--- title: "1 Fear Children Quotes By John Holt" description: "1 Fear Children quotes by John Holt. Plus more from John Holt and more Fear Children sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59c/john-holt-14171_children_for-many-years-i-have-been-asking-myself_1202593.jpg" --- > [“For many years I have been asking myself why intelligent children act unintelligently at school. The simple answer is, "Because they're scared." I used to suspect that children's defeatism had something to do with their bad work in school, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-holt/for-many-years-i-have-been-asking-myself-why-intelligent-children-act/) [John Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-holt/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59c/john-holt-14171_children_for-many-years-i-have-been-asking-myself_1202593.jpg) ## More by John Holt > [“When children are very young, they have natural curiosities about the world and explore them, trying diligently to figure out what is real. As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-holt/when-children-are-very-young-they-have-natural-curiosities-about-the/) [John Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-holt/) > [The idea of painless, nonthreatening coercion is an illusion. Fear is the inseparable companion of coercion, and its inescapable consequence. If you think it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-holt/the-idea-of-painless-nonthreatening-coercion-is-an-illusion-fear-is/) [John Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-holt/) > [The biggest enemy to learning is the talking teacher.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-holt/the-biggest-enemy-to-learning-is-the-talking-teacher/) [John Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-holt/) > [“Fear, boredom, and resistance--they all go to make what we call stupid children.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-holt/fear-boredom-and-resistance-they-all-go-to-make-what-we-call-stupid/) [John Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-holt/) > [“Much of what we call History is the success stories of madmen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-holt/much-of-what-we-call-history-is-the-success-stories-of-madmen/) [John Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-holt/) > [Schools assume that children are not interested in learning and are not much good at it, that they will not learn unless made to,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-holt/schools-assume-that-children-are-not-interested-in-learning-and-are/) [John Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-holt/) > [“John, if you ever get a family, there’s one thing you should know. No matter how well you get along with your children when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-holt/john-if-you-ever-get-a-family-there-s-one-thing-you-should-know-no/) [John Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-holt/) > [It is hard not to feel that there must be something very wrong with much of what we do in school, if we feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-holt/it-is-hard-not-to-feel-that-there-must-be-something-very-wrong-with/) [John Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-holt/) > [“Why do they do this? Because it gives them a license to act like tyrants and to feel like saints. “Do what I tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-holt/why-do-they-do-this-because-it-gives-them-a-license-to-act-like/) [John Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-holt/) > [“We learn to do something by doing it. There is no other way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-holt/we-learn-to-do-something-by-doing-it-there-is-no-other-way/) [John Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-holt/) > [Since we can't know what knowledge will be most needed in the future, it is senseless to try to teach it in advance. Instead,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-holt/since-we-can-t-know-what-knowledge-will-be-most-needed-in-the-future/) [John Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-holt/) > [“Leaders are not, as we are often led to think, people who go along with huge crowds following them. Leaders are people who go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-holt/leaders-are-not-as-we-are-often-led-to-think-people-who-go-along-with/) [John Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-holt/) > [People should be free to find or make for themselves the kinds of educational experience they want their children to have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-holt/people-should-be-free-to-find-or-make-for-themselves-the-kinds-of/) [John Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-holt/) > [“Someone asked the other day, "Why do we go to school?" Pat, with vigor unusual in her, said, "So when we grow up we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-holt/someone-asked-the-other-day-why-do-we-go-to-school-pat-with-vigor/) [John Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-holt/) > [“I doubt very much if it is possible to teach anyone to understand anything, that is to say, to see how various parts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-holt/i-doubt-very-much-if-it-is-possible-to-teach-anyone-to-understand/) [John Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-holt/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear-children/john-holt/#itemlist", "name": "1 Fear Children Quotes By John Holt", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“For many years I have been asking myself why intelligent children act unintelligently at school. The simple answer is, \"Because they're scared.\" I used to suspect that children's defeatism had something to do with their bad work in school, but I thought I could clear it away with hearty cries of \"Onward! You can do it!\" What I now see for the first time is the mechanism by which fear destroys intelligence, the way it affects a child's whole way of looking at, thinking about, and dealing with life. So we have two problems, not one: to stop children from being afraid, and then to break them of the bad thinking habits into which their fears have driven them. What is most surprising of all is how much fear there is in school. Why is so little said about it. Perhaps most people do not recognize fear in children when they see it. They can read the grossest signs of fear; they know what the trouble is when a child clings howling to his mother; but the subtler signs of fear escaping them. It is these signs, in children's faces, voices, and gestures, in their movements and ways of working, that tell me plainly that most children in school are scared most of the time, many of them very scared. Like good soldiers, they control their fears, live with them, and adjust themselves to them. But the trouble is, and here is a vital difference between school and war, that the adjustments children make to their fears are almost wholly bad, destructive of their intelligence and capacity. 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