--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: On popular education: To make students…" description: "\"“On popular education: To make students recite by rote what they do not understand is like training parrots. Teach children to be curious so they learn..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/619/eduardo-galeano-1015_education_on-popular-education-to-make-students-re_1728447.jpg" --- # On popular education: To make students recite by rote what… ![“On popular education: To make students recite by rote what they do not understand is like training parrots. Teach children to be curious so they learn to obey their own minds rather than obeying authorities the way the narrow-minded do, or obeying custom the way the stupid do. He who knows…” quote by Eduardo Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/619/eduardo-galeano-1015_education_on-popular-education-to-make-students-re_1728447.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/619/eduardo-galeano-1015_education_on-popular-education-to-make-students-re_1728447.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/619/eduardo-galeano-1015_education_on-popular-education-to-make-students-re_1728447.jpg) > ““On popular education: To make students recite by rote what they do not understand is like training parrots. Teach children to be curious so they learn to obey their own minds rather than obeying authorities the way the narrow-minded do, or obeying custom the way the stupid do. He who knows nothing, anyone can fool. He who has nothing, anyone can buy.”” [Eduardo Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-galeano/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Rote memorization stifles true learning; curiosity drives independent thought and resistance to blind authority. **In simple terms:** Learning by memorizing without understanding is like training parrots. Key Takeaway Encourage curiosity over rote learning. Themes education critical thinking authority independence truth Mood reflective defiant Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - classroom teaching - parental guidance - self‑education - activist training Key Concepts pedagogy mindfulness social critique Questions to Reflect On - How can curiosity be fostered in rigid curricula? - What role does questioning authority play in personal growth? A Different Perspective Rote learning can still be useful for foundational knowledge. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Fitness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fitness/) [Popular education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/popular-education/) ## Related quotes > [You cannot be a true man until you learn to obey.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-e-lee/you-cannot-be-a-true-man-until-you-learn-to-obey/) [Robert E. 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I start by finding a subject I really don't know very much, but that I'm curious about. I learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-schlosser/basically-i-m-a-perpetual-student-i-start-by-finding-a-subject-i/) [Eric Schlosser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-schlosser/) > [Be curious, learn and read as much as you can about food. Don't worry about making money. Focus on learning at various venues before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rocco-dispirito/be-curious-learn-and-read-as-much-as-you-can-about-food-don-t-worry/) [Rocco DiSpirito](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rocco-dispirito/) > [Only the curious will learn and only the resolute will overcome the obstacles to learning. 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If you are desperate, you will discover.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mooji/if-you-are-curious-you-will-learn-if-you-are-desperate-you-will/) [Mooji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mooji/) > [“To start with, education must be egalitarian and universal, unlike previous education, which was feudal and elitist: “So there is nothing left for us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-r-c-hicks/to-start-with-education-must-be-egalitarian-and-universal-unlike/) [Stephen R.C. Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-r-c-hicks/) > […science-based popular education can have an enormous impact on politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-phillips/science-based-popular-education-can-have-an-enormous-impact-on/) [Carl Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-phillips/) > [The sheep-like tendency of human society soon makes inroads on a child's unsophistications, and then popular education completes the dastardly work with its systematic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-c-wyeth/the-sheep-like-tendency-of-human-society-soon-makes-inroads-on-a/) [N. C. Wyeth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-c-wyeth/) > [Everyone drank to popular education and to the irrigation of Uzbekistan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilya-ilf/everyone-drank-to-popular-education-and-to-the-irrigation-of/) [Ilya Ilf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilya-ilf/) ## More by Eduardo Galeano > [In the struggle of good against evil, it's always the people who get killed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-galeano/in-the-struggle-of-good-against-evil-it-s-always-the-people-who-get/) [Eduardo Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-galeano/) > [Poets and beggars, musicians and prophets, warriors and scoundrels, all creatures of that unbridled reality, we have had to ask but little of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-galeano/poets-and-beggars-musicians-and-prophets-warriors-and-scoundrels-all/) [Eduardo Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-galeano/) > [And one fine day the goddess of the wind kisses the foot of man, that mistreated, scorned foot, and from that kiss the soccer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-galeano/and-one-fine-day-the-goddess-of-the-wind-kisses-the-foot-of-man-that/) [Eduardo Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-galeano/) > [“THE HE’S ARE SHE’S In 1847, three novels excite England’s readers. 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Not in Greek democracy either.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-galeano/in-the-greek-olympics-women-slaves-and-foreigners-never-took-part-not/) [Eduardo Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-galeano/) [Explore all 221 Eduardo Galeano quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-galeano/) ## More Education quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) Ted Martinez > [“In school you are taught to obey and not to think straight for your own good. 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(Hilda Doolittle > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [According to Plato, we don't learn anything. Our soul has lived so many lives that we know everything. Teachers and education can only remind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/according-to-plato-we-don-t-learn-anything-our-soul-has-lived-so-many/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“I only began to enjoy studying after I got through the educational system and became a so-called member of society. 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