--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was our understanding that we were to…" description: "\"“It was our understanding that we were to be instructing them in the ways of the civilized world, not being made beasts of burden, but, as Helen Flight..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f8/jim-fergus-30528_learning_it-was-our-understanding-that-we-were-to_2387756.jpg" --- # It was our understanding that we were to be instructing… ![“It was our understanding that we were to be instructing them in the ways of the civilized world, not being made beasts of burden, but, as Helen Flight has pointed out, of what use are table manners to those without tables.” quote by Jim Fergus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f8/jim-fergus-30528_learning_it-was-our-understanding-that-we-were-to_2387756.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f8/jim-fergus-30528_learning_it-was-our-understanding-that-we-were-to_2387756.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f8/jim-fergus-30528_learning_it-was-our-understanding-that-we-were-to_2387756.jpg) > ““It was our understanding that we were to be instructing them in the ways of the civilized world, not being made beasts of burden, but, as Helen Flight has pointed out, of what use are table manners to those without tables.”” [Jim Fergus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-fergus/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We aim to teach civilization, yet we risk turning people into laborers, questioning the value of etiquette without a proper context. **In simple terms:** Teaching civility can become exploitation. Key Takeaway Ensure teaching respects dignity. Themes education ethics power culture Mood critical reflective Type philosophical social commentary When to use this quote - classroom - colonialism - workplace training Key Concepts civilization exploitation social hierarchy Questions to Reflect On - Who truly benefits from “civilized” lessons? - Is etiquette useful without resources? A Different Perspective May overlook systemic inequities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Helen Flight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helen-flight-5936821/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Manners](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manners/) [Manners Tables](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manners-tables-5936819/) [Table manners](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/table-manners/) [Ways Civilized](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ways-civilized-5936820/) ## Related quotes > [The only way to have a funeral is to invite everyone who ever knew the person and just wait for the accident to happen-somebody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/the-only-way-to-have-a-funeral-is-to-invite-everyone-who-ever-knew/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) > [Fashionably amusing table manners are a matter of breaking the right rule at the right time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/fashionably-amusing-table-manners-are-a-matter-of-breaking-the-right/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [I don't know why people would want to have lunch with writers. I've eaten with writers. We have appalling table manners, and rarely say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/i-don-t-know-why-people-would-want-to-have-lunch-with-writers-i-ve/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [I don't like people's table manners. That really puts you off eating food.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lemmy/i-don-t-like-people-s-table-manners-that-really-puts-you-off-eating/) [Lemmy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lemmy/) > [Basil Stag Hare tut-tutted severely as he remarked to Ambrose Spike, 'Tch, tch. Dreadful table manners. 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It is true that questioning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-martin/gentle-reader-you-sir-are-an-anarchist-and-miss-manners-is-frightened/) [Judith Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-martin/) > [“My grandmother’s unkindness, for instance, was the result of repressed grief over three deaths: her parents, before she was twelve, and her firstborn child.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-cobb/my-grandmother-s-unkindness-for-instance-was-the-result-of-repressed/) [Nancy Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-cobb/) > [“In my view, the West is not a concept to be explored, analyzed, or enlarged through a study of the history and great ideals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/in-my-view-the-west-is-not-a-concept-to-be-explored-analyzed-or/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) > [“The smaller the dinner table, the better the side conversation: you can gossip about the guests without fearing whether you will be overheard. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bauvard/the-smaller-the-dinner-table-the-better-the-side-conversation-you-can/) [Bauvard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bauvard/) > [“ Reminder: good table manners are the ultimate symbol of who you are, and how you were raised. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-ford/reminder-good-table-manners-are-the-ultimate-symbol-of-who-you-are/) [Deborah Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-ford/) ## More by Jim Fergus > [Yet only the atrocities of the conquered are referred to as criminal acts; those of the conqueror are justified as necessary, heroic, and even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-fergus/yet-only-the-atrocities-of-the-conquered-are-referred-to-as-criminal/) [Jim Fergus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-fergus/) > [“...the Sierra, a region so quiet and pristine that we have the sense of being the first human beings ever to set foot in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-fergus/the-sierra-a-region-so-quiet-and-pristine-that-we-have-the-sense-of/) [Jim Fergus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-fergus/) > [Your power as a woman, as a mother, is your medicine, and it saved you. 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