---
title: "2 Finishing Quotes By John Taylor Gatto"
description: "2 Finishing quotes by John Taylor Gatto. Plus more from John Taylor Gatto and more Finishing sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b17/john-taylor-gatto-4736_bells_by-bells-and-many-other-similar-techniqu_1832213.png"
---

> [By bells and many other similar techniques they (schools) teach that nothing is worth finishing. The gross error of this is progressive: if nothing is worth finishing then by extension nothing is worth starting either. Few children are so thick-skulled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/by-bells-and-many-other-similar-techniques-they-schools-teach-that/)

[John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b17/john-taylor-gatto-4736_bells_by-bells-and-many-other-similar-techniqu_1832213.png)

> [Children learn what they live. Put kids in a class and they will live out their lives in an invisible cage, isolated from their chance at community; interrupt kids with bells and horns all the time and they will learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/children-learn-what-they-live-put-kids-in-a-class-and-they-will-live/)

[John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afc/john-taylor-gatto-4736_association_children-learn-what-they-live-put-kids-i_2380159.png)

## Other authors on Finishing

## 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/)

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