---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Show me a university which is a hotbed of…"
description: "\"Show me a university which is a hotbed of thin-skinned offence-taking, where every unacceptable idea is policed and every person who happens to hold on..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e6/howard-jacobson-1484_crime_show-me-a-university-which-is-a-hotbed-o_2474788.jpg"
---

#  Show me a university which is a hotbed of thin-skinned…

![“Show me a university which is a hotbed of thin-skinned offence-taking, where every unacceptable idea is policed and every person who happens to hold one is hounded out of a job, and I will show you a university that isn't a university but an ideological prison camp and indoctrination centre.” quote by Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e6/howard-jacobson-1484_crime_show-me-a-university-which-is-a-hotbed-o_2474788.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e6/howard-jacobson-1484_crime_show-me-a-university-which-is-a-hotbed-o_2474788.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e6/howard-jacobson-1484_crime_show-me-a-university-which-is-a-hotbed-o_2474788.jpg)

> “Show me a university which is a hotbed of thin-skinned offence-taking, where every unacceptable idea is policed and every person who happens to hold one is hounded out of a job, and I will show you a university that isn't a university but an ideological prison camp and indoctrination centre.”

[Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Universities that suppress dissent become ideological prisons, stifling free inquiry and diversity of thought.

**In simple terms:** Suppressing dissent turns campuses into prisons.

Key Takeaway

Defend academic freedom.

Themes

free speech academic freedom campus culture political correctness

Mood

critical concerned

Type

political social commentary

When to use this quote

- faculty hiring
- student activism
- policy debates
- public discourse

Key Concepts

authoritarianism censorship ideological conformity

Questions to Reflect On

- How can universities balance free speech with respectful discourse?
- What safeguards protect intellectual diversity?

A Different Perspective

Even regulated environments can foster critical thinking if managed well.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crime/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Job](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/job/) [Job University](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/job-university-799678/) [Person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/person/) [Prison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prison/) [University](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/university/) [University Hotbed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/university-hotbed-799676/) [University Ideological](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/university-ideological-799677/) [University Isn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/university-isn-799675/) [Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/will/)

## Related quotes

> [The job in Wisconsin was the first genuine offer of an academic job in a university which I received.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-cole-kleene/the-job-in-wisconsin-was-the-first-genuine-offer-of-an-academic-job/)

[Stephen Cole Kleene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-cole-kleene/)

> [Teaching at university isn't like teaching in an art school.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kruger/teaching-at-university-isn-t-like-teaching-in-an-art-school/)

[Barbara Kruger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kruger/)

> [At the time, there were very few foreign names in the press and they were all factory workers. I thought I'd never get a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-rakosi/at-the-time-there-were-very-few-foreign-names-in-the-press-and-they/)

[Carl Rakosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-rakosi/)

> [Eventually I gave up teaching at the St. Paul Gallery because of disagreements with the philosophy of that museum, and I got a job…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/eventually-i-gave-up-teaching-at-the-st-paul-gallery-because-of/)

[Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/)

> [Changi became my university instead of my prison. Among the inmates there were experts in all walks of life - the high and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-clavell/changi-became-my-university-instead-of-my-prison-among-the-inmates/)

[James Clavell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-clavell/)

> [Combining the experience of a seasoned university president with the analysis of a respected legal scholar, Derek Bok explores what he concludes are 'signs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-h-t-rhodes/combining-the-experience-of-a-seasoned-university-president-with-the/)

[Frank H. T. Rhodes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-h-t-rhodes/)

> [In a personal way, to do with family and the father-son relationship, in a kind of artistic way with regard to him being an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-serkis/in-a-personal-way-to-do-with-family-and-the-father-son-relationship/)

[Andy Serkis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-serkis/)

> [Well, you can certainly teach free-throwing. And you can teach the boys to pass at angles and run in curves. - University of Kansas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darryl-dawkins/well-you-can-certainly-teach-free-throwing-and-you-can-teach-the-boys/)

[Darryl Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darryl-dawkins/)

> [The library is…a university of the people, from which the students are never graduated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-sharp/the-library-is-a-university-of-the-people-from-which-the-students-are/)

[Katharine Sharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-sharp/)

> [I hadn't been to drama school. I hadn't been to university and acted there. I had no qualifications behind me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-jason/i-hadn-t-been-to-drama-school-i-hadn-t-been-to-university-and-acted/)

[David Jason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-jason/)

> [I was born in Cuba. At the age of 14 years of age I was involved in a revolution. We were suffering from a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-cruz/i-was-born-in-cuba-at-the-age-of-14-years-of-age-i-was-involved-in-a/)

[Ted Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-cruz/)

> [Plant flowers in others' gardens and your life becomes a bouquet! Submitted by Lisa Letto, Coordinator, Nutrition Resource and Volunteer Centre, College of Pharmacy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/plant-flowers-in-others-gardens-and-your-life-becomes-a-bouquet/)

[Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

> [When I was a sophomore at USC, I was a socialist, pretty much to the left. But not when I left the university. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wayne/when-i-was-a-sophomore-at-usc-i-was-a-socialist-pretty-much-to-the/)

[John Wayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wayne/)

> [Columbia University, where I went to study in 1993, insisted its undergraduates learn a foreign language, so I discovered French.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aravind-adiga/columbia-university-where-i-went-to-study-in-1993-insisted-its/)

[Aravind Adiga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aravind-adiga/)

> [I gave my archive to Emory University because there's a really dear friend who teaches there, Rudolph Byrd, and he's the editor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/i-gave-my-archive-to-emory-university-because-there-s-a-really-dear/)

[Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/)

## More by Howard Jacobson

> [Everything is allowable in literature, but what is not allowable in criticism is objection on the grounds of probability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/everything-is-allowable-in-literature-but-what-is-not-allowable-in/)

[Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/)

> [There's a simple arithmetical logic at work. Build more unaffordable and not always architecturally sympathetic apartments, watch the rents rise, the tarts leave, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/there-s-a-simple-arithmetical-logic-at-work-build-more-unaffordable/)

[Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/)

> [The novel is a thing of irony and ambiguity. That's at the heart of 'J', a world that has stopped arguing with itself. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/the-novel-is-a-thing-of-irony-and-ambiguity-that-s-at-the-heart-of-j/)

[Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/)

> [I was a 'reverence for life' man - 'see life steadily and see it whole' - in my days as a lecturer in English…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/i-was-a-reverence-for-life-man-see-life-steadily-and-see-it-whole-in/)

[Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/)

> [How Donald Trump has come so far with so few words - how he even managed to keep up conversationally with all those beauty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/how-donald-trump-has-come-so-far-with-so-few-words-how-he-even/)

[Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/)

> [It is a nonsense to me when people come along and tell me not to be pessimistic; or that culture has always been going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/it-is-a-nonsense-to-me-when-people-come-along-and-tell-me-not-to-be/)

[Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/)

> [For me a Writing Day was an occasion for self-reproach and panic, a time to lament the passing of the years, stare out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/for-me-a-writing-day-was-an-occasion-for-self-reproach-and-panic-a/)

[Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/)

> [Even the wordiest of men know there's a time to button it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/even-the-wordiest-of-men-know-there-s-a-time-to-button-it/)

[Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/)

> [That a nation's statuary will reflect beliefs and attitudes that are no longer current or congenial hardly needs arguing. In most instances, it doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/that-a-nation-s-statuary-will-reflect-beliefs-and-attitudes-that-are/)

[Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/)

> [“Was he a bad man or just a foolish one? He didn't feel bad to himself. As a husband he believed himself to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/was-he-a-bad-man-or-just-a-foolish-one-he-didn-t-feel-bad-to-himself/)

[Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/)

> [The young come in many guises: vigorous and passionate, vindictive and mean-spirited. And not every person over 65 is dozing in a retirement home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/the-young-come-in-many-guises-vigorous-and-passionate-vindictive-and/)

[Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/)

> [To a philosopher like Nietzsche, the Jew is culpable not for rejecting Christianity but for inventing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/to-a-philosopher-like-nietzsche-the-jew-is-culpable-not-for-rejecting/)

[Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/)

> [Shakespeare's always been sitting on my back, since I began reading. And, certainly, as a writer, he's who I hear all the time. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/shakespeare-s-always-been-sitting-on-my-back-since-i-began-reading/)

[Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/)

> [A novelist should make you realize nothing is stable. If you don't believe anything with robustness, you're doing something more radical than anything else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/a-novelist-should-make-you-realize-nothing-is-stable-if-you-don-t/)

[Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/)

> [The Stop The War Coalition is a sort of home to Jew-haters because its hate music about Israel is so catchy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/the-stop-the-war-coalition-is-a-sort-of-home-to-jew-haters-because/)

[Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/)

[Explore all 235 Howard Jacobson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/)

## More Crime quotes

> [Joking about violence is not funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/perez-hilton/joking-about-violence-is-not-funny/)

[Perez Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/perez-hilton/)

> [“Crime and punishment can be summed up in two classifications: there are bad people and there are people who get into bad situations. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnnie-dent-jr/crime-and-punishment-can-be-summed-up-in-two-classifications-there/)

[Johnnie Dent Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnnie-dent-jr/)

> [With 'Pretty Girls,' I saw the opportunity to talk not just about crime but what crime leaves behind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karin-slaughter/with-pretty-girls-i-saw-the-opportunity-to-talk-not-just-about-crime/)

[Karin Slaughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karin-slaughter/)

> [“The jailers, the Court, everyone in that building – it wasn’t about justice; it was about obedience and intimidation…about maintaining order. Fear accomplished that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-allan/the-jailers-the-court-everyone-in-that-building-it-wasn-t-about/)

[Jay Allan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-allan/)

> [Taking notes while watching Forensic Files and Snapped. I don't want to make the same mistakes the criminals do! ;)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/taking-notes-while-watching-forensic-files-and-snapped-i-don-t-want/)

[Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/)

> [A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/a-man-could-be-a-lover-and-defender-of-the-wilderness-without-ever-in/)

[Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/)

> [Nations sometimes flourish by denying the crimes that brought them into being. Only when the original invasion, occupation, extermination or usurpation has been safely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/nations-sometimes-flourish-by-denying-the-crimes-that-brought-them/)

[Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/)

> [The danger that may really threaten (crime fiction) is that soon there will be more writers than readers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/the-danger-that-may-really-threaten-crime-fiction-is-that-soon-there/)

[Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/)

> [“a crime to fell a tree and light it on fire, where coals of hardened shit warmed and stunk up homes,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/a-crime-to-fell-a-tree-and-light-it-on-fire-where-coals-of-hardened/)

[Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/)

> [A great read; an exciting, frightening account of organized crime today. But like all important works of nonfiction, it goes further… This book is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/le-ly-hayslip/a-great-read-an-exciting-frightening-account-of-organized-crime-today/)

[Le Ly Hayslip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/le-ly-hayslip/)

> [History is the study of the world's crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/history-is-the-study-of-the-world-s-crime/)

[Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/)

> [If it comes to a question of law, the charges they brought against me - the Espionage Act - is called the quintessential political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/if-it-comes-to-a-question-of-law-the-charges-they-brought-against-me/)

[Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/)

> [Too much virtue can be criminal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-racine/too-much-virtue-can-be-criminal/)

[Jean Racine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-racine/)

> [The federal prison population increased by almost 800 percent between 1980 and 2013, often at a far faster rate than the Bureau of Prisons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-yates/the-federal-prison-population-increased-by-almost-800-percent-between/)

[Sally Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-yates/)

> [ \[P\]rogress, however, has not sufficiently infiltrated the Interior Ministry, affording protection to those who participated in the Bytyqi murders and other egregious Milosevic-era crimes. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avis-bohlen/p-rogress-however-has-not-sufficiently-infiltrated-the-interior/)

[Avis Bohlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avis-bohlen/)

[Browse all 8,359 Crime quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crime/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Show me a university which is a hotbed of thin-skinned offence-taking, where every unacceptable idea is policed and every person who happens to hold one is hounded out of a job, and I will show you a university that isn't a university but an ideological prison camp and indoctrination centre.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Howard Jacobson"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/show-me-a-university-which-is-a-hotbed-of-thin-skinned-offence-taking/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Crime"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/show-me-a-university-which-is-a-hotbed-of-thin-skinned-offence-taking/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e6/howard-jacobson-1484_crime_show-me-a-university-which-is-a-hotbed-o_2474788.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e6/howard-jacobson-1484_crime_show-me-a-university-which-is-a-hotbed-o_2474788.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e6/howard-jacobson-1484_crime_show-me-a-university-which-is-a-hotbed-o_2474788.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Show me a university which is a hotbed of thin-skinned offence-taking, where every unacceptable idea is…” — Howard Jacobson",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Howard Jacobson",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Show me a university which is...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/show-me-a-university-which-is-a-hotbed-of-thin-skinned-offence-taking/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/show-me-a-university-which-is-a-hotbed-of-thin-skinned-offence-taking/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
