--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What we lack is a basic willingness to…" description: "\"What we lack is a basic willingness to see literature as providing some kind of necessary foundation. Our society still expects schools to prepare thei..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80e/gwee-li-sui-74895_books_what-we-lack-is-a-basic-willingness-to-s_1083341.jpg" --- # What we lack is a basic willingness to see literature as… ![“What we lack is a basic willingness to see literature as providing some kind of necessary foundation. Our society still expects schools to prepare their charges for work only and not for life. As such, literature is construed as at best technically useless and random, at worst socially disruptive.” quote by Gwee Li Sui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80e/gwee-li-sui-74895_books_what-we-lack-is-a-basic-willingness-to-s_1083341.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80e/gwee-li-sui-74895_books_what-we-lack-is-a-basic-willingness-to-s_1083341.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80e/gwee-li-sui-74895_books_what-we-lack-is-a-basic-willingness-to-s_1083341.jpg) > “What we lack is a basic willingness to see literature as providing some kind of necessary foundation. Our society still expects schools to prepare their charges for work only and not for life. As such, literature is construed as at best technically useless and random, at worst socially disruptive.” [Gwee Li Sui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwee-li-sui/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Literature should be seen as essential for life skills, not just vocational training. **In simple terms:** Books teach life, not just jobs. Key Takeaway Advocate for literary education. Themes education literature lifelong learning Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - school curricula - parental guidance - policy debates - personal development Key Concepts humanities critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - How can literature be integrated with job training? - What life skills does reading develop? A Different Perspective Some argue practical skills outweigh literary benefits. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Disruptive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disruptive/) [Foundation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foundation/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Life Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-literature-467861/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Literature Construed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature-construed-2762251/) [Literature Providing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature-providing-2762250/) [Our society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our-society/) [Providing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/providing/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Useless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/useless/) [Willingness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/willingness/) [Willingness Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/willingness-literature-2762252/) [Worst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worst/) ## Related quotes > [We write from life and call it literature, and literature lives because we are in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-sionil-jos/we-write-from-life-and-call-it-literature-and-literature-lives/) [F. Sionil José](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-sionil-jos/) > [Life without literature is a life reduced to penury. It expands you in every way. It illuminates what you’re doing. It shows you possibilities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-h-abrams/life-without-literature-is-a-life-reduced-to-penury-it-expands-you-in/) [M. H. Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-h-abrams/) > [This, indeed, is one of the eternal paradoxes of both life and literature-that without passion little gets done; yet, without control of that passion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-l-lucas/this-indeed-is-one-of-the-eternal-paradoxes-of-both-life-and/) [F. L. Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-l-lucas/) > [“Measured out my life in literature. --Jessica S”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/smith-magazine/measured-out-my-life-in-literature-jessica-s/) [SMITH Magazine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/smith-magazine/) > [Life and literature is a question of what one thrills to, and further than that no man shall ever go without putting his foot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/life-and-literature-is-a-question-of-what-one-thrills-to-and-further/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) > [I had as yet no notion that life every now and then becomes literature—not for long, of course, but long enough to be what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-maclean/i-had-as-yet-no-notion-that-life-every-now-and-then-becomes/) [Norman Maclean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-maclean/) > [“People keep asking me, "Where do you get the ideas for your books?" From the worst moments in my life. I call that "literature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandy-nathan/people-keep-asking-me-where-do-you-get-the-ideas-for-your-books-from/) [Sandy Nathan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandy-nathan/) > [“That there are only two things that really matter in life. Literature and love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-kalotay/that-there-are-only-two-things-that-really-matter-in-life-literature/) [Daphne Kalotay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-kalotay/) > [“True life life at last discovered and illuminated the only life therefore really lived that life is literature.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/true-life-life-at-last-discovered-and-illuminated-the-only-life/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [To bring anything really to life in literature we can't be lifelike: we have to be literature-like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/northrop-frye/to-bring-anything-really-to-life-in-literature-we-can-t-be-lifelike/) [Northrop Frye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/northrop-frye/) > [The relation between life and literature - a final antimony - is one of mutual plagiarism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/the-relation-between-life-and-literature-a-final-antimony-is-one-of/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [“...there are only two things that really matter in life. Literature and love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-kalotay/there-are-only-two-things-that-really-matter-in-life-literature-and/) [Daphne Kalotay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-kalotay/) > [Life without literature is a life reduced to penury.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-h-abrams/life-without-literature-is-a-life-reduced-to-penury/) [M. H. Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-h-abrams/) > [It is the life in literature that acts upon life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/it-is-the-life-in-literature-that-acts-upon-life/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [Those are the two things: a sense of loving and being loved, and being creative - that is what life is made up of,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-dessaix/those-are-the-two-things-a-sense-of-loving-and-being-loved-and-being/) [Robert Dessaix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-dessaix/) ## More by Gwee Li Sui > [Literature ultimately helps one to ground a deeper and wider outlook. An over-directed life without the inner resource to step outside of itself is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwee-li-sui/literature-ultimately-helps-one-to-ground-a-deeper-and-wider-outlook/) [Gwee Li Sui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwee-li-sui/) > [ People have explored these questions \['Why am I here?', 'What is life about?'\] in poems, not that they found their answers, but in reading… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwee-li-sui/people-have-explored-these-questions-why-am-i-here-what-is-life-about/) [Gwee Li Sui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwee-li-sui/) [Explore all 3 Gwee Li Sui quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwee-li-sui/) ## 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! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. Krebs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-k-krebs/) > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) [Markus Herz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-herz/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. 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": "What we lack is a basic willingness to see literature as providing some kind of necessary foundation. Our society still expects schools to prepare their charges for work only and not for life. 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