--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I didn't go to school much, so I taught…" description: "\"I didn't go to school much, so I taught myself what I knew from reading.\" — Doris Lessing" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ea/doris-lessing-501_books_i-didn-t-go-to-school-much-so-i-taught-m_2429366.png" --- # I didn't go to school much, so I taught myself what I knew… ![“I didn't go to school much, so I taught myself what I knew from reading.” quote by Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ea/doris-lessing-501_books_i-didn-t-go-to-school-much-so-i-taught-m_2429366.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ea/doris-lessing-501_books_i-didn-t-go-to-school-much-so-i-taught-m_2429366.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ea/doris-lessing-501_books_i-didn-t-go-to-school-much-so-i-taught-m_2429366.png) > “I didn't go to school much, so I taught myself what I knew from reading.” [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Self‑education through reading can substitute formal schooling, fostering independent knowledge. **In simple terms:** Learn by reading when school is limited. Key Takeaway Read to educate yourself. Themes education self‑reliance learning Mood reflective empowering Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - home schooling - career development - personal growth Key Concepts autodidactism literacy critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - How do you verify what you learn? - What resources supplement self‑study? A Different Perspective Reading alone may lack structured guidance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Knew Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knew-reading-261360/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) [School Taught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school-taught-232611/) [Taught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taught/) [Taught Knew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taught-knew-261361/) ## Related quotes > [Going to film school taught me how much I already knew, and that the best way to learn about film is being on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devin-ratray/going-to-film-school-taught-me-how-much-i-already-knew-and-that-the/) [Devin Ratray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devin-ratray/) > [“I knew all about reading a lot. 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I don’t know any other”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/into-the-depths-of-scripture-or-researched-a-single-greek-word-they/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [“I’ll teach you as much as I can before we arrive in Skull’s Bay,” Rowan said. “We may find someone there who escaped the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/i-ll-teach-you-as-much-as-i-can-before-we-arrive-in-skull-s-bay-rowan/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [She taught me everything I knew about crawfish and kissing and pink wine and poetry. She made me different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/she-taught-me-everything-i-knew-about-crawfish-and-kissing-and-pink-2/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“She taught me everything I knew about crawfish and kissing and pink wine and poetry. She made me different. I lit a cigarette and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/she-taught-me-everything-i-knew-about-crawfish-and-kissing-and-pink/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“At school you were taught about chemicals in test tubes, equations to describe motion, and maybe something on photosynthesis—about which more later—but in all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-goldacre/at-school-you-were-taught-about-chemicals-in-test-tubes-equations-to/) [Ben Goldacre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-goldacre/) ## More by Doris Lessing > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“In the morning, when she wishes me to wake, she crouches on my chest, and pats my face with her paw. Or, if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/in-the-morning-when-she-wishes-me-to-wake-she-crouches-on-my-chest/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [You know, whenever women make imaginary female kingdoms in literature, they are always very permissive, to use the jargon word, and easy and generous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/you-know-whenever-women-make-imaginary-female-kingdoms-in-literature/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [There is only one real sin and that is to persuade oneself that the second best is anything but second best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/there-is-only-one-real-sin-and-that-is-to-persuade-oneself-that-the/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“She was using the water as she had used the fruit earlier—to calm herself, to assure herself of the possibility of normality. Yet all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/she-was-using-the-water-as-she-had-used-the-fruit-earlier-to-calm/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I remember World War II when there were very few books, very little paper available. 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I've been much happier unmarried than married.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-do-not-think-that-marriage-is-one-of-my-talents-i-ve-been-much/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I haven't got the energy to write now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-haven-t-got-the-energy-to-write-now/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [What really fascinates me is this need that is so strong now that if you read a work of the imagination you instantly have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/what-really-fascinates-me-is-this-need-that-is-so-strong-now-that-if/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“The charge that the United Nations are using bacteriological warfare in Korea cannot be dismissed merely because it would be insane.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/the-charge-that-the-united-nations-are-using-bacteriological-warfare/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [What I did have, which others perhaps didn't, was a capacity for sticking at it, which really is the point, not the talent at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/what-i-did-have-which-others-perhaps-didn-t-was-a-capacity-for/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [The human community is evolving... . We can survive anything you care to mention. We are supremely equipped to survive, to adapt and even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/the-human-community-is-evolving-we-can-survive-anything-you-care-to/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [So love is rest? The cosy corner? The little nook? Sometimes it ought to be. Sometimes it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/so-love-is-rest-the-cosy-corner-the-little-nook-sometimes-it-ought-to/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) [Explore all 508 Doris Lessing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I didn't go to school much, so I taught myself what I knew from reading.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Doris Lessing" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-didn-t-go-to-school-much-so-i-taught-myself-what-i-knew-from-reading/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-didn-t-go-to-school-much-so-i-taught-myself-what-i-knew-from-reading/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ea/doris-lessing-501_books_i-didn-t-go-to-school-much-so-i-taught-m_2429366.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ea/doris-lessing-501_books_i-didn-t-go-to-school-much-so-i-taught-m_2429366.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ea/doris-lessing-501_books_i-didn-t-go-to-school-much-so-i-taught-m_2429366.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I didn't go to school much, so I taught myself what I knew from reading.” — Doris Lessing", "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": "Doris Lessing", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I didn't go to school much,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-didn-t-go-to-school-much-so-i-taught-myself-what-i-knew-from-reading/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-didn-t-go-to-school-much-so-i-taught-myself-what-i-knew-from-reading/#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 } } ] } ```