--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Education should try to lessen the…" description: "\"Education should try to lessen the obstacles, diminish the friction, invigorate the energy, and should train minds to react, not at haphazard, but by c..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de4/henry-adams-1542_choices_education-should-try-to-lessen-the-obsta_1623321.jpg" --- # Education should try to lessen the obstacles, diminish the… ![“Education should try to lessen the obstacles, diminish the friction, invigorate the energy, and should train minds to react, not at haphazard, but by choice, on the lines of force that attract their world. What one knows is, in youth, of little moment; they know enough who know how to learn.” quote by Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de4/henry-adams-1542_choices_education-should-try-to-lessen-the-obsta_1623321.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de4/henry-adams-1542_choices_education-should-try-to-lessen-the-obsta_1623321.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de4/henry-adams-1542_choices_education-should-try-to-lessen-the-obsta_1623321.jpg) > “Education should try to lessen the obstacles, diminish the friction, invigorate the energy, and should train minds to react, not at haphazard, but by choice, on the lines of force that attract their world. What one knows is, in youth, of little moment; they know enough who know how to learn.” [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Education should reduce barriers, energize learning, and teach deliberate, purposeful action rather than random reaction. **In simple terms:** Education must lower obstacles and teach purposeful action. Key Takeaway Focus on purposeful learning and reducing friction. Themes education empowerment mindfulness Mood inspirational thoughtful Type educational motivational When to use this quote - classroom design - curriculum development - personal growth Key Concepts learning theory psychology motivation Questions to Reflect On - What obstacles hinder effective learning today? - How can we teach choice over habit? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choices/) [Diminish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diminish/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Education Try](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education-try-303093/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/force/) [Friction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friction/) [Haphazard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/haphazard/) [Know how](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-how/) [Know Learn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-learn/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Knows Youth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows-youth-303092/) [Lessen Obstacles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lessen-obstacles-303094/) [Lines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lines/) [Little moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/little-moments/) [Littles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/littles/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Obstacles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obstacles/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Train](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/train/) [Train Minds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/train-minds-303095/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [Youth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/youth/) ## Related quotes > [What one knows is, in youth, of little moment; they know enough who know how to learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-one-knows-is-in-youth-of-little-moment-they-know-enough-who-know/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The ability to think straight, some knowledge of the past, some vision of the future, some skill to do useful service, some urge to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-gildersleeve/the-ability-to-think-straight-some-knowledge-of-the-past-some-vision-2/) [Virginia Gildersleeve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-gildersleeve/) > [The ability to think straight, some knowledge of the past, some vision of the future, some urge to fit that service into the well-being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-gildersleeve/the-ability-to-think-straight-some-knowledge-of-the-past-some-vision/) [Virginia Gildersleeve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-gildersleeve/) > [Satan knows that youth is the springtime of life when all things are new and young people are most vulnerable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-taft-benson/satan-knows-that-youth-is-the-springtime-of-life-when-all-things-are/) [Ezra Taft Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-taft-benson/) > [Let us train our minds to desire what the situation demands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-us-train-our-minds-to-desire-what-the-situation-demands/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“When we begin the day with gratitude, we train our minds to look for the positive rather than focusing on the challenges, frustrations, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-j-scott/when-we-begin-the-day-with-gratitude-we-train-our-minds-to-look-for/) [S.J. Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-j-scott/) > [“Through meditation we can train our minds in such a way that negative qualities are abandoned and positive qualities are generated and enhanced.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama-xiv/through-meditation-we-can-train-our-minds-in-such-a-way-that-negative/) [Dalai Lama XIV](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama-xiv/) > [All of us can improve the quality of our lives if we practice the art of self-care and train our minds to think thoughts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-hay/all-of-us-can-improve-the-quality-of-our-lives-if-we-practice-the-art/) [Louise Hay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-hay/) > [“Successful men and women train their minds to think only about what they want to happen in their lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/newberry-tommy/successful-men-and-women-train-their-minds-to-think-only-about-what/) [Newberry, Tommy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/newberry-tommy/) > [They know enough who know how to learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/they-know-enough-who-know-how-to-learn/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [If you dread the thought of wasted time in meetings, chances are that your team members feel the same way. Team members are also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-zwilling/if-you-dread-the-thought-of-wasted-time-in-meetings-chances-are-that/) [Martin Zwilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-zwilling/) > [Friendships do not grow up in any carefully tended and contemplated fashion… They begin haphazard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-morley/friendships-do-not-grow-up-in-any-carefully-tended-and-contemplated/) [Christopher Morley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-morley/) > [But amid much elegance and precision, the details of life and the Universe also exhibit haphazard, jury-rigged arrangements and much poor planning. What shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/but-amid-much-elegance-and-precision-the-details-of-life-and-the/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [The bourgeois thinkers of the eighteenth century thus turned Aristotle's formula on its head: satisfactions which the Greek philosopher had identified with leisure were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-bourgeois-thinkers-of-the-eighteenth-century-thus-turned/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [These days I keep a journal, so I'm constantly sketching down my thoughts, or lines that come to me...ideas for songs. And then when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ani-difranco/these-days-i-keep-a-journal-so-i-m-constantly-sketching-down-my/) [Ani DiFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ani-difranco/) ## More by Henry Adams > [I am fairly tired--bored beyond endurance--by the world we live in, and its ideals, and am ready to say so, not violently, but kindly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/i-am-fairly-tired-bored-beyond-endurance-by-the-world-we-live-in-and/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [“One had heard and read a great deal about death, and even seen a little of it, and knew by heart the thousand commonplaces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/one-had-heard-and-read-a-great-deal-about-death-and-even-seen-a/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [Chaos often breeds life, when order breeds habit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/chaos-often-breeds-life-when-order-breeds-habit/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [The chief wonder of education is that it does not ruin everybody concerned in it, teachers and taught.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/the-chief-wonder-of-education-is-that-it-does-not-ruin-everybody/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [The American President resembles the commander of a ship at sea. He must have a helm to grasp, a course to steer, a port…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/the-american-president-resembles-the-commander-of-a-ship-at-sea-he/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [The proof that a philosopher does not know what he is talking about is apt to sadden his followers before it reacts on himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/the-proof-that-a-philosopher-does-not-know-what-he-is-talking-about/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [No man should be in politics unless he would honestly rather not be there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/no-man-should-be-in-politics-unless-he-would-honestly-rather-not-be/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [In the history of the United States, there is no continuity at all. You can cut through it anywhere and nothing on this side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/in-the-history-of-the-united-states-there-is-no-continuity-at-all-you/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [“Washington was no politician as we understand the word," replied Ratcliffe abruptly. "He stood outside of politics. The thing couldn't be done today. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/washington-was-no-politician-as-we-understand-the-word-replied/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [Power when wielded by abnormal energy is the most serious of facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/power-when-wielded-by-abnormal-energy-is-the-most-serious-of-facts/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [If I grapple with sin in my own strength, the devil knows he may go to sleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/if-i-grapple-with-sin-in-my-own-strength-the-devil-knows-he-may-go-to/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [All State education is a sort of dynamo machine for polarizing the popular mind; for turning and holding its lines of force in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/all-state-education-is-a-sort-of-dynamo-machine-for-polarizing-the/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [You may cut off the heads of every rich man now living--of every statesman--every literary, and every scientific authority, without in the least changing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/you-may-cut-off-the-heads-of-every-rich-man-now-living-of-every/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [History is the most aristocratic of all literary pursuits, because it obliges the historian to be rich as well as educated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/history-is-the-most-aristocratic-of-all-literary-pursuits-because-it/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [The philosopher says--I am, and the church scouts his philosophy. She answers:--No! you are NOT, you have no existence of your own. You were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/the-philosopher-says-i-am-and-the-church-scouts-his-philosophy-she/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) [Explore all 230 Henry Adams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) ## More Choices quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [“Don’t allow anyone to pressure you into taking a job in a field that doesn’t feel right in your gut. You are the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-james/don-t-allow-anyone-to-pressure-you-into-taking-a-job-in-a-field-that/) [Alison James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-james/) > [When you have a choice, choose happy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pancho-barnes/when-you-have-a-choice-choose-happy/) [Pancho Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pancho-barnes/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Movies have power. Power to impact society and the choices we make. I want to entertain, but I also want to say something to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-prince-bythewood/movies-have-power-power-to-impact-society-and-the-choices-we-make-i/) [Gina Prince-Bythewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gina-prince-bythewood/) > [If you have a different mindset, you will have a different outcome: if you make different choices from your peers, your life will then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-ma/if-you-have-a-different-mindset-you-will-have-a-different-outcome-if/) [Jack Ma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-ma/) > [Personally, I prefer contemporary films, but the market calls for more period choices, especially since China opened up a cinema market in Hong Kong.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donnie-yen/personally-i-prefer-contemporary-films-but-the-market-calls-for-more/) [Donnie Yen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donnie-yen/) > [Clarissa," he said, "here with the vampire, I see. When things have settled a bit, we really must discuss you choice in pets..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/clarissa-he-said-here-with-the-vampire-i-see-when-things-have-settled/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [Change is inevitable but personal growth is a choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/change-is-inevitable-but-personal-growth-is-a-choice/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [Time hath not yet so dried this blood of mine, Nor age so eat up my invention, Nor fortune made such havoc of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/time-hath-not-yet-so-dried-this-blood-of-mine-nor-age-so-eat-up-my/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [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/) > [Act always so as to increase the number of choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-von-foerster/act-always-so-as-to-increase-the-number-of-choices/) [Heinz von Foerster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-von-foerster/) > [Give me a platter of choice finnan haddie, freshly cooked in its bath of water and milk, add melted butter, a slice or two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-claiborne/give-me-a-platter-of-choice-finnan-haddie-freshly-cooked-in-its-bath/) [Craig Claiborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-claiborne/) > [I don't know that any woman could ever not think about that at some point - even making the choice not to do it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-watts/i-don-t-know-that-any-woman-could-ever-not-think-about-that-at-some/) [Naomi Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-watts/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) [Browse all 11,466 Choices quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choices/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Education should try to lessen the obstacles, diminish the friction, invigorate the energy, and should train minds to react, not at haphazard, but by choice, on the lines of force that attract their world. 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