--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I could never teach people to be…" description: "\"I could never teach people to be philosophers - and if I did, you could never make a gardener out of them.\" — Bill Mollison" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c66/bill-mollison-4213_gardener_i-could-never-teach-people-to-be-philoso_2741710.png" --- # I could never teach people to be philosophers - and if I… ![“I could never teach people to be philosophers - and if I did, you could never make a gardener out of them.” quote by Bill Mollison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c66/bill-mollison-4213_gardener_i-could-never-teach-people-to-be-philoso_2741710.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c66/bill-mollison-4213_gardener_i-could-never-teach-people-to-be-philoso_2741710.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c66/bill-mollison-4213_gardener_i-could-never-teach-people-to-be-philoso_2741710.png) > “I could never teach people to be philosophers - and if I did, you could never make a gardener out of them.” [Bill Mollison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mollison/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Teaching philosophy creates rigid thinkers; gardening needs practical, adaptable minds. **In simple terms:** Philosophy and gardening clash. Key Takeaway Focus on practical skills. Themes education philosophy gardening practicality Mood reflective thoughtful Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - teaching philosophy - training gardeners - community workshops Key Concepts critical thinking adaptability Questions to Reflect On - Can you teach philosophy without limiting practicality? - How to balance theory and practice? A Different Perspective Philosophy may stifle creativity needed gardening. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Gardener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gardener/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Philosopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosopher/) [Philosophers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophers/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) ## Related quotes > [The scientists often have more unfettered imaginations than current philosophers do. Relativity theory came as a complete surprise to philosophers, and so did quantum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-nozick/the-scientists-often-have-more-unfettered-imaginations-than-current/) [Robert Nozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-nozick/) > [These are fashionable people who call themselves philosophers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/these-are-fashionable-people-who-call-themselves-philosophers/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [I can easily teach people to be gardeners, and from them, once they know how to garden, you'll get a philosopher.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mollison/i-can-easily-teach-people-to-be-gardeners-and-from-them-once-they/) [Bill Mollison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mollison/) > [Even philosophers who did not mind psychology, claimed the brain was irrelevant because it was the hardware, and we only need to know about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-churchland/even-philosophers-who-did-not-mind-psychology-claimed-the-brain-was/) [Patricia Churchland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-churchland/) > [It's catastrophies which turn wise and strong people into philosophers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/it-s-catastrophies-which-turn-wise-and-strong-people-into-philosophers/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [I know a lot of people who are philosophers and they sit by the river and talk about what that underwater world might look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stana-katic/i-know-a-lot-of-people-who-are-philosophers-and-they-sit-by-the-river/) [Stana Katic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stana-katic/) > [People question me coming through the American frontier these days. They ask, "What's your occupation?" I say, "I'm just a simple gardener." And that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mollison/people-question-me-coming-through-the-american-frontier-these-days/) [Bill Mollison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mollison/) > [It's really important to teach people how to get food, how to grow it, how to pick it, how to prepare it and what's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-potts-dawson/it-s-really-important-to-teach-people-how-to-get-food-how-to-grow-it/) [Arthur Potts Dawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-potts-dawson/) > [It is impossible to teach people to conserve nature if they don't learn to love nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dia-mirza/it-is-impossible-to-teach-people-to-conserve-nature-if-they-don-t/) [Dia Mirza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dia-mirza/) > [“Teach the people with love and help them abide to biblical principles”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/teach-the-people-with-love-and-help-them-abide-to-biblical-principles/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [Sex is a natural function. You can't make it happen, but you can teach people to let it happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sex-is-a-natural-function-you-can-t-make-it-happen-but-you-can-teach/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's not my job at the Institute to teach where people are in the art world - in the world of art historically. My…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-jordan/it-s-not-my-job-at-the-institute-to-teach-where-people-are-in-the-art/) [Lawrence Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-jordan/) > [Regrettably, people today don't watch many programs that actually teach people how to cook, so I agreed to do a competitive show that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-ben-israel/regrettably-people-today-don-t-watch-many-programs-that-actually/) [Ron Ben-Israel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-ben-israel/) > [I'm not so sure that I can teach people how to, you know, write dialogue or create plot or anything like that. But if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-m-not-so-sure-that-i-can-teach-people-how-to-you-know-write/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [Good people are found not changed. Recently I read a headline that said, 'We don't teach people to be nice. We simply hire nice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/good-people-are-found-not-changed-recently-i-read-a-headline-that/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) ## More by Bill Mollison > [There is one, and only one solution, and we have almost no time to try it. We must turn all our resources to repairing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mollison/there-is-one-and-only-one-solution-and-we-have-almost-no-time-to-try/) [Bill Mollison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mollison/) > [Women spend the money of society on its goods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mollison/women-spend-the-money-of-society-on-its-goods/) [Bill Mollison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mollison/) > [Wealth is a deep understanding of the natural world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mollison/wealth-is-a-deep-understanding-of-the-natural-world/) [Bill Mollison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mollison/) > [That we don't design agriculture to be sustainable is totally eerie. We design it to be a disaster, and of course, we get a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mollison/that-we-don-t-design-agriculture-to-be-sustainable-is-totally-eerie/) [Bill Mollison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mollison/) > [Why is it that we don't build human settlements that will feed themselves, and fuel themselves, and catch their own water, when any human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mollison/why-is-it-that-we-don-t-build-human-settlements-that-will-feed/) [Bill Mollison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mollison/) > [Anything that's left that's remotely like wilderness should be left strictly alone. We have no business there any more. It's not going to save…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mollison/anything-that-s-left-that-s-remotely-like-wilderness-should-be-left/) [Bill Mollison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mollison/) > [The important thing is not to do any agriculture whatsoever, and particularly to make the modern agricultural sciences a forbidden area - they're worse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mollison/the-important-thing-is-not-to-do-any-agriculture-whatsoever-and/) [Bill Mollison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mollison/) > [The tragic reality is that very few sustainable systems are designed or applied by those who hold power, and the reason for this is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mollison/the-tragic-reality-is-that-very-few-sustainable-systems-are-designed/) [Bill Mollison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mollison/) > [We are surrounded by insurmountable opportunities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mollison/we-are-surrounded-by-insurmountable-opportunities/) [Bill Mollison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mollison/) > [Though the problems of the world are increasingly complex, the solutions remain embarrassingly simple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mollison/though-the-problems-of-the-world-are-increasingly-complex-the/) [Bill Mollison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mollison/) > [I can easily teach people to be gardeners, and from them, once they know how to garden, you'll get a philosopher.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mollison/i-can-easily-teach-people-to-be-gardeners-and-from-them-once-they/) [Bill Mollison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mollison/) > [If you get someone who looks after himself and those around him, that's a deep ecologist. He can talk philosophy that I understand. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mollison/if-you-get-someone-who-looks-after-himself-and-those-around-him-that/) [Bill Mollison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mollison/) > [You can't cooperate by knocking something about or bossing it or forcing it to do things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mollison/you-can-t-cooperate-by-knocking-something-about-or-bossing-it-or/) [Bill Mollison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mollison/) > [Women are the holders of all knowledge, everything a man knows he stole from a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mollison/women-are-the-holders-of-all-knowledge-everything-a-man-knows-he/) [Bill Mollison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mollison/) > [Another thing I find extremely eerie is that when people build a house, they almost exactly get it wrong. They don't just get it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mollison/another-thing-i-find-extremely-eerie-is-that-when-people-build-a/) [Bill Mollison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mollison/) [Explore all 114 Bill Mollison quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mollison/) ## More Gardener quotes > [I know when I'm not dancing, and I go home, I usually work with my dad, who's an electrician. So I do stuff like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tristan-macmanus/i-know-when-i-m-not-dancing-and-i-go-home-i-usually-work-with-my-dad/) [Tristan MacManus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tristan-macmanus/) > [“Weeds are job security for the gardener.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/weeds-are-job-security-for-the-gardener/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Oh, Adam was a gardener, and God who made him sees That half a proper gardener's work is done upon his knees, So when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/oh-adam-was-a-gardener-and-god-who-made-him-sees-that-half-a-proper/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [Show me a person without prejudice of any kind on any subject and I'll show you someone who may be admirably virtuous but is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-lacy/show-me-a-person-without-prejudice-of-any-kind-on-any-subject-and-i/) [Allen Lacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-lacy/) > [“Virtue? A fig! 'Tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus. Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/virtue-a-fig-tis-in-ourselves-that-we-are-thus-or-thus-our-bodies-are/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Adam was a gardener, and God, who made him, sees that half of all good gardening is done upon the knees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/adam-was-a-gardener-and-god-who-made-him-sees-that-half-of-all-good/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [I cultivate my garden, and my garden cultivates me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/i-cultivate-my-garden-and-my-garden-cultivates-me/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [As a gardener, I wonder if flowers really can't speak or just exercise unfailing good judgment in the matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/as-a-gardener-i-wonder-if-flowers-really-can-t-speak-or-just-exercise/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Why try to explain miracles to your kids when you can just have them plant a garden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/why-try-to-explain-miracles-to-your-kids-when-you-can-just-have-them/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Was it not most meet that a woman should first see the risen Saviour? She was first in the transgression; let her be first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/was-it-not-most-meet-that-a-woman-should-first-see-the-risen-saviour/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Sooner or later every gardener must face the fact that certain things are going to die on him. It is a temptation to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-perenyi/sooner-or-later-every-gardener-must-face-the-fact-that-certain-things/) [Eleanor Perenyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-perenyi/) > [ The idea of the book \["The Japanese Lover"\] came in a conversation that I had with a friend walking in the streets of New… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/the-idea-of-the-book-the-japanese-lover-came-in-a-conversation-that-i/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [It used to be bros before hoes but now you're the gardener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-time-steele/it-used-to-be-bros-before-hoes-but-now-you-re-the-gardener/) [Chris Time Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-time-steele/) > [The great French Marshall Lyautey once asked his gardener to plant a tree. The gardner objected that the tree was slow growing and wouldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/the-great-french-marshall-lyautey-once-asked-his-gardener-to-plant-a/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [One of the pleasures of being a gardener comes from the enjoyment you get looking at other people's yards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thalassa-cruso/one-of-the-pleasures-of-being-a-gardener-comes-from-the-enjoyment-you/) [Thalassa Cruso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thalassa-cruso/) [Browse all 390 Gardener quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gardener/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I could never teach people to be philosophers - and if I did, you could never make a gardener out of them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bill Mollison" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mollison/i-could-never-teach-people-to-be-philosophers-and-if-i-did-you-could/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Gardener" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mollison/i-could-never-teach-people-to-be-philosophers-and-if-i-did-you-could/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c66/bill-mollison-4213_gardener_i-could-never-teach-people-to-be-philoso_2741710.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c66/bill-mollison-4213_gardener_i-could-never-teach-people-to-be-philoso_2741710.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c66/bill-mollison-4213_gardener_i-could-never-teach-people-to-be-philoso_2741710.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I could never teach people to be philosophers - and if I did, you could never make a gardener out of them.” — Bill Mollison", "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": "Bill Mollison", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mollison/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I could never teach people to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mollison/i-could-never-teach-people-to-be-philosophers-and-if-i-did-you-could/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mollison/i-could-never-teach-people-to-be-philosophers-and-if-i-did-you-could/#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 } } ] } ```