-noticed-a-fascinating-phenomenon-in_1449265.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd0/john-taylor-gatto-4736_believe_i-ve-noticed-a-fascinating-phenomenon-in_1449265.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I’ve noticed a fascinating phenomenon in my twenty-five years of teaching - that schools and schooling are…” — John Taylor Gatto", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-class/john-taylor-gatto/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-class/john-taylor-gatto/", "name": "English class Quotes by John Taylor Gatto", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-class/john-taylor-gatto/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c4/john-taylor-gatto-4736_business_i-ve-noticed-a-fascinating-phenomenon-in_666159.png" }, "description": "2 English class quotes by John Taylor Gatto. Plus more from John Taylor Gatto and more English class sayings from other authors.", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-class/john-taylor-gatto/#breadcrumb" } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-class/john-taylor-gatto/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Topics", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "English Class", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-class/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "name": "John Taylor Gatto", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-class/john-taylor-gatto/" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```