--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The terrible state of public education…" description: "\"The terrible state of public education has paid huge dividends in ignorance. Huge. We now have a country that can be told blatant lies - easily checkab..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d1/fran-lebowitz-690_blatant-lies_the-terrible-state-of-public-education-h_1205541.png" --- # The terrible state of public education has paid huge… ![“The terrible state of public education has paid huge dividends in ignorance. Huge. We now have a country that can be told blatant lies - easily checkable, blatant lies - and I'm not talking about the covert workings of the CIA. When we have a terrorist attack, on September 11, 2001 with 19 men…” quote by Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d1/fran-lebowitz-690_blatant-lies_the-terrible-state-of-public-education-h_1205541.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d1/fran-lebowitz-690_blatant-lies_the-terrible-state-of-public-education-h_1205541.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d1/fran-lebowitz-690_blatant-lies_the-terrible-state-of-public-education-h_1205541.png) > “The terrible state of public education has paid huge dividends in ignorance. Huge. We now have a country that can be told blatant lies - easily checkable, blatant lies - and I'm not talking about the covert workings of the CIA. When we have a terrorist attack, on September 11, 2001 with 19 men - 15 of them are Saudis - and five minutes later the whole country thinks they're from Iraq - how can you have faith in the public? This is an easily checkable fact. The whole country is like the O.J. Simpson jurors.” [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Public education’s failures foster widespread ignorance, leading to gullibility and misinformation, exemplified by misidentifying terrorists. **In simple terms:** Bad education creates ignorance and gullibility. Key Takeaway Improve education to combat misinformation. Themes education media trust Mood critical concerned Type essayistic commentary When to use this quote - school reform - media analysis - public discourse Key Concepts critical thinking information literacy Questions to Reflect On - How can education be reformed? - What role does media play in shaping belief? A Different Perspective Ignores other causes of misinformation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blatant lies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blatant-lies/) [Cia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cia/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Dividends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dividends/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Iraq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/iraq/) [Jurors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jurors/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Not talking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/not-talking/) [Public education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-education/) [Saudis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saudis/) [September](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/september/) [Terrorist attacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrorist-attacks/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [I have grown up in a country where we are told that there is freedom of speech.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jwala-gutta/i-have-grown-up-in-a-country-where-we-are-told-that-there-is-freedom/) [Jwala Gutta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jwala-gutta/) > [At no time, anywhere, was the population of a country told the truth: facts about events trickled into general consciousness much later, if ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/at-no-time-anywhere-was-the-population-of-a-country-told-the-truth/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“You have too many gurus in this country. They have told you what to do, what to think, what to practice. They are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radhanath-swami/you-have-too-many-gurus-in-this-country-they-have-told-you-what-to-do/) [Radhanath Swami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radhanath-swami/) > [“America, tell the truth. Tell the truth, even if it means in the end it hurts you. 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McGrath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alister-e-mcgrath/) > [As soon as the first person wrote about me, the articles became just blatant, all-out lies. I consider it slander. If I cared more,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lana-del-rey/as-soon-as-the-first-person-wrote-about-me-the-articles-became-just/) [Lana Del Rey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lana-del-rey/) > [The more the concept of reason becomes emasculated, the more easily it lends itself to ideological manipulation and to propagation of even the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-horkheimer/the-more-the-concept-of-reason-becomes-emasculated-the-more-easily-it/) [Max Horkheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-horkheimer/) > [It is a blatant lie put forth in the media that makes it seem there is only a fringe of scientists who don't buy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-b-goldenberg/it-is-a-blatant-lie-put-forth-in-the-media-that-makes-it-seem-there/) Stanley B. Goldenberg > [Consistent with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. 1622(d), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency previously declared on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/consistent-with-section-202-d-of-the-national-emergencies-act-50-u-s/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [You don't bargain with terrorists. You don't appease terrorists. And anybody who believes that this is about something we've done has to ask themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chertoff/you-don-t-bargain-with-terrorists-you-don-t-appease-terrorists-and/) [Michael Chertoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chertoff/) ## More by Fran Lebowitz > [Why not have your first baby at sixty, when your husband is already dead and your career is over? Then you can really devote…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/why-not-have-your-first-baby-at-sixty-when-your-husband-is-already/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [I've never had the experience of being edited and never will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/i-ve-never-had-the-experience-of-being-edited-and-never-will/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [I think humor is warmer, and wit is colder. Wit is judgment, whereas humor invites some sort of response.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/i-think-humor-is-warmer-and-wit-is-colder-wit-is-judgment-whereas/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [Communists all seem to wear small caps, a look I consider better suited to tubes of toothpaste than to people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/communists-all-seem-to-wear-small-caps-a-look-i-consider-better/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [“lack, or loutish and crass kollective is a program dedicated to the proposition that vulgarity and bad taste are an inalienable right. the lackies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/lack-or-loutish-and-crass-kollective-is-a-program-dedicated-to-the/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [I figure you have the same chance of winning the lottery whether you play or not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/i-figure-you-have-the-same-chance-of-winning-the-lottery-whether-you/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [ \[Friendships\] are easy to get out of compared to love affairs, but they are not easy to get out of compared to, say, jail. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/friendships-are-easy-to-get-out-of-compared-to-love-affairs-but-they/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [Smoking is, as far as I'm concerned, the entire point of being an adult.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/smoking-is-as-far-as-i-m-concerned-the-entire-point-of-being-an-adult/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [If you want to get ahead in this world get a lawyer -- not a book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/if-you-want-to-get-ahead-in-this-world-get-a-lawyer-not-a-book/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [When it comes to sports I am not particularly interested. Generally speaking, I look upon them as dangerous and tiring activities performed by people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/when-it-comes-to-sports-i-am-not-particularly-interested-generally/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [The first time I ever saw platform shoes in the '70s, I knew they'd been revived from the '40s, and I felt sickened. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/the-first-time-i-ever-saw-platform-shoes-in-the-70s-i-knew-they-d/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [Children ask better questions than adults. "May I have a cookie?" "Why is the sky blue?" and "What does a cow say?" are far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/children-ask-better-questions-than-adults-may-i-have-a-cookie-why-is/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [ I do not think everyone is created equal. 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Goldenberg > [The more the concept of reason becomes emasculated, the more easily it lends itself to ideological manipulation and to propagation of even the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-horkheimer/the-more-the-concept-of-reason-becomes-emasculated-the-more-easily-it/) [Max Horkheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-horkheimer/) > [As soon as the first person wrote about me, the articles became just blatant, all-out lies. I consider it slander. If I cared more,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lana-del-rey/as-soon-as-the-first-person-wrote-about-me-the-articles-became-just/) [Lana Del Rey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lana-del-rey/) > [Beneath all the rhetoric about relevance lies a profoundly disturbing possibility - that people may base their lives upon an illusion, upon a blatant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alister-e-mcgrath/beneath-all-the-rhetoric-about-relevance-lies-a-profoundly-disturbing/) [Alister E. McGrath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alister-e-mcgrath/) > [There's just been so much, you know, blatant lies about me, specifically when it comes to questions of Nazism and racism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madison-cawthorn/there-s-just-been-so-much-you-know-blatant-lies-about-me-specifically/) [Madison Cawthorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madison-cawthorn/) > [I felt implicated in American affairs.Outraged at the blatant lies about Iraqs involvement in al Qaeda, at the regimes arrogance and stupidity, Guantnamo Bay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/i-felt-implicated-in-american-affairs-outraged-at-the-blatant-lies/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [I might take from the current political chaos a desire to somehow reflect its essential qualities in a story - the blatant lies that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/i-might-take-from-the-current-political-chaos-a-desire-to-somehow/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [He discusses his service in Iraq, the wounds he suffered there and he says to me in this ad, until you have the guts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/he-discusses-his-service-in-iraq-the-wounds-he-suffered-there-and-he/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [There is an abundance of misinformation, exaggeration, and blatant lies being spread by interest groups regarding the prospects for embryonic stem cell research.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-foxx/there-is-an-abundance-of-misinformation-exaggeration-and-blatant-lies/) [Virginia Foxx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-foxx/) [Browse all 10 Blatant lies quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blatant-lies/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The terrible state of public education has paid huge dividends in ignorance. 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