--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One of the things I miss about teaching…" description: "\"One of the things I miss about teaching is that students would tell me what I ought to read. One of my students, back in the 1960s, put me onto Borges,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7eb/john-barth-5311_1960s_one-of-the-things-i-miss-about-teaching_2023303.jpg" --- # One of the things I miss about teaching is that students… ![“One of the things I miss about teaching is that students would tell me what I ought to read. One of my students, back in the 1960s, put me onto Borges, and I remember another mentioning Flann O'Brien's At Swim Two-Birds in the same way.” quote by John Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7eb/john-barth-5311_1960s_one-of-the-things-i-miss-about-teaching_2023303.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7eb/john-barth-5311_1960s_one-of-the-things-i-miss-about-teaching_2023303.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7eb/john-barth-5311_1960s_one-of-the-things-i-miss-about-teaching_2023303.jpg) > “One of the things I miss about teaching is that students would tell me what I ought to read. One of my students, back in the 1960s, put me onto Borges, and I remember another mentioning Flann O'Brien's At Swim Two-Birds in the same way.” [John Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barth/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Teaching can be a two‑way exchange where students introduce mentors to new ideas, enriching both parties. **In simple terms:** Students can guide teachers to new books. Key Takeaway Stay open to learning from students. Themes education mentorship literature discovery Mood thoughtful inspired Type educational reflective When to use this quote - college classroom - book clubs - literary conferences Key Concepts dialogue intergenerational learning literary influence Questions to Reflect On - How do you integrate student suggestions? - What value do you find in unexpected recommendations? A Different Perspective Not all student recommendations align with curriculum goals. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students/) [Teaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching/) [Teaching students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching-students/) [Two birds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two-birds/) ## Related quotes > [I don't miss teaching. I'm learning to take my time for myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/i-don-t-miss-teaching-i-m-learning-to-take-my-time-for-myself/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [I will say I miss teaching improv way more than I miss performing improv.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-gethard/i-will-say-i-miss-teaching-improv-way-more-than-i-miss-performing/) [Chris Gethard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-gethard/) > [One may receive the information but miss the teaching.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-toomer/one-may-receive-the-information-but-miss-the-teaching/) [Jean Toomer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-toomer/) > [Students will read if we give them the books, the time, and the enthusiastic encouragement to do so. If we make them wait for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donalyn-miller/students-will-read-if-we-give-them-the-books-the-time-and-the/) [Donalyn Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donalyn-miller/) > [“And as for those high school students who tell me they would rather be a cat than an MD because they prefer to deal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-trout/and-as-for-those-high-school-students-who-tell-me-they-would-rather/) [Nick Trout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-trout/) > [“Instead, to develop agency, our students would be better served if we created what Judy Wallis, a veteran teacher in Houston, refers to as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-gallagher/instead-to-develop-agency-our-students-would-be-better-served-if-we/) [Kelly Gallagher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-gallagher/) > [When I speak to students, I tell them why we have a First Amendment. I tell them about the Committees of Correspondence. I tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/when-i-speak-to-students-i-tell-them-why-we-have-a-first-amendment-i/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) > [“When I stand in front of my students and tell my students to never give up their passion to chase dreams in life, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avijeet-das/when-i-stand-in-front-of-my-students-and-tell-my-students-to-never/) [Avijeet Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avijeet-das/) > [I believe that everyone has a story, and it is important that we encourage all students to tell theirs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-gruwell/i-believe-that-everyone-has-a-story-and-it-is-important-that-we/) [Erin Gruwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-gruwell/) > [“Kids who read become students who do well in school. Students who do well in school go to college. College students graduate to good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/kids-who-read-become-students-who-do-well-in-school-students-who-do/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) > [“Empowered and knowledgeable, wild readers know they can walk into any library or bookstore and find something to read. Our students must develop this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donalyn-miller/empowered-and-knowledgeable-wild-readers-know-they-can-walk-into-any/) [Donalyn Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donalyn-miller/) > [“In April 2012, The New York Times published a heart-wrenching essay by Claire Needell Hollander, a middle school English teacher in the New York…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-sokolove/in-april-2012-the-new-york-times-published-a-heart-wrenching-essay-by/) [Michael Sokolove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-sokolove/) > [“schools and teacher forbites the students to tell a lie, but they teach them lies,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zybejta-beta-metani-marashi-3/schools-and-teacher-forbites-the-students-to-tell-a-lie-but-they/) [Zybejta Beta Metani' Marashi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zybejta-beta-metani-marashi-3/) > [When I read students’ attempts at creative writing it is obvious immediately that most of them have not read much or widely. The aspiring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-lester/when-i-read-students-attempts-at-creative-writing-it-is-obvious/) [Julius Lester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-lester/) > [“All I want is to cultivate curiosity. Yes, my old friend remains undiminished even now: the simple yearning to know. If these students cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-kiernan/all-i-want-is-to-cultivate-curiosity-yes-my-old-friend-remains/) Stephen Kiernan ## More by John Barth > [Tis e'er the wont of simple folk to prize the deed and o'erlook the motive, and of learned folk to discount the deed and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barth/tis-e-er-the-wont-of-simple-folk-to-prize-the-deed-and-o-erlook-the/) [John Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barth/) > [“So, I begin each day with a gesture of cynicism, and close it with a gesture of faith; or, if you prefer, begin it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barth/so-i-begin-each-day-with-a-gesture-of-cynicism-and-close-it-with-a/) [John Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barth/) > [I admire writers who can make complicated things simple, but my own talent has been to make simple things complicated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barth/i-admire-writers-who-can-make-complicated-things-simple-but-my-own/) [John Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barth/) > [“That clever folk care less for what ye think than why ye think it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barth/that-clever-folk-care-less-for-what-ye-think-than-why-ye-think-it/) [John Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barth/) > [Printed prose is historically a most peculiar, almost an aberrant way of telling stories, and by far the most inherently anesthetic: It is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barth/printed-prose-is-historically-a-most-peculiar-almost-an-aberrant-way/) [John Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barth/) > [“There's a great difficulty in making choices if you have any imagination at all. Faced with such a multitude of desireable choices, no one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barth/there-s-a-great-difficulty-in-making-choices-if-you-have-any/) [John Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barth/) > [Self knowledge is always bad news.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barth/self-knowledge-is-always-bad-news/) [John Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barth/) > [The first obligation of the writer is to be interesting. To be interesting; not to change the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barth/the-first-obligation-of-the-writer-is-to-be-interesting-to-be/) [John Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barth/) > [Yet everyone begins in the same place; how is it that most go along without difficulty but a few lose their way?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barth/yet-everyone-begins-in-the-same-place-how-is-it-that-most-go-along/) [John Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barth/) > [A curious thing about written literature: It is about four thousand years old, but we have no way of knowing whether four thousand years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barth/a-curious-thing-about-written-literature-it-is-about-four-thousand/) [John Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barth/) > [Nothing is loathsomer than the self-loathing of a self one loathes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barth/nothing-is-loathsomer-than-the-self-loathing-of-a-self-one-loathes/) [John Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barth/) > [He wishes he had never entered the funhouse. But he has. Then he wishes he were dead. But he's not. Therefore he will construct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barth/he-wishes-he-had-never-entered-the-funhouse-but-he-has-then-he-wishes/) [John Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barth/) > [“Am I boring you? I don't really care, I suppose, but I'll be more comfortable if I knew all this interested you. No doubt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barth/am-i-boring-you-i-don-t-really-care-i-suppose-but-i-ll-be-more/) [John Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barth/) > [Though life's tuition is always ruinous, inexorably we learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barth/though-life-s-tuition-is-always-ruinous-inexorably-we-learn/) [John Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barth/) > [“The difference here 'twixt simple and witty folk, if the truth be known, is that your plain man cares much for what stand ye…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barth/the-difference-here-twixt-simple-and-witty-folk-if-the-truth-be-known/) [John Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barth/) [Explore all 97 John Barth quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barth/) ## More 1960s quotes > [We do need different types of propulsion to get to Mars. I wrote one of the first Ph.D. theses on that in the 1960s.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/we-do-need-different-types-of-propulsion-to-get-to-mars-i-wrote-one/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [Each year more than 100,000 high school graduates, with proved ability, do not enter college because they cannot afford it. And if we cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/each-year-more-than-100-000-high-school-graduates-with-proved-ability/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Nearly all the writing of our time is likely to disappear in a hundred years. Certainly most readers - and nearly all critics -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/nearly-all-the-writing-of-our-time-is-likely-to-disappear-in-a/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [Sometimes a party must sail against the wind. We cannot heed the call of those who say it is time to furl the sail.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-kennedy/sometimes-a-party-must-sail-against-the-wind-we-cannot-heed-the-call/) [Edward Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-kennedy/) > [ \[In the 1960s\]...you could take LSD but you couldn't wear a pantsuit. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsey-johnson/in-the-1960s-you-could-take-lsd-but-you-couldn-t-wear-a-pantsuit/) [Betsey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsey-johnson/) > [Is it a coincidence that stories from the private life became more popular just as the grand hope for public redemption through revolution was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/is-it-a-coincidence-that-stories-from-the-private-life-became-more/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [I think the general anxiety of the 1960s - '70s spawned our interest in the living dead. When people worry about the end of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-brooks/i-think-the-general-anxiety-of-the-1960s-70s-spawned-our-interest-in/) [Max Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-brooks/) > [“A friend once told me a story about a former Black Panther leader in a Midwest community who in the 1960s had his phone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luis-j-rodr-guez/a-friend-once-told-me-a-story-about-a-former-black-panther-leader-in/) [Luis J. Rodríguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luis-j-rodr-guez/) > [I was never bothered about my position in the industry. If I had believed in it, I wouldn't have allowed anyone to get ahead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dharmendra/i-was-never-bothered-about-my-position-in-the-industry-if-i-had/) [Dharmendra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dharmendra/) > [Under the system that we now have to nominate presidential candidates, for instance, I would prefer that we have a system that is closer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-beschloss/under-the-system-that-we-now-have-to-nominate-presidential-candidates/) [Michael Beschloss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-beschloss/) > [My son Bill, who came to me in 1960-he was 14 then, quoted the old parable to me: "It is not by their words,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madalyn-murray-o-hair/my-son-bill-who-came-to-me-in-1960-he-was-14-then-quoted-the-old/) [Madalyn Murray O'Hair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madalyn-murray-o-hair/) > [There is a book called San Francisco Tape Music Centre:1960s Counterculture and the Avant-Garde and this book describes everything that you want to know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pauline-oliveros/there-is-a-book-called-san-francisco-tape-music-centre-1960s/) [Pauline Oliveros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pauline-oliveros/) > [Much of the art of the 1960s, from body art to video and direct performance, was concerned with similar issues. And then there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valie-export/much-of-the-art-of-the-1960s-from-body-art-to-video-and-direct/) [Valie Export](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valie-export/) > [I went through college in the 1960s without having any idea that I was going to have to make a living. When I graduated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-prose/i-went-through-college-in-the-1960s-without-having-any-idea-that-i/) [Francine Prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-prose/) > [“At the beginning of a decade when everything was beginning to seem possible, nothing seemed impossible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margot-lee-shetterly/at-the-beginning-of-a-decade-when-everything-was-beginning-to-seem/) [Margot Lee Shetterly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margot-lee-shetterly/) Browse all 486 1960s quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One of the things I miss about teaching is that students would tell me what I ought to read. 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