--- title: "1 Examined life Quotes By Richard Mitchell" description: "1 Examined life quotes by Richard Mitchell. Plus more from Richard Mitchell and more Examined life sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6db/richard-mitchell-18161_acquire_rousseau-had-it-backwards-we-are-not-bor_2569058.jpg" --- > [Rousseau had it backwards. We are NOT born free. We are born in the chains of the random and the reflexive, and are ignorant and unreasonable by simple nature. We must learn to be free, to organize the random and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-mitchell/rousseau-had-it-backwards-we-are-not-born-free-we-are-born-in-the/) [Richard Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-mitchell/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6db/richard-mitchell-18161_acquire_rousseau-had-it-backwards-we-are-not-bor_2569058.jpg) ## More by Richard Mitchell > [“That's how ideas and the institutions they generate come to be in the first place. It is in strings of words that we make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-mitchell/that-s-how-ideas-and-the-institutions-they-generate-come-to-be-in-the/) [Richard Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-mitchell/) > [Some minds, at some point, discover that they can not make sense of their own predications without attention to grammar, although they do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-mitchell/some-minds-at-some-point-discover-that-they-can-not-make-sense-of/) [Richard Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-mitchell/) > [His jargon conceals, from him, but not from us, the deep, empty hole in his mind. He uses technological language as a substitute for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-mitchell/his-jargon-conceals-from-him-but-not-from-us-the-deep-empty-hole-in/) [Richard Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-mitchell/) > [Here is a truth that most teachers will not tell you, even if they know it: Good training is a continual friend and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-mitchell/here-is-a-truth-that-most-teachers-will-not-tell-you-even-if-they/) [Richard Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-mitchell/) > [A mind can be overthrown by words; that's the point. What is happening to the brain of a person who uses the passive, who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-mitchell/a-mind-can-be-overthrown-by-words-that-s-the-point-what-is-happening/) [Richard Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-mitchell/) > [Training is a good dog, a constant companion and an utterly loyal and devoted friend, and everyone should have one. Education is a nagging…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-mitchell/training-is-a-good-dog-a-constant-companion-and-an-utterly-loyal-and/) [Richard Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-mitchell/) > [“Like prepositional phrases, certain structural arrangements in English are much more important than the small bones of grammar in its most technical sense. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-mitchell/like-prepositional-phrases-certain-structural-arrangements-in-english/) [Richard Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-mitchell/) > [A line runs from the meditations of the heart to the words of the mouth. The meditations are not clear to us until the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-mitchell/a-line-runs-from-the-meditations-of-the-heart-to-the-words-of-the/) [Richard Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-mitchell/) > [“His prose, like the thinking it reveals, is full of cloudy suggestions of something beyond the range of mere cognition. He has been given…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-mitchell/his-prose-like-the-thinking-it-reveals-is-full-of-cloudy-suggestions/) [Richard Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-mitchell/) > [If you cannot be the master of your language, you must be its slave. If you cannot examine your thoughts, you have no choice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-mitchell/if-you-cannot-be-the-master-of-your-language-you-must-be-its-slave-if/) [Richard Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-mitchell/) > [You can shoot the tiger, or stay out of his way, but you cannot pronounce him a vegetarian.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-mitchell/you-can-shoot-the-tiger-or-stay-out-of-his-way-but-you-cannot/) [Richard Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-mitchell/) > [People who cannot put strings of sentences together in good order cannot think. An educational system that does not teach the technology of writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-mitchell/people-who-cannot-put-strings-of-sentences-together-in-good-order/) [Richard Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-mitchell/) > [There is no other way to judge the work of a mind except through its words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-mitchell/there-is-no-other-way-to-judge-the-work-of-a-mind-except-through-its/) [Richard Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-mitchell/) > [Clear language engenders clear thought, and clear thought is the most important benefit of education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-mitchell/clear-language-engenders-clear-thought-and-clear-thought-is-the-most/) [Richard Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-mitchell/) > [Educationists are entertaining. We can always find a good laugh in their prose, with its special, ludicrous combination of ignorance and pretentiousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-mitchell/educationists-are-entertaining-we-can-always-find-a-good-laugh-in/) [Richard Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-mitchell/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/examined-life/richard-mitchell/#itemlist", "name": "1 Examined life Quotes By Richard Mitchell", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Rousseau had it backwards. We are NOT born free. We are born in the chains of the random and the reflexive, and are ignorant and unreasonable by simple nature. We must learn to be free, to organize the random and detect the reflexive, to acquire the knowledge of particulars and the powers of reason. 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