--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: With students, one is often in the…" description: "\"With students, one is often in the position where you have to be authoritative about what they're doing and connected to some principle. I prefer not r..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7f/ben-marcus-7492_curiosity_with-students-one-is-often-in-the-positi_2345087.jpg" --- # With students, one is often in the position where you have… ![“With students, one is often in the position where you have to be authoritative about what they're doing and connected to some principle. I prefer not really knowing the answer to anything interesting and I try to encourage that in teaching. If I start to feel certain about something my curiosity…” quote by Ben Marcus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7f/ben-marcus-7492_curiosity_with-students-one-is-often-in-the-positi_2345087.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7f/ben-marcus-7492_curiosity_with-students-one-is-often-in-the-positi_2345087.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7f/ben-marcus-7492_curiosity_with-students-one-is-often-in-the-positi_2345087.jpg) > “With students, one is often in the position where you have to be authoritative about what they're doing and connected to some principle. I prefer not really knowing the answer to anything interesting and I try to encourage that in teaching. If I start to feel certain about something my curiosity goes away, my mind shuts down. I'm sure that's not always true, it's stupid to generalise.” [Ben Marcus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-marcus/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Effective teaching balances authority with humility, fostering curiosity by admitting uncertainty. **In simple terms:** Teach by showing you don’t know everything, encouraging inquiry. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty to spark student curiosity. Themes education curiosity humility authority teaching Mood reflective inspirational Type pedagogical motivational When to use this quote - classroom discussions - mentor training - curriculum design - student-led projects - faculty workshops Key Concepts Socratic method growth mindset epistemic humility Questions to Reflect On - How can you model uncertainty without losing credibility? - What practices keep authority constructive? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on uncertainty may erode confidence in guidance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Curiosity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curiosity/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students/) [Teaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching/) ## Related quotes > [My best attribute is knowing when not to answer stupid questions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-gershon/my-best-attribute-is-knowing-when-not-to-answer-stupid-questions/) [Gina Gershon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gina-gershon/) > [To exhibit the perfect uselessness of knowing the answer to the wrong question.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/to-exhibit-the-perfect-uselessness-of-knowing-the-answer-to-the-wrong/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“You don't see yet, Genry, why we perfected and practice Fortelling?" "No..." "To exhibit the perfect uselessness of knowing the answer to the wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/you-don-t-see-yet-genry-why-we-perfected-and-practice-fortelling-no/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Do you know how to kill a Freak with your bare hands? Can you skin and cook a rabbit? Do you know what wild…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-aguirre/do-you-know-how-to-kill-a-freak-with-your-bare-hands-can-you-skin-and/) [Ann Aguirre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-aguirre/) > [Humility is knowing that you can get an answer from anybody: be it a child, another person, or nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/humility-is-knowing-that-you-can-get-an-answer-from-anybody-be-it-a/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [“You don’t see yet, Genry, why we perfected and practice Foretelling?” “No—” “To exhibit the perfect uselessness of knowing the answer to the wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/you-don-t-see-yet-genry-why-we-perfected-and-practice-foretelling-no/) [Ursula K. 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His first school, his first classroom is within the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-rap-brown/the-first-responsibility-of-the-muslim-is-as-teacher-that-is-his-job/) [H. Rap Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-rap-brown/) > [Much like teaching art to young art students age 10 to 15 or so on, you have to break it down into bite-sized pieces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/much-like-teaching-art-to-young-art-students-age-10-to-15-or-so-on/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [The teacher is of course an artist, but being an artist does not mean that he or she can make the profile, can shape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/the-teacher-is-of-course-an-artist-but-being-an-artist-does-not-mean/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) ## More by Ben Marcus > [To refrain from storytelling is perhaps one of the highest forms of respect we can pay. Those people, with no stories to circle them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-marcus/to-refrain-from-storytelling-is-perhaps-one-of-the-highest-forms-of/) [Ben Marcus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-marcus/) > [My goal, with whatever I'm working on, is to lose track of time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-marcus/my-goal-with-whatever-i-m-working-on-is-to-lose-track-of-time/) [Ben Marcus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-marcus/) > [“..., and he told a story once after intercourse, to the person who had just politely hoisted him while he hyperventilated in their space…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-marcus/and-he-told-a-story-once-after-intercourse-to-the-person-who-had-just/) [Ben Marcus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-marcus/) > [“Terms BEN MARCUS, THE 1. False map, scroll, caul, or parchment. It is comprised of the first skin. 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They snap as easily as children do,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-marcus/loud-people-have-thin-hollow-bones-they-can-be-broken-in-half-and/) [Ben Marcus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-marcus/) > [I like big doses of grief when I read: Richard Yates, Flannery O'Connor, Kenzabaro Oe, Thomas Bernhard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-marcus/i-like-big-doses-of-grief-when-i-read-richard-yates-flannery-o-connor/) [Ben Marcus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-marcus/) > [“This first. To understand this. Then maybe." Julian was impressed. The doctor had devised a pretty good tombstone. This first. To understand this. Then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-marcus/this-first-to-understand-this-then-maybe-julian-was-impressed-the/) [Ben Marcus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-marcus/) > [“Who is setting the bar for what you call accessibility? The definition of “accessible” is “easy to understand,” and so much of the fiction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-marcus/who-is-setting-the-bar-for-what-you-call-accessibility-the-definition/) [Ben Marcus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-marcus/) > [“People are considered as areas that resist light, mistakes in the air, collision sweet spots.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-marcus/people-are-considered-as-areas-that-resist-light-mistakes-in-the-air/) [Ben Marcus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-marcus/) > [“The true elitists in the literary world are the ones who have become annoyed by literary ambition in any form, who have converted the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-marcus/the-true-elitists-in-the-literary-world-are-the-ones-who-have-become/) [Ben Marcus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-marcus/) > [“Together we were something less, which felt like such a relief, to not be ourselves for a while.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-marcus/together-we-were-something-less-which-felt-like-such-a-relief-to-not/) [Ben Marcus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-marcus/) > [“I prefer men who don't fall down and weep, who absorb a blow, who do not scamper and yell when chased, but stand firm,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-marcus/i-prefer-men-who-don-t-fall-down-and-weep-who-absorb-a-blow-who-do/) [Ben Marcus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-marcus/) > [I love the way dates in a text make us think that truth will follow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-marcus/i-love-the-way-dates-in-a-text-make-us-think-that-truth-will-follow/) [Ben Marcus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-marcus/) > [Judaism to me, as badly as I practiced it, what I've always loved about it was its total embrace of complexity, its admission of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-marcus/judaism-to-me-as-badly-as-i-practiced-it-what-i-ve-always-loved-about/) [Ben Marcus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-marcus/) [Explore all 90 Ben Marcus quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-marcus/) ## More Curiosity quotes > [I'm a strange mixture of my mother's curiosity; my father, who grew up the son of the manse in a Presbyterian family, who had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-murdoch/i-m-a-strange-mixture-of-my-mother-s-curiosity-my-father-who-grew-up/) [Rupert Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-murdoch/) > [“Metal makes everything magical. Just ask a unicorn.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sybrina-durant/metal-makes-everything-magical-just-ask-a-unicorn/) [Sybrina Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sybrina-durant/) > [ We have no clear ideas of the agency of \[demonic\] spirits, nor is it necessary. The Scripture says little to satisfy our curiosity; but… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-newton/we-have-no-clear-ideas-of-the-agency-of-demonic-spirits-nor-is-it/) [John Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-newton/) > [The four Cs of making dreams come true: Curiosity, Courage, Consistency, Confidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/the-four-cs-of-making-dreams-come-true-curiosity-courage-consistency/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) > [Curiosity Can Kill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anison/curiosity-can-kill/) [Anison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anison/) > [“So curious you must be. Like little calves poking their heads through the fence with big eyes and a headful of curiosity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carew-papritz/so-curious-you-must-be-like-little-calves-poking-their-heads-through/) [Carew Papritz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carew-papritz/) > [ “\[T\]he question "What is everything?" has no meaning, even though it seems to be profound. \[...\] The point is, perhaps, that I am not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-watts/t-he-question-what-is-everything-has-no-meaning-even-though-it-seems/) [Alan W. Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-w-watts/) > [ By profession a biologist, \[Thomas Henry Huxley\] covered in fact the whole field of the exact sciences, and then bulged through its four fences.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/by-profession-a-biologist-thomas-henry-huxley-covered-in-fact-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [How do we know that we have a right to kill creatures that we are so little above, as dogs, for our curiosity or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/how-do-we-know-that-we-have-a-right-to-kill-creatures-that-we-are-so/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Be curious not judge mental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unknow/be-curious-not-judge-mental/) Unknow > [There is nothing so carking as the pangs of unsatisfied curiosity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-atherton/there-is-nothing-so-carking-as-the-pangs-of-unsatisfied-curiosity/) [Gertrude Atherton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-atherton/) > [Curiosity is the essence of human existence. 'Who are we? Where are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going?'... I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/curiosity-is-the-essence-of-human-existence-who-are-we-where-are-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Sometimes curiosity is a poison, not only for those who drink it but for everyone around it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-norman-lippert/sometimes-curiosity-is-a-poison-not-only-for-those-who-drink-it-but/) [G. Norman Lippert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-norman-lippert/) > [As long as your curiosity is greater than your fear, you will move forward!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/as-long-as-your-curiosity-is-greater-than-your-fear-you-will-move/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it sure has earned a lot of people graduate degrees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robyn-irving/curiosity-may-have-killed-the-cat-but-it-sure-has-earned-a-lot-of/) Robyn Irving [Browse all 2,721 Curiosity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curiosity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "With students, one is often in the position where you have to be authoritative about what they're doing and connected to some principle. I prefer not really knowing the answer to anything interesting and I try to encourage that in teaching. 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