--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A teacher is not someone you need…" description: "\"A teacher is not someone you need perpetually. You need them to show you how to get through the doorway; but once you get through the doorway, you are ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/frederick-lenz-8_awareness_a-teacher-is-not-someone-you-need-perpet_1970050.jpg" --- # A teacher is not someone you need perpetually. You need… ![“A teacher is not someone you need perpetually. You need them to show you how to get through the doorway; but once you get through the doorway, you are on your own.” quote by Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/frederick-lenz-8_awareness_a-teacher-is-not-someone-you-need-perpet_1970050.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/frederick-lenz-8_awareness_a-teacher-is-not-someone-you-need-perpet_1970050.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/frederick-lenz-8_awareness_a-teacher-is-not-someone-you-need-perpet_1970050.jpg) > “A teacher is not someone you need perpetually. You need them to show you how to get through the doorway; but once you get through the doorway, you are on your own.” [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Teachers guide you to the threshold of knowledge, after which you must navigate independently. **In simple terms:** Teachers open doors, then you walk alone. Key Takeaway Value guidance but embrace self-reliance. Themes education independence growth Mood inspirational reflective Type educational motivational When to use this quote - academic pursuits - career development - skill acquisition Key Concepts mentorship selfdirected learning Questions to Reflect On - What doors have teachers opened for you? - How do you continue learning after formal instruction? A Different Perspective May undervalue ongoing mentorship. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Awareness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awareness/) [Buddhism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buddhism/) [Doorway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doorway/) [Doorways](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doorways/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Mentorship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mentorship/) [Need Doorway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/need-doorway-3303581/) [Need Perpetually](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/need-perpetually-3303582/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Shows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shows/) [Teacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teacher/) [Teacher Need](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teacher-need-844883/) ## Related quotes > [When thought stops, a doorway opens into dimensions that are pure and unassociated. They're nonbinding realities. They're non-samskaric, which simply means that they're beautiful;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/when-thought-stops-a-doorway-opens-into-dimensions-that-are-pure-and/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Between the creative, open and spontaneous approach to life, and the highly disciplined, pragmatic approach, there's a doorway, if you can find it -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/between-the-creative-open-and-spontaneous-approach-to-life-and-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The chakra is a doorway. These are doorways that lead you into other dimensions. But you have to focus on them to the exclusion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-chakra-is-a-doorway-these-are-doorways-that-lead-you-into-other/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [At the time of death we walk through a doorway and our spirit, which is very thin, slides through into another world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/at-the-time-of-death-we-walk-through-a-doorway-and-our-spirit-which/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [If you line everything up, just right, you walk through a doorway where the world as you know it collapses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-line-everything-up-just-right-you-walk-through-a-doorway-where/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Death is a doorway. It is a very small, thin doorway and only a portion of our being can walk through.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/death-is-a-doorway-it-is-a-very-small-thin-doorway-and-only-a-portion/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The later stages of the enlightenment process are trickier, and it is really essential to have a teacher then. You need correction, direction, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-later-stages-of-the-enlightenment-process-are-trickier-and-it-is/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Death is a doorway, Niko, that leads to an adventure greater than any you have ever known.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-morris/death-is-a-doorway-niko-that-leads-to-an-adventure-greater-than-any/) [Janet Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-morris/) > [To find one's way anywhere one has to find one's door, just like Alice, you see. You take too much of one thing and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-rego/to-find-one-s-way-anywhere-one-has-to-find-one-s-door-just-like-alice/) [Paula Rego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-rego/) > [Faith, the least exclusive club on Earth, has the craftiest doorman. Every time I've stepped through its wide-open doorway, I find myself stepping out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/faith-the-least-exclusive-club-on-earth-has-the-craftiest-doorman/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [When you’ve worked hard and done well and walked through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-kawasaki/when-you-ve-worked-hard-and-done-well-and-walked-through-that-doorway/) [Guy Kawasaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-kawasaki/) > [Success is not a doorway, it's a stairway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dottie-walters/success-is-not-a-doorway-it-s-a-stairway/) [Dottie Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dottie-walters/) > [Imagination is the doorway you walk through into every future moment. Are you walking through doorways to pain or to joy?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-beck/imagination-is-the-doorway-you-walk-through-into-every-future-moment/) [Martha Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-beck/) > [She was standing in the airport of Copenhagen, staring at a doorway, trying to figure out if it was (a) a bathroom and (b)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-johnson/she-was-standing-in-the-airport-of-copenhagen-staring-at-a-doorway/) [Maureen Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-johnson/) > [Now I'm starting to think he wasn't supposed to be my whole life, he was just this doorway to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/now-i-m-starting-to-think-he-wasn-t-supposed-to-be-my-whole-life-he/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) ## More by Frederick Lenz > [There are places that are very draining. There are places where there is another dimensional crossover but to a dimension that is not powerful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/there-are-places-that-are-very-draining-there-are-places-where-there/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You can draw power from everything in your life. In order to do that, everything has to be set up in a proper way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-can-draw-power-from-everything-in-your-life-in-order-to-do-that/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Everyone will admire you when you do well. What a horrible thing to do to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everyone-will-admire-you-when-you-do-well-what-a-horrible-thing-to-do/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Nirvana is a word that means enlightenment, being beyond the illusion of birth and death, the illusion of pain, the illusion of love, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/nirvana-is-a-word-that-means-enlightenment-being-beyond-the-illusion/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I think the most miraculous thing is learning. I get out of the way and let the students learn. Then you get to watch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-think-the-most-miraculous-thing-is-learning-i-get-out-of-the-way/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [If you choose to draw from the inner well of free will, then you can make choices that are outside your current karmic patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-choose-to-draw-from-the-inner-well-of-free-will-then-you-can/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Enlightened people live in very charged states of attention, with a tremendous power circuiting through them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/enlightened-people-live-in-very-charged-states-of-attention-with-a/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Only alone can you go into eternity. Only alone can you feel the transcendental light. It is not a shared experience because if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/only-alone-can-you-go-into-eternity-only-alone-can-you-feel-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The sound man, immune as to a sacrifice of straw dogs, faces the passing human generations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-sound-man-immune-as-to-a-sacrifice-of-straw-dogs-faces-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Karma means changing planes of reality or changing fields of attention. There will be perhaps a resulting physical action stemming from the change of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/karma-means-changing-planes-of-reality-or-changing-fields-of/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You and I are both life. There's just the experience of every moment. We like to call them moments. There isn't really such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-and-i-are-both-life-there-s-just-the-experience-of-every-moment/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Why waste your time being around people who drag you down? You don't live forever, at least in this life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/why-waste-your-time-being-around-people-who-drag-you-down-you-don-t/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Everybody here is so caught up in the game of life they don't see death. They don't see beyond their deaths. They are on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everybody-here-is-so-caught-up-in-the-game-of-life-they-don-t-see/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) [Explore all 4,399 Frederick Lenz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) ## More Awareness quotes > [An enlightened awareness is within each one of us, right at this moment. This enlightened awareness is truly unborn and marvellously illuminating; and everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bankei-yotaku/an-enlightened-awareness-is-within-each-one-of-us-right-at-this/) [Bankei Yotaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bankei-yotaku/) > [We have a fear of facing ourselves. That is the obstacle. Experiencing the innermost core of our existence is very embarrassing to a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/we-have-a-fear-of-facing-ourselves-that-is-the-obstacle-experiencing/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [Listening is a very active awareness of the coming together of at least two lives. Listening, as far as I'm concerned, is certainly a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-rogers/listening-is-a-very-active-awareness-of-the-coming-together-of-at/) [Fred Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-rogers/) > [“In the worldly life, due to maadakta (intoxication of the ego of ‘I am Chandubhai’), one has completely lost awareness of everything about one’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/in-the-worldly-life-due-to-maadakta-intoxication-of-the-ego-of-i-am/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [A tree is a self: it is 'unseen shaping' more than it is leaves or bark, roots or cellulose or fruit ... What this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-swimme/a-tree-is-a-self-it-is-unseen-shaping-more-than-it-is-leaves-or-bark/) [Brian Swimme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-swimme/) > [I know the importance of highly trained awareness of the “moment” and the immediate and intuitive response of the photographer. It should be obvious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/i-know-the-importance-of-highly-trained-awareness-of-the-moment-and/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) > [The thing about living alone is that it gives you a lot of time to think. You don't necessarily reach any conclusions, because wisdom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-tropper/the-thing-about-living-alone-is-that-it-gives-you-a-lot-of-time-to/) [Jonathan Tropper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-tropper/) > [“It is not so much about fighting against the ego; it is more about harmonizing with it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-sara/it-is-not-so-much-about-fighting-against-the-ego-it-is-more-about/) [Grace Sara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-sara/) > [I'm part of a team that raises millions of dollars and raises awareness of HIV and AIDS all over the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-evangelista/i-m-part-of-a-team-that-raises-millions-of-dollars-and-raises/) [Linda Evangelista](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-evangelista/) > [“Don’t turn your face away. Once you’ve seen, you can no longer act like you don’t know. Open your eyes to the truth. 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