--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The assault on education began more than…" description: "\"“The assault on education began more than a century ago by industrialists and capitalists such as Andrew Carnegie. In 1891, Carnegie congratulated the ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/309/chris-hedges-2131_arts_the-assault-on-education-began-more-than_2865998.png" --- # The assault on education began more than a century ago by… ![“The assault on education began more than a century ago by industrialists and capitalists such as Andrew Carnegie. In 1891, Carnegie congratulated the graduates of the Pierce College of Business for being “fully occupied in obtaining a knowledge of shorthand and typewriting” rather than wasting…” quote by Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/309/chris-hedges-2131_arts_the-assault-on-education-began-more-than_2865998.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/309/chris-hedges-2131_arts_the-assault-on-education-began-more-than_2865998.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/309/chris-hedges-2131_arts_the-assault-on-education-began-more-than_2865998.png) > ““The assault on education began more than a century ago by industrialists and capitalists such as Andrew Carnegie. In 1891, Carnegie congratulated the graduates of the Pierce College of Business for being “fully occupied in obtaining a knowledge of shorthand and typewriting” rather than wasting time “upon dead languages.” The industrialist Richard Teller Crane was even more pointed in his 1911 dismissal of what humanists call the “life of the mind.” No one who has “a taste for literature has a right to be happy” because “the only men entitled to happiness… is those who are useful.” The arrival of industrialists on university boards of trustees began as early as the 1870s and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business offered the first academic credential in business administration in 1881. The capitalists, from the start, complained that universities were unprofitable. These early twentieth century capitalists, like heads of investment houses and hedge-fund managers, were, as Donoghue writes “motivated by an ethically based anti-intellectualism that transcended interest in the financial bottom line. Their distrust of the ideal of intellectual inquiry for its own sake, led them to insist that if universities were to be preserved at all, they must operate on a different set of principles from those governing the liberal arts.”” [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote argues that industrialists and capitalists have long undermined higher education, prioritizing utilitarian skills over liberal arts and intellectual inquiry. **In simple terms:** Capitalist influence devalues liberal arts education Key Takeaway Question the purpose and funding of universities Themes education economics politics Mood critical analytical Type political philosophical When to use this quote - University board meetings - policy debates - curriculum design - student activism Key Concepts Utilitarianism anti-intellectualism neoliberalism Questions to Reflect On - What balance should exist between practical training and liberal arts? - How can universities maintain intellectual freedom while remaining financially viable? A Different Perspective The perspective may understate the value of practical skills and economic realities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Arts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arts/) [Assault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assault/) [Bottom line](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bottom-line/) [Business administration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business-administration/) [Capitalists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capitalists/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Liberal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberal/) [Liberal arts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberal-arts/) [Wasting time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wasting-time/) ## Related quotes > [Venture capitalists are like lemmings jumping on the software bandwagon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-osborne/venture-capitalists-are-like-lemmings-jumping-on-the-software/) [Adam Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-osborne/) > [All capitalists should be like Warren Buffett, and he says he should be taxed more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-asner/all-capitalists-should-be-like-warren-buffett-and-he-says-he-should/) [Ed Asner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-asner/) > [“You are a product to dragnet surveillance capitalists like Google, Facebook, Comcast and Verizon. 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Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie 100 years ago was their recognition that the great wealth they had amassed could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-rodin/the-extraordinary-genius-of-john-d-rockefeller-and-andrew-carnegie/) [Judith Rodin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-rodin/) > [People believe that companies have always had strategies, dating back at least to likes of Henry Ford or Andrew Carnegie, maybe to the contractors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kiechel/people-believe-that-companies-have-always-had-strategies-dating-back/) [Walter Kiechel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kiechel/) ## More by Chris Hedges > [“the property that grounded the self in Romanticism was sincerity, and in modernism was authenticity, then in postmod ernism it is visibility.10”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/the-property-that-grounded-the-self-in-romanticism-was-sincerity-and/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [“Revolutionists who took part in uprisings in one part of the globe would often migrate to take part in uprisings in another. 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Our refusal to face the truth about empire, our refusal to defy the multitudinous crimes and atrocities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/human-beings-can-be-redeemed-empires-cannot-our-refusal-to-face-the/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [I have seen children shot in El Salvador, Algeria, Guatemala, Sarajevo, but I have never before watched soldiers entice children like mice into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/i-have-seen-children-shot-in-el-salvador-algeria-guatemala-sarajevo/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [A democracy survives when its citizens have access to trustworthy and impartial sources of information, when it can discern lies from truth. Take this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/a-democracy-survives-when-its-citizens-have-access-to-trustworthy-and/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [It is the cult of self that is killing the United States. This cult has within it the classic traits of psychopaths: superficial charm,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/it-is-the-cult-of-self-that-is-killing-the-united-states-this-cult/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [“Our march toward self-annihilation has already obliterated ninety percent of the large fish in the oceans and wiped out half of the mature tropical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/our-march-toward-self-annihilation-has-already-obliterated-ninety/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [No real journalist makes $5 million a year... Those in power fear and dislike real journalists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/no-real-journalist-makes-5-million-a-year-those-in-power-fear-and/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [“Just remember,' a Marine Corps lieutenant colonel told me as he strapped his pistol belt under his arm before we crossed into Kuwait, 'that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/just-remember-a-marine-corps-lieutenant-colonel-told-me-as-he/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [Most of these who are thrust into combat soon find it impossible to maintain the mythic perception of war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/most-of-these-who-are-thrust-into-combat-soon-find-it-impossible-to/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [The imperial projects will continue, Wall Street will be unimpeded in its malfeasance and criminal activity, social programs will continue to be cut, maybe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/the-imperial-projects-will-continue-wall-street-will-be-unimpeded-in/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) [Explore all 183 Chris Hedges quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) ## More Arts quotes > [I was painfully shy, so my aunt suggested to my mum that me and my brother go to Stage 84, a performing arts school…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-cooke/i-was-painfully-shy-so-my-aunt-suggested-to-my-mum-that-me-and-my/) [Christian Cooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-cooke/) > [I turned to my mom and said, 'I'm going to be a martial arts movie star.' 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Arts provide a universal understanding of a personal experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mae-jemison/science-provides-an-understanding-of-a-universal-experience-arts/) [Mae Jemison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mae-jemison/) > [Creativity is essential to particle physics, cosmology, and to mathematics, and to other fields of science, just as it is to its more widely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-randall/creativity-is-essential-to-particle-physics-cosmology-and-to/) [Lisa Randall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-randall/) > [The arts teach children that problems can have more than one solution and that questions can have more than one answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliot-w-eisner/the-arts-teach-children-that-problems-can-have-more-than-one-solution/) [Elliot W. Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliot-w-eisner/) > [The arts were a big part of my childhood. We went to the theatre and opera a lot as a family. 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In 1891, Carnegie congratulated the graduates of the Pierce College of Business for being “fully occupied in obtaining a knowledge of shorthand and typewriting” rather than wasting time “upon dead languages.” The industrialist Richard Teller Crane was even more pointed in his 1911 dismissal of what humanists call the “life of the mind.” No one who has “a taste for literature has a right to be happy” because “the only men entitled to happiness… is those who are useful.” The arrival of industrialists on university boards of trustees began as early as the 1870s and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business offered the first academic credential in business administration in 1881. The capitalists, from the start, complained that universities were unprofitable. 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