--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Where once the student was taught that…" description: "\"Where once the student was taught that the unexamined life was not worth living, he is now taught that the profitably lived life is not worth examining..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/546/benjamin-barber-30249_examining_where-once-the-student-was-taught-that-t_2364125.png" --- # Where once the student was taught that the unexamined life… ![“Where once the student was taught that the unexamined life was not worth living, he is now taught that the profitably lived life is not worth examining.” quote by Benjamin Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/546/benjamin-barber-30249_examining_where-once-the-student-was-taught-that-t_2364125.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/546/benjamin-barber-30249_examining_where-once-the-student-was-taught-that-t_2364125.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/546/benjamin-barber-30249_examining_where-once-the-student-was-taught-that-t_2364125.png) > “Where once the student was taught that the unexamined life was not worth living, he is now taught that the profitably lived life is not worth examining.” [Benjamin Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-barber/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The shift from valuing unexamined life to valuing profitable life discourages deep reflection. **In simple terms:** Profit focus reduces self‑examination. Key Takeaway Prioritize reflective thinking over material success. Themes philosophy ethics modernity Mood critical contemplative Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - education - career planning - personal development - policy making Key Concepts existentialism consumerism critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - How does profit‑driven culture affect personal growth? - Can we balance success with self‑knowledge? A Different Perspective May overlook the intrinsic value of introspection. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Examining](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/examining/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-is/) [Lived Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lived-life/) [Living Taught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-taught-2195101/) [Student Taught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/student-taught-1674250/) [Students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students/) [Taught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taught/) [Taught Profitably](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taught-profitably-5799674/) [Taught Unexamined](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taught-unexamined-5799673/) [Unexamined life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unexamined-life/) [Worth living](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worth-living/) ## Related quotes > [It may be true that the unexamined life is not worth living-but neither is the unlived life worth examining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-millman/it-may-be-true-that-the-unexamined-life-is-not-worth-living-but/) [Dan Millman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-millman/) > [The unexamined life is not worth living. But if all you're doing is examining, then you're not living!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-leipzig/the-unexamined-life-is-not-worth-living-but-if-all-you-re-doing-is/) [Adam Leipzig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-leipzig/) > [Though Nathalie Dupree did not remember much about my presence in her class, it marked me forever. I remain her enthusiast, her evangelist, her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/though-nathalie-dupree-did-not-remember-much-about-my-presence-in-her/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [If half a century of living has taught me anything at all, it has taught me that nothing can bring you peace but yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-carnegie/if-half-a-century-of-living-has-taught-me-anything-at-all-it-has/) [Dale Carnegie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-carnegie/) > [“A student should not be taught more than he can think about.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/a-student-should-not-be-taught-more-than-he-can-think-about/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Let it be understood that those who are not found living as He taught are not Christian- even though they profess with the lips…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-martyr/let-it-be-understood-that-those-who-are-not-found-living-as-he-taught/) [Justin Martyr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-martyr/) > [And let no one suppose that I claim that just living can be taught for, in a word, I hold that there does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isocrates/and-let-no-one-suppose-that-i-claim-that-just-living-can-be-taught/) [Isocrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isocrates/) > [“I believe if every K-12 kid or college student was taught math with Mathematica far more of them would becomes scientists and engineers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-believe-if-every-k-12-kid-or-college-student-was-taught-math-with/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If there is an art of living, it is not something that can be taught timelessly. We have lessons to learn from Aristotle et…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-baggini/if-there-is-an-art-of-living-it-is-not-something-that-can-be-taught/) [Julian Baggini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-baggini/) > [“I was the only student she’d taught who’d actually known any deaf people. Most of the students in my courses were there because they’d…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-ann-walker/i-was-the-only-student-she-d-taught-who-d-actually-known-any-deaf/) [Lou Ann Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-ann-walker/) > [ I think psychologically \[Margaret Thatcher\] is really worth studying. I am reading Charles Moore's biography of her, and he has gotten us right there… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/i-think-psychologically-margaret-thatcher-is-really-worth-studying-i/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [It is the greatest good for an individual to discuss virtue (aka areté) every day...for the unexamined life is not worth living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/it-is-the-greatest-good-for-an-individual-to-discuss-virtue-aka-aret/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [The unexamined life is not worth living for a human being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/the-unexamined-life-is-not-worth-living-for-a-human-being/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [“If the unexamined life was not worth living, was the unlived life worth examining?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kalanithi/if-the-unexamined-life-was-not-worth-living-was-the-unlived-life/) [Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/) > [No one seriously doubts Socrates' maxim: The unexamined life isn't worth living. Self-assessment and attempts at self-improvement are essential aspects of "the good life."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-burton/no-one-seriously-doubts-socrates-maxim-the-unexamined-life-isn-t/) [Robert A. Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-burton/) ## More by Benjamin Barber > [9/11 was a signal that we were living in a new world - a world of interdependence, a world in which people could attack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-barber/9-11-was-a-signal-that-we-were-living-in-a-new-world-a-world-of/) [Benjamin Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-barber/) > [Civility is a work of the imagination, for it is through the imagination that we render others sufficiently like ourselves for them to become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-barber/civility-is-a-work-of-the-imagination-for-it-is-through-the/) [Benjamin Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-barber/) > [By the laws of the land, people who come looking for jobs in America are illegal. But by the laws of economics, they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-barber/by-the-laws-of-the-land-people-who-come-looking-for-jobs-in-america/) [Benjamin Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-barber/) > [McWorld is a product of popular culture driven by expansionist commerce. Its template is American, its form style. Its goods are as much images…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-barber/mcworld-is-a-product-of-popular-culture-driven-by-expansionist/) [Benjamin Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-barber/) > [The real lesson of 9/11 that I think we have still to learn is that this is a world of interdependence, in which all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-barber/the-real-lesson-of-9-11-that-i-think-we-have-still-to-learn-is-that/) [Benjamin Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-barber/) > [Independence used to be the ticket for liberty. But today, security and freedom, whether it's in the Arab Spring, whether it's in Iraq or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-barber/independence-used-to-be-the-ticket-for-liberty-but-today-security-and/) [Benjamin Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-barber/) > [Consumer sales depend on the habits and behaviors of consumers, and those who manipulate consumer markets cannot but address behavior and attitude. That is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-barber/consumer-sales-depend-on-the-habits-and-behaviors-of-consumers-and/) [Benjamin Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-barber/) > [Having created the conditions that make markets possible, democracy must do all the things that markets undo or cannot do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-barber/having-created-the-conditions-that-make-markets-possible-democracy/) [Benjamin Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-barber/) > [The question to ask is not whether you are a success or a failure, but whether you are a learner or a nonlearner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-barber/the-question-to-ask-is-not-whether-you-are-a-success-or-a-failure-but/) [Benjamin Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-barber/) > [I divide the world into learners and non-learners.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-barber/i-divide-the-world-into-learners-and-non-learners/) [Benjamin Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-barber/) > [When it comes to acid rain or oil spills or depleted fisheries or tainted groundwater or fluorocarbon propellants or radiation leaks or sexually transmitted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-barber/when-it-comes-to-acid-rain-or-oil-spills-or-depleted-fisheries-or/) [Benjamin Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-barber/) > [I don't divide the world into the weak and the strong, or the successes and failures...I divide the world into the learners and non-learners.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-barber/i-don-t-divide-the-world-into-the-weak-and-the-strong-or-the/) [Benjamin Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-barber/) > [I divide the word into learners and nonlearners. There are people who learn, who are open to what happens around them, who listen, who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-barber/i-divide-the-word-into-learners-and-nonlearners-there-are-people-who/) [Benjamin Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-barber/) > [“I don't divide the world into the weak and the strong, or the successes and the failures, those who make it or those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-barber/i-don-t-divide-the-world-into-the-weak-and-the-strong-or-the-2/) [Benjamin Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-barber/) > [Injuries too well remembered cannot heal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-barber/injuries-too-well-remembered-cannot-heal/) [Benjamin Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-barber/) [Explore all 17 Benjamin Barber quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-barber/) ## More Examining quotes > [Especially for those of us who lived in single cells, you had the time to sit down and think, and we discovered that sitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/especially-for-those-of-us-who-lived-in-single-cells-you-had-the-time/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [I love that the idea of examining memory, and the way memory is edited was made more interesting because it was being filtered through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-franco/i-love-that-the-idea-of-examining-memory-and-the-way-memory-is-edited/) [James Franco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-franco/) > [The examining physician often hesitates to make the necessary examination because it involves soiling the finger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james-mayo/the-examining-physician-often-hesitates-to-make-the-necessary/) [William James Mayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james-mayo/) > [we make a great fuss about national conscience, but it consists mainly in insisting upon everyone ascribing our national policy to highly moral motives,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/we-make-a-great-fuss-about-national-conscience-but-it-consists-mainly/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [The newspapers at one time said that I was dead but after carefully examining the evidence I came to the conclusion that this statement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/the-newspapers-at-one-time-said-that-i-was-dead-but-after-carefully/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [The philosophic spirit of inquiry may be traced to brute curiosity, and that to the habit of examining all things in search of food.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-winwood-reade/the-philosophic-spirit-of-inquiry-may-be-traced-to-brute-curiosity/) [William Winwood Reade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-winwood-reade/) > [When I first began examining the global-warming scare, I found nothing more puzzling than the way officially approved scientists kept on being shown to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-booker/when-i-first-began-examining-the-global-warming-scare-i-found-nothing/) [Christopher Booker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-booker/) > [A live unexamined isn't worth living. I will add, "A life unlived isn't worth examining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/a-live-unexamined-isn-t-worth-living-i-will-add-a-life-unlived-isn-t/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [I think the key to writing the truth of our existences, so much of this is being incubated online, is examining the conflicts and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-zambreno/i-think-the-key-to-writing-the-truth-of-our-existences-so-much-of/) [Kate Zambreno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-zambreno/) > [Remus Lupin was supposed to be on the H.I.V. metaphor. It was someone who had been infected young, who suffered stigma, who had a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling-2/remus-lupin-was-supposed-to-be-on-the-h-i-v-metaphor-it-was-someone/) [J. K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling-2/) > [The program grew out of a desire to address a gap identified after 9/11 ... The program does not involve the NSA examining the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/the-program-grew-out-of-a-desire-to-address-a-gap-identified-after-9/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [There is no need for a fear of losing control over who is accessing the network to hold back the productivity benefits of flexible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-jackson/there-is-no-need-for-a-fear-of-losing-control-over-who-is-accessing/) [Richard Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-jackson/) > [From childhood my mother had me examining Robert Mapplethorpe's style and Egon Schiele's framing - that's what modelling is about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milla-jovovich/from-childhood-my-mother-had-me-examining-robert-mapplethorpe-s-style/) [Milla Jovovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milla-jovovich/) > [Prosperity is apt to prevent us from examining our conduct; but adversity leads us to think properly of our state, and so is beneficial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-lee/prosperity-is-apt-to-prevent-us-from-examining-our-conduct-but/) [Bruce Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-lee/) > [The unlived life is not worth examining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-unlived-life-is-not-worth-examining/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 218 Examining quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/examining/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Where once the student was taught that the unexamined life was not worth living, he is now taught that the profitably lived life is not worth examining.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Benjamin Barber" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-barber/where-once-the-student-was-taught-that-the-unexamined-life-was-not/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Examining" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-barber/where-once-the-student-was-taught-that-the-unexamined-life-was-not/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/546/benjamin-barber-30249_examining_where-once-the-student-was-taught-that-t_2364125.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/546/benjamin-barber-30249_examining_where-once-the-student-was-taught-that-t_2364125.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/546/benjamin-barber-30249_examining_where-once-the-student-was-taught-that-t_2364125.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Where once the student was taught that the unexamined life was not worth living, he is now taught that the…” — Benjamin Barber", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Benjamin Barber", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-barber/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Where once the student was taught...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-barber/where-once-the-student-was-taught-that-the-unexamined-life-was-not/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-barber/where-once-the-student-was-taught-that-the-unexamined-life-was-not/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```