---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If people aren't educated, they can't…"
description: "\"If people aren't educated, they can't question. If they can't question, they can't change anything, which is great for the status quo and all the peopl..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cf/jeanette-winterson-166_can-t-change_if-people-aren-t-educated-they-can-t-que_572561.jpg"
---

#  If people aren't educated, they can't question. If they…

![“If people aren't educated, they can't question. If they can't question, they can't change anything, which is great for the status quo and all the people who can question them at their own level.” quote by Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cf/jeanette-winterson-166_can-t-change_if-people-aren-t-educated-they-can-t-que_572561.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cf/jeanette-winterson-166_can-t-change_if-people-aren-t-educated-they-can-t-que_572561.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cf/jeanette-winterson-166_can-t-change_if-people-aren-t-educated-they-can-t-que_572561.jpg)

> “If people aren't educated, they can't question. If they can't question, they can't change anything, which is great for the status quo and all the people who can question them at their own level.”

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

## About This Quote

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

Education empowers people to think critically, question norms, and drive change, threatening entrenched power structures.

**In simple terms:** Education enables questioning and change.

Key Takeaway

Promote critical thinking in education.

Themes

education critical thinking power social change

Mood

thoughtful determined

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- schools
- community workshops
- online courses
- public debates

Key Concepts

democracy empowerment knowledge status quo

Questions to Reflect On

- How can we make critical thinking accessible to all?
- What barriers prevent questioning in societies?

A Different Perspective

Change faces resistance from those benefiting from the status quo.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Can't change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/can-t-change/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Status quo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/status-quo/)

## Related quotes

> [Why aren't there any more educated beautiful smart women like Michelle Obama?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/why-aren-t-there-any-more-educated-beautiful-smart-women-like/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“NAEP data show beyond question that test scores in reading and math have improved for almost every group of students over the past two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ravitch/naep-data-show-beyond-question-that-test-scores-in-reading-and-math/)

[Diane Ravitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ravitch/)

> [The best way to hold a people down is to make sure they aren't educated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasmine-crockett/the-best-way-to-hold-a-people-down-is-to-make-sure-they-aren-t/)

[Jasmine Crockett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasmine-crockett/)

> [When I was born I became the visible corner of a folded map. The map has more than one route. More than one destination.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/when-i-was-born-i-became-the-visible-corner-of-a-folded-map-the-map/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [The only reason I don't question people is that I question my innerself too often to afford the luxury of time to question others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noble-yabi/the-only-reason-i-don-t-question-people-is-that-i-question-my/)

[Noble Yabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noble-yabi/)

> [People will question all the things they hear about you but believe all the bad without a second thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/people-will-question-all-the-things-they-hear-about-you-but-believe/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [One of the great things about young people is that they do question, that they do care deeply about justice, and they they have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zack-de-la-rocha/one-of-the-great-things-about-young-people-is-that-they-do-question/)

[Zack de la Rocha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zack-de-la-rocha/)

> [“Can I ask you a question?” Squatting in front of an open cabinet, she said, “You just did. Why do people do that? If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terri-osburn/can-i-ask-you-a-question-squatting-in-front-of-an-open-cabinet-she/)

[Terri Osburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terri-osburn/)

> [I want people to think about movies and how we watch them. Let them know it's okay to question the structure or how we're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-heidecker/i-want-people-to-think-about-movies-and-how-we-watch-them-let-them/)

[Tim Heidecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-heidecker/)

> [People will question all the good things they hear a bout you but believe all the bad without a second thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/el-jush/people-will-question-all-the-good-things-they-hear-a-bout-you-but/)

[El Jush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/el-jush/)

> [“Why would these people do this for us?” This is the question the church ought to be continually raising in people’s minds by its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-a-boyd/why-would-these-people-do-this-for-us-this-is-the-question-the-church/)

[Gregory A. Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-a-boyd/)

> [A lot of people question my image and why I do what I do, and the answer is because this is how I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-gibbons/a-lot-of-people-question-my-image-and-why-i-do-what-i-do-and-the/)

[Beth Gibbons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-gibbons/)

> [People will question all the good things they hear about you, but believe all the bad things without a second thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/people-will-question-all-the-good-things-they-hear-about-you-but/)

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

> [I don't know if people question my sexuality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maura-higgins/i-don-t-know-if-people-question-my-sexuality/)

[Maura Higgins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maura-higgins/)

> [There comes a point when you have to realize you'll never be good enough for some people. the question is...is that your problem or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-comes-a-point-when-you-have-to-realize-you-ll-never-be-good/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

## More by Jeanette Winterson

> [“After nine nights must come ten and every desperate meeting only leaves you desperate for another. There is never enough to eat, never enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/after-nine-nights-must-come-ten-and-every-desperate-meeting-only/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [You never give away your heart; you lend it from time to time. If it were not so, how could we take it back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/you-never-give-away-your-heart-you-lend-it-from-time-to-time-if-it/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [I have found that I am not a space where people want to live, at least not without decorating first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/i-have-found-that-i-am-not-a-space-where-people-want-to-live-at-least/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [“Yes. Just pass me my leg will you? It's on top of the wardrobe where he threw it, and I think my right arm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/yes-just-pass-me-my-leg-will-you-it-s-on-top-of-the-wardrobe-where-he/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [Every second the Universe divides into possibilities and most of those possibilities never happen. It is not a uni-verse -- there is more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/every-second-the-universe-divides-into-possibilities-and-most-of/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [You are a pool of clear water where the light plays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/you-are-a-pool-of-clear-water-where-the-light-plays/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [“It's the cliches that cause the trouble. A precise emotion seeks a precise expression. If what I feel is not precise than how should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/it-s-the-cliches-that-cause-the-trouble-a-precise-emotion-seeks-a/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [What would it have meant to be happy? What would it have meant if things had been bright, clear, good between us?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/what-would-it-have-meant-to-be-happy-what-would-it-have-meant-if/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [“Mrs Ratlow was a widow, and she was head of English, but she still did all the cooking and cleaning for her two sons,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/mrs-ratlow-was-a-widow-and-she-was-head-of-english-but-she-still-did/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [“I shall have nowt to talk to now the baby is boiled.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/i-shall-have-nowt-to-talk-to-now-the-baby-is-boiled/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [“What art does is to coax us away from the mechanical and towards the miraculous. The so-called uselessness of art is a clue to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/what-art-does-is-to-coax-us-away-from-the-mechanical-and-towards-the/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [Happy Valentines Day to those who have found love, in whatever shape or form, and to those who are still hunting, don’t give up.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/happy-valentines-day-to-those-who-have-found-love-in-whatever-shape/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [“It took me a long time to realise that there are two kinds of writing: the one you write and the one that writes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/it-took-me-a-long-time-to-realise-that-there-are-two-kinds-of-writing/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [A curse on this game. How can you stick at a game when the rules keep on changing? I shall call myself Alice and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/a-curse-on-this-game-how-can-you-stick-at-a-game-when-the-rules-keep/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [“He turned away and I turned to him in vivid heat to look on the sun-dried world. The groves and towers were gone. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/he-turned-away-and-i-turned-to-him-in-vivid-heat-to-look-on-the-sun/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

[Explore all 1,016 Jeanette Winterson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

## More Can't change quotes

> [Donʹt worry now about what you canʹt change. Rest when you can so youʹll be ready for tomorrowʹs battles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/don-t-worry-now-about-what-you-can-t-change-rest-when-you-can-so-you/)

[Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/)

> [You can't change your life. This mode in literature goes against the more middle-brown mode, which is about shaping your destiny, changing it. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-mccarthy/you-can-t-change-your-life-this-mode-in-literature-goes-against-the/)

Tommy McCarthy

> [You can't change a man, no-ways. By the time his mummy turns him loose and he takes up with some innocent woman and marries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjorie-kinnan-rawlings/you-can-t-change-a-man-no-ways-by-the-time-his-mummy-turns-him-loose/)

[Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjorie-kinnan-rawlings/)

> [I don't worry about the things I can't change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferran-adria/i-don-t-worry-about-the-things-i-can-t-change/)

[Ferran Adria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferran-adria/)

> [Congress decides who becomes a citizen and how. To automatically say the 14th Amendment grants birthright citizenship, no, we can't change that. Amending the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/congress-decides-who-becomes-a-citizen-and-how-to-automatically-say/)

[Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/)

> [Though I can't change what happened, I can choose how to react. And I don't want to spend the rest of my life being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tori-amos/though-i-can-t-change-what-happened-i-can-choose-how-to-react-and-i/)

[Tori Amos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tori-amos/)

> [When a poem is really finished, you can't change anything. You can't move words around. You can't say, 'In other words, you mean.' No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin/when-a-poem-is-really-finished-you-can-t-change-anything-you-can-t/)

[W. S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin/)

> [The only thing one can usually change in one's situation is oneself. And yet one can't change that either-only ask Our Lord to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/the-only-thing-one-can-usually-change-in-one-s-situation-is-oneself/)

[C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/)

> [I can't change my gender, and I refuse to stop making movies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-bigelow/i-can-t-change-my-gender-and-i-refuse-to-stop-making-movies/)

[Kathryn Bigelow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-bigelow/)

> [But I think it's more that when you're young, you're invincible, you're immortal - or at least you think you are. The possibilities are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damien-hirst/but-i-think-it-s-more-that-when-you-re-young-you-re-invincible-you-re/)

[Damien Hirst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damien-hirst/)

> [You can't change t he wor ld f rom t he rear view mir ror.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-roddick/you-can-t-change-t-he-wor-ld-f-rom-t-he-rear-view-mir-ror/)

[Anita Roddick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-roddick/)

> [You can't change your attitude because you're the champion. I've always kept my feet on the ground and never wanted to change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renan-barao/you-can-t-change-your-attitude-because-you-re-the-champion-i-ve/)

Renan Barao

> [By the time you're 30, you know who you are inside. You learn to laugh at things you can't change; you learn to be yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kajol/by-the-time-you-re-30-you-know-who-you-are-inside-you-learn-to-laugh/)

[Kajol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kajol/)

> [Those that can't change even their toothbrush and pyjamas are trying to change the world! Let us be serious!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/those-that-can-t-change-even-their-toothbrush-and-pyjamas-are-trying/)

[Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/)

> [The message I'm sending to myself - I can't change the world until I change myself first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kendrick-lamar/the-message-i-m-sending-to-myself-i-can-t-change-the-world-until-i/)

[Kendrick Lamar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kendrick-lamar/)

[Browse all 311 Can't change quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/can-t-change/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "If people aren't educated, they can't question. If they can't question, they can't change anything, which is great for the status quo and all the people who can question them at their own level.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Jeanette Winterson"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/if-people-aren-t-educated-they-can-t-question-if-they-can-t-question/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Can't change"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/if-people-aren-t-educated-they-can-t-question-if-they-can-t-question/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cf/jeanette-winterson-166_can-t-change_if-people-aren-t-educated-they-can-t-que_572561.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cf/jeanette-winterson-166_can-t-change_if-people-aren-t-educated-they-can-t-que_572561.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cf/jeanette-winterson-166_can-t-change_if-people-aren-t-educated-they-can-t-que_572561.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“If people aren't educated, they can't question. If they can't question, they can't change anything, which is…” — Jeanette Winterson",
                "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": "Jeanette Winterson",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "If people aren't educated, they can't...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/if-people-aren-t-educated-they-can-t-question-if-they-can-t-question/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/if-people-aren-t-educated-they-can-t-question-if-they-can-t-question/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
