--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The Germans are notably literate; and…" description: "\"“The Germans are notably literate; and they had very fine technical schools. Their literacy enabled them to read \"Mein Kampf,\" and their technology ena..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba9/isabel-paterson-11023_education_the-germans-are-notably-literate-and-the_1651955.jpg" --- # The Germans are notably literate; and they had very fine… ![“The Germans are notably literate; and they had very fine technical schools. Their literacy enabled them to read "Mein Kampf," and their technology enabled them to build up a war machine which must destroy them. That is what education under the political power must do, once it has obtained full…” quote by Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba9/isabel-paterson-11023_education_the-germans-are-notably-literate-and-the_1651955.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba9/isabel-paterson-11023_education_the-germans-are-notably-literate-and-the_1651955.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba9/isabel-paterson-11023_education_the-germans-are-notably-literate-and-the_1651955.jpg) > ““The Germans are notably literate; and they had very fine technical schools. Their literacy enabled them to read "Mein Kampf," and their technology enabled them to build up a war machine which must destroy them. That is what education under the political power must do, once it has obtained full control. It routes human energy into the dead-end political channels.”” [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Education under authoritarian control can turn knowledge and technology into tools of destruction rather than progress. **In simple terms:** Education can be misused by oppressive regimes. Key Takeaway Guard education from political domination. Themes education politics technology ethics Mood cautious critical reflective Type political philosophical ethical When to use this quote - curriculum design - policy making - civil society activism - media literacy Key Concepts authoritarianism critical thinking misinformation Questions to Reflect On - How can societies protect education from political abuse? - What safeguards ensure knowledge serves humanity? A Different Perspective Education alone cannot prevent misuse without democratic safeguards. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Education Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education-political-662871/) [Germans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/germans/) [Germans Notably](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/germans-notably-662868/) [Kampf Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kampf-technology-662870/) [Mein kampf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mein-kampf/) [Notably Literate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/notably-literate-662869/) [Political power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political-power/) ## Related quotes > [About half my work in education is U.S. political reform around school districts and charter schools, and creating more room for entrepreneurial organizations to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reed-hastings/about-half-my-work-in-education-is-u-s-political-reform-around-school/) [Reed Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reed-hastings/) > [It doesnt hurt to repeat here the statement, still rejected by many people in spite of its obviousness, that education is a political act.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/it-doesnt-hurt-to-repeat-here-the-statement-still-rejected-by-many/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [Almost all education has a political motive: it aims at strengthening some group, national or religious or even social, in the competition with other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/almost-all-education-has-a-political-motive-it-aims-at-strengthening/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Education is very political, because when you educate the people, then you have a country that you can't fool anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angelique-kidjo/education-is-very-political-because-when-you-educate-the-people-then/) [Angelique Kidjo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angelique-kidjo/) > [Almost all education has a political motive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/almost-all-education-has-a-political-motive/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [All the public systems – administration, justice, education and political are designed to keep people with knowledge out. Such a system promotes mediocrity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rahul-gandhi/all-the-public-systems-administration-justice-education-and-political/) [Rahul Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rahul-gandhi/) > [Education is our only political safety. Outside of this ark all is deluge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/education-is-our-only-political-safety-outside-of-this-ark-all-is/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [“The effect of education on political attitudes is complicated, for democratic society. The self-professed aim of modern education is to "liberate" people from prejudices…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-fukuyama/the-effect-of-education-on-political-attitudes-is-complicated-for/) [Francis Fukuyama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-fukuyama/) > [“Education is political.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noel-castree/education-is-political/) [Noel Castree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noel-castree/) > [We were convinced that the people need and require this faith. We have therefore undertaken the fight against the atheistic movement, and that not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/we-were-convinced-that-the-people-need-and-require-this-faith-we-have/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [Never forget that the most sacred right on this earth is mans right to have the earth to till with his own hands, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/never-forget-that-the-most-sacred-right-on-this-earth-is-mans-right/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [“Book Bans Are Dumb (Sonnet 1587) Book bans are dumb, It makes the mind numb. If banning books were justice, Middle ages would've been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/book-bans-are-dumb-sonnet-1587-book-bans-are-dumb-it-makes-the-mind/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [The fight against syphilis demands a fight against prostitution, against prejudices, old habits, against previous conceptions, general views among them not least the false…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/the-fight-against-syphilis-demands-a-fight-against-prostitution/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [The Bible is to gays what Mein Kampf is to Jews.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-tatchell/the-bible-is-to-gays-what-mein-kampf-is-to-jews/) [Peter Tatchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-tatchell/) > [All Germany was in turmoil. Revolutionaries seized power in the cities of Munich, Hanover and Cologne. One regional German government after another was toppled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-cross-giblin/all-germany-was-in-turmoil-revolutionaries-seized-power-in-the-cities/) [James Cross Giblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-cross-giblin/) ## More by Isabel Paterson > [“Newton was asked as a mathematician, not as a moralist. He replied 'Gentlemen, in applied mathematics, you must describe your unit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/newton-was-asked-as-a-mathematician-not-as-a-moralist-he-replied/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [But when the good people do know, as they certainly do, that three million persons (at the least estimate) were starved to death in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/but-when-the-good-people-do-know-as-they-certainly-do-that-three/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [“But in a free enterprise economy, increased production increases the number of jobs. It might be said that one job creates another, which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/but-in-a-free-enterprise-economy-increased-production-increases-the/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [“If Charles F. Kettering or Thomas Alva Edison or Henry Ford had been put to work digging ditches under duress, one could calculate approximately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/if-charles-f-kettering-or-thomas-alva-edison-or-henry-ford-had-been/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Every politically controlled educational system will inculcate the doctrine of state supremacy sooner or later. . . . Once that doctrine has been accepted,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/every-politically-controlled-educational-system-will-inculcate-the/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Nothing increases the number of jobs so rapidly as labor-saving machinery, because it releases wants theretofore unknown, by permitting leisure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/nothing-increases-the-number-of-jobs-so-rapidly-as-labor-saving/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [If Americans should now turn back, submit again to slavery, it would be a betrayal so base the human race might better perish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/if-americans-should-now-turn-back-submit-again-to-slavery-it-would-be/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [“The intrinsic nature of the power authorized was so little realized that this was called "free education," the most absolute contradiction of facts by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/the-intrinsic-nature-of-the-power-authorized-was-so-little-realized/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Right now it is a terrible thing to be a rugged individualist; but we don't know what else to be except a feeble nonentity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/right-now-it-is-a-terrible-thing-to-be-a-rugged-individualist-but-we/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [“Why did the humanitarian philosophy of eighteenth century Europe usher in the Reign of Terror? It did not happen by chance; it followed from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/why-did-the-humanitarian-philosophy-of-eighteenth-century-europe/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [There can be no greater stretch of arbitrary power than is required to seize children from their parents, teach them whatever the authorities decree…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/there-can-be-no-greater-stretch-of-arbitrary-power-than-is-required/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Most of the harm in the world is done by good people, and not by accident, lapse, or omission. It is the result of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/most-of-the-harm-in-the-world-is-done-by-good-people-and-not-by/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Most of the harm in the world is done by good people, and not by accident, lapse, or omission. It is the result of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/most-of-the-harm-in-the-world-is-done-by-good-people-and-not-by-2/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [The craving for power is in itself a sign of inferior abilities and unfitness for responsibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/the-craving-for-power-is-in-itself-a-sign-of-inferior-abilities-and/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Freedom is dangerous. Possibly crawling on all fours might be safer than standing upright, but we like the view better up there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/freedom-is-dangerous-possibly-crawling-on-all-fours-might-be-safer/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) [Explore all 62 Isabel Paterson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) ## More Education quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) [Ted Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-martinez/) > [“In school you are taught to obey and not to think straight for your own good. 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But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [There's no authoritarian structure at Reed College, but the education is conservative. So what you have is a lot of students who are very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/there-s-no-authoritarian-structure-at-reed-college-but-the-education/) [Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/) > [“What's the best thing about being in college? Good teachers. 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(Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-d-hilda-doolittle/) > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [According to Plato, we don't learn anything. Our soul has lived so many lives that we know everything. Teachers and education can only remind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/according-to-plato-we-don-t-learn-anything-our-soul-has-lived-so-many/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“I only began to enjoy studying after I got through the educational system and became a so-called member of society. If something interested me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-only-began-to-enjoy-studying-after-i-got-through-the-educational/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [How wonderful it would be, I thought, if only we could practice the teachings of the Buddha as he really taught them from his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/how-wonderful-it-would-be-i-thought-if-only-we-could-practice-the/) [Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/) > [English teachers tend to put more thought in the books than the author did](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/english-teachers-tend-to-put-more-thought-in-the-books-than-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When will society, like a mother, take care of all her children?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/when-will-society-like-a-mother-take-care-of-all-her-children/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) [Browse all 37,666 Education quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The Germans are notably literate; and they had very fine technical schools. 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