--- title: "8 Teach Literature Quotes by 8 authors" description: "Browse 8 Teach Literature quotes by 8 authors. Discover the best Teach Literature sayings and thoughts." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30a/tobias-wolff-7890_be-careful_because-i-don-t-have-to-be-careful-of-pe_451156.png" --- > [Because I don't have to be careful of people's feelings when I teach literature, and I do when I'm teaching writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/because-i-don-t-have-to-be-careful-of-people-s-feelings-when-i-teach/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30a/tobias-wolff-7890_be-careful_because-i-don-t-have-to-be-careful-of-pe_451156.png) > [“I thought to myself, who is this excellent man Van Doren who being employed to teach literature, teaches just that: talks about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/i-thought-to-myself-who-is-this-excellent-man-van-doren-who-being/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a52/thomas-merton-231_books_i-thought-to-myself-who-is-this-excellen_525331.jpg) > [The high-school English teacher will be fulfilling his responsibility if he furnishes the student a guided opportunity, through the best writing of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/the-high-school-english-teacher-will-be-fulfilling-his-responsibility/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4f/flannery-o-connor-639_democracy_the-high-school-english-teacher-will-be_650413.jpg) > [I teach literature. That's easy for me. Take someone else's work and talk about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinua-achebe/i-teach-literature-that-s-easy-for-me-take-someone-else-s-work-and/) [Chinua Achebe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinua-achebe/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99d/chinua-achebe-781_books_i-teach-literature-that-s-easy-for-me-ta_1120774.png) > [Literature is breathing. I teach literature the way someone else might teach First Aid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustavo-perez-firmat/literature-is-breathing-i-teach-literature-the-way-someone-else-might/) [Gustavo Perez Firmat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustavo-perez-firmat/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ced/gustavo-perez-firmat-32432_aids_literature-is-breathing-i-teach-literatu_1197373.png) > [“I would not have majored in English and gone on to teach literature had I not been able to construct a counterargument…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-rose-o-reilley/i-would-not-have-majored-in-english-and-gone-on-to-teach-literature/) [Mary Rose O'Reilley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-rose-o-reilley/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e23/mary-rose-o-reilley-27230_able_i-would-not-have-majored-in-english-and_1863584.jpg) > [I don't teach literature from my perspective as 'Joyce Carol Oates.' I try to teach fiction from the perspective of each writer.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/i-don-t-teach-literature-from-my-perspective-as-joyce-carol-oates-i/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5da/joyce-carol-oates-344_books_i-don-t-teach-literature-from-my-perspec_2828085.png) > [Children's books aren't textbooks. Their primary purpose isn't supposed to be "Pick this up and it will teach you this." It's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling-2/children-s-books-aren-t-textbooks-their-primary-purpose-isn-t/) [J. K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling-2/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40e/j-k-rowling-2-683_book_children-s-books-aren-t-textbooks-their_2835191.jpg) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teach-literature/#itemlist", "name": "Teach Literature Quotes", "numberOfItems": 8, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Because I don't have to be careful of people's feelings when I teach literature, and I do when I'm teaching writing.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tobias Wolff" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/because-i-don-t-have-to-be-careful-of-people-s-feelings-when-i-teach/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30a/tobias-wolff-7890_be-careful_because-i-don-t-have-to-be-careful-of-pe_451156.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30a/tobias-wolff-7890_be-careful_because-i-don-t-have-to-be-careful-of-pe_451156.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30a/tobias-wolff-7890_be-careful_because-i-don-t-have-to-be-careful-of-pe_451156.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Because I don't have to be careful of people's feelings when I teach literature, and I do when I'm teaching…” — Tobias Wolff", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I thought to myself, who is this excellent man Van Doren who being employed to teach literature, teaches just that: talks about writing and about books and poems and plays: does not get off on a tangent about the biographies of the poets or novelists: does not read into their poems a lot of subjective messages which were never there? Who is this man who does not have to fake and cover up a big gulf of ignorance by teaching a lot of opinions and conjectures and useless facts that belong to some other subject? Who is this who really loves what he has to teach, and does not secretly detest all literature, and abhor poetry, while pretending to be a professor of it?...It was because of this virtual scholasticism of Mark's that he would never permit himself to fall into the naive errors of those who try to read some favorite private doctrine into every poet they like of ever nation or every age. And Mark abhorred the smug assurance with which second-rate left-wing critics find adumbrations of dialectical materialism in everyone who ever wrote from Homer and Shakespeare to whomever they happen to like in recent times. If the poet is to their fancy, then he is clearly seen to be preaching the class struggle. If they do not like him, then they are able to show that he was really a forefather of fascism. And all their literary heroes are revolutionary leaders, and all their favorite villains are capitalists and Nazis.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Merton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/i-thought-to-myself-who-is-this-excellent-man-van-doren-who-being/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a52/thomas-merton-231_books_i-thought-to-myself-who-is-this-excellen_525331.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a52/thomas-merton-231_books_i-thought-to-myself-who-is-this-excellen_525331.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a52/thomas-merton-231_books_i-thought-to-myself-who-is-this-excellen_525331.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I thought to myself, who is this excellent man Van Doren who being employed to teach literature, teaches…” — Thomas Merton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The high-school English teacher will be fulfilling his responsibility if he furnishes the student a guided opportunity, through the best writing of the past, to come, in time, to an understanding of the best writing of the present. He will teach literature, not social studies or little lessons in democracy or the customs of many lands. And if the student finds that this is not to his taste? Well, that is regrettable. Most regrettable. His taste should not be consulted; it is being formed.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Flannery O'Connor" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/the-high-school-english-teacher-will-be-fulfilling-his-responsibility/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4f/flannery-o-connor-639_democracy_the-high-school-english-teacher-will-be_650413.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4f/flannery-o-connor-639_democracy_the-high-school-english-teacher-will-be_650413.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4f/flannery-o-connor-639_democracy_the-high-school-english-teacher-will-be_650413.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The high-school English teacher will be fulfilling his responsibility if he furnishes the student a guided…” — Flannery O'Connor", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I teach literature. That's easy for me. Take someone else's work and talk about it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Chinua Achebe" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinua-achebe/i-teach-literature-that-s-easy-for-me-take-someone-else-s-work-and/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99d/chinua-achebe-781_books_i-teach-literature-that-s-easy-for-me-ta_1120774.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99d/chinua-achebe-781_books_i-teach-literature-that-s-easy-for-me-ta_1120774.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99d/chinua-achebe-781_books_i-teach-literature-that-s-easy-for-me-ta_1120774.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I teach literature. That's easy for me. Take someone else's work and talk about it.” — Chinua Achebe", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Literature is breathing. I teach literature the way someone else might teach First Aid.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gustavo Perez Firmat" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustavo-perez-firmat/literature-is-breathing-i-teach-literature-the-way-someone-else-might/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ced/gustavo-perez-firmat-32432_aids_literature-is-breathing-i-teach-literatu_1197373.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ced/gustavo-perez-firmat-32432_aids_literature-is-breathing-i-teach-literatu_1197373.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ced/gustavo-perez-firmat-32432_aids_literature-is-breathing-i-teach-literatu_1197373.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Literature is breathing. I teach literature the way someone else might teach First Aid.” — Gustavo Perez Firmat", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I would not have majored in English and gone on to teach literature had I not been able to construct a counterargument about the truthfulness of fiction; still, as writers turn away from the industrious villages of George Eliot and Thomas Hardy, I learn less and less from them that helps me to ponder my life. In time, I found myself agreeing with the course evaluations written by my testier freshman students:'All the literature we read this term was depressing.' How naive. How sane.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Rose O'Reilley" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-rose-o-reilley/i-would-not-have-majored-in-english-and-gone-on-to-teach-literature/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e23/mary-rose-o-reilley-27230_able_i-would-not-have-majored-in-english-and_1863584.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e23/mary-rose-o-reilley-27230_able_i-would-not-have-majored-in-english-and_1863584.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e23/mary-rose-o-reilley-27230_able_i-would-not-have-majored-in-english-and_1863584.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I would not have majored in English and gone on to teach literature had I not been able to construct a…” — Mary Rose O'Reilley", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I don't teach literature from my perspective as 'Joyce Carol Oates.' I try to teach fiction from the perspective of each writer. If I'm teaching a story by Hemingway, my endeavor is to present the story that Hemingway wrote in its fullest realization.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joyce Carol Oates" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/i-don-t-teach-literature-from-my-perspective-as-joyce-carol-oates-i/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5da/joyce-carol-oates-344_books_i-don-t-teach-literature-from-my-perspec_2828085.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5da/joyce-carol-oates-344_books_i-don-t-teach-literature-from-my-perspec_2828085.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5da/joyce-carol-oates-344_books_i-don-t-teach-literature-from-my-perspec_2828085.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I don't teach literature from my perspective as 'Joyce Carol Oates.' I try to teach fiction from the…” — Joyce Carol Oates", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Children's books aren't textbooks. Their primary purpose isn't supposed to be \"Pick this up and it will teach you this.\" It's not how literature should be. You probably do learn something from every book you pick up, but it might be simply how to laugh.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "J. K. Rowling" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling-2/children-s-books-aren-t-textbooks-their-primary-purpose-isn-t/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40e/j-k-rowling-2-683_book_children-s-books-aren-t-textbooks-their_2835191.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40e/j-k-rowling-2-683_book_children-s-books-aren-t-textbooks-their_2835191.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40e/j-k-rowling-2-683_book_children-s-books-aren-t-textbooks-their_2835191.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Children's books aren't textbooks. Their primary purpose isn't supposed to be \"Pick this up and it will…” — J. K. Rowling", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teach-literature/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teach-literature/", "name": "Teach Literature Quotes", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teach-literature/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30a/tobias-wolff-7890_be-careful_because-i-don-t-have-to-be-careful-of-pe_451156.png" }, "description": "Browse 8 Teach Literature quotes by 8 authors. 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