--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And what is a good citizen? Simply one…" description: "\"And what is a good citizen? Simply one who never says, does or thinks anything that is unusual. Schools are maintained in order to bring this uniformit..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbe/h-l-mencken-245_certain_and-what-is-a-good-citizen-simply-one-wh_1653105.png" --- # And what is a good citizen? Simply one who never says… ![“And what is a good citizen? Simply one who never says, does or thinks anything that is unusual. Schools are maintained in order to bring this uniformity up to the highest possible point. A school is a hopper into which children are heaved while they are still young and tender; therein they are…” quote by H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbe/h-l-mencken-245_certain_and-what-is-a-good-citizen-simply-one-wh_1653105.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbe/h-l-mencken-245_certain_and-what-is-a-good-citizen-simply-one-wh_1653105.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbe/h-l-mencken-245_certain_and-what-is-a-good-citizen-simply-one-wh_1653105.png) > “And what is a good citizen? Simply one who never says, does or thinks anything that is unusual. Schools are maintained in order to bring this uniformity up to the highest possible point. A school is a hopper into which children are heaved while they are still young and tender; therein they are pressed into certain standard shapes and covered from head to heels with official rubber-stamps.” [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Mencken critiques schools as institutions that enforce conformity, suppressing individuality and creativity. **In simple terms:** Schools push uniformity over individuality. Key Takeaway Encourage critical thinking over rote conformity. Themes education conformity individuality Mood critical serious Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - classroom teaching - policy reform - parental guidance Key Concepts social control institutional critique pedagogy Questions to Reflect On - How can schools balance standards with creativity? - What role should individuality play in education? A Different Perspective Uniformity can stifle innovation and personal growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Certain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certain/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Citizen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/citizen/) [Citizen Simply](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/citizen-simply-674478/) [Citizens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/citizens/) [Conformity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conformity/) [Covered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/covered/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Good citizen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-citizen/) [Heels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heels/) [Highest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/highest/) [Officials](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/officials/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Peer pressure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peer-pressure/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Rubber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rubber/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) [School Hopper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school-hopper-674477/) [Schools Maintained](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/schools-maintained-674476/) [Shapes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shapes/) [Stamps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stamps/) [Standards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/standards/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Uniformity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uniformity/) [Unusual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unusual/) [Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young/) ## Related quotes > [If it is right that schools should be maintained by the whole community for the well-being of the whole, it is right also that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-carnegie/if-it-is-right-that-schools-should-be-maintained-by-the-whole/) [Andrew Carnegie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-carnegie/) > [Equivalence signifies uniformity and thus immobility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-schauberger/equivalence-signifies-uniformity-and-thus-immobility/) [Viktor Schauberger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-schauberger/) > [What's sometimes really overwhelming in Sweden is the uniformity. 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I can't go on dancing The same that were taught me ten seasons ago; The schoolmaster over the land…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-haynes-bayly/o-give-me-new-figures-i-can-t-go-on-dancing-the-same-that-were-taught/) [Thomas Haynes Bayly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-haynes-bayly/) > [Most of today's film actresses are typical of a mass-production age: living dolls who look as if they came off an assembly line and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-lawrenson/most-of-today-s-film-actresses-are-typical-of-a-mass-production-age/) [Helen Lawrenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-lawrenson/) > [Beneath the dingy uniformity of international fashions in dress, man remains what he has always been; a splendid fighting animal, a self-sacrificing hero, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ralph-inge/beneath-the-dingy-uniformity-of-international-fashions-in-dress-man/) [William Ralph Inge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ralph-inge/) > [Withdraw allegiance from the old categories of the Negative (law, limit, castration, lack, lacuna), which the Western thought has so long held sacred as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/withdraw-allegiance-from-the-old-categories-of-the-negative-law-limit/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [The uniform necessities of human nature produce in a great measure uniformity of life, and for part of the day make one place like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-uniform-necessities-of-human-nature-produce-in-a-great-measure/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [A media system wants ostensible diversity that conceals an actual uniformity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/a-media-system-wants-ostensible-diversity-that-conceals-an-actual/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) > [In Europe, radio stations are owned by a variety of different entities, so there is less uniformity on radio programming and more opportunity for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-starland/in-europe-radio-stations-are-owned-by-a-variety-of-different-entities/) [Wendy Starland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-starland/) > [“Uniformity in the common law, consisting of broad principles like the "reasonable person" standard, generally permits adjustment for the circumstances. This type of uniform…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-howard/uniformity-in-the-common-law-consisting-of-broad-principles-like-the/) [Philip K. Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-howard/) > [Science has sometimes been said to be opposed to faith, and inconsistent with it. But all science, in fact, rests on a basis of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tryon-edwards/science-has-sometimes-been-said-to-be-opposed-to-faith-and/) [Tryon Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tryon-edwards/) > [Daily contact with some teachers is itself all-sided ethical education for the child without a spoken precept. Here, too, the real advantage of male…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-stanley-hall/daily-contact-with-some-teachers-is-itself-all-sided-ethical/) [G. Stanley Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-stanley-hall/) ## More by H. L. 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Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [So few men are really worth knowing, that it seems a shameful waste to let an anthropoid prejudice stand in the way of free…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/so-few-men-are-really-worth-knowing-that-it-seems-a-shameful-waste-to/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Man's objection to love is that it dies hard; woman's, that when it is dead, it stays dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/man-s-objection-to-love-is-that-it-dies-hard-woman-s-that-when-it-is/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [The lunatic fringe wags the underdog.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-lunatic-fringe-wags-the-underdog/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Women have simple tastes. They get pleasure out of the conversation of children in arms and men in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/women-have-simple-tastes-they-get-pleasure-out-of-the-conversation-of/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [The critic, to interpret his artist, even to understand his artist, must be able to get into the mind of his artist; he must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-critic-to-interpret-his-artist-even-to-understand-his-artist-must/) [H. L. 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Mencken quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) ## More Certain quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [One can put some trust in the gratitude of a sovereign, and also in that of his family; under certain conditions, one can even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-von-bismarck/one-can-put-some-trust-in-the-gratitude-of-a-sovereign-and-also-in/) [Otto von Bismarck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-von-bismarck/) > [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. 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