--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The problem is to extract the desirable…" description: "\"The problem is to extract the desirable traits of forms of community life which actually exist, and employ them to criticize undesirable features and s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79f/john-dewey-545_community_the-problem-is-to-extract-the-desirable_1245117.png" --- # The problem is to extract the desirable traits of forms of… ![“The problem is to extract the desirable traits of forms of community life which actually exist, and employ them to criticize undesirable features and suggest improvement” quote by John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79f/john-dewey-545_community_the-problem-is-to-extract-the-desirable_1245117.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79f/john-dewey-545_community_the-problem-is-to-extract-the-desirable_1245117.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79f/john-dewey-545_community_the-problem-is-to-extract-the-desirable_1245117.png) > “The problem is to extract the desirable traits of forms of community life which actually exist, and employ them to criticize undesirable features and suggest improvement” [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Identify positive community traits and use them to critique and improve negative aspects. **In simple terms:** Use good community traits to fix bad ones. Key Takeaway Apply strengths to improve flaws. Themes community improvement critique social design Mood analytical constructive Type academic philosophical When to use this quote - urban planning - neighborhood meetings - policy making - organizational culture Key Concepts sociology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What traits can you emulate? - How to balance critique with appreciation? A Different Perspective Positive traits may be hard to isolate in flawed communities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Criticize](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criticize/) [Criticize Undesirable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criticize-undesirable-3901562/) [Desirable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desirable/) [Desirable Traits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desirable-traits-3901563/) [Features](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/features/) [Form](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/form/) [Improvement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improvement/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [Suggest Improvement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suggest-improvement-2113618/) [Traits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/traits/) [Undesirable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/undesirable/) [Undesirable Features](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/undesirable-features-3901564/) ## Related quotes > [He looked at her. 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We’re not in the wrong bodies. We’re not inadequate. We’re not lesser. We’re not unwanted. We’re not fraudulent. We’re not undesirable.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnostic-zetetic/we-re-not-broken-we-re-not-in-the-wrong-bodies-we-re-not-inadequate/) [Agnostic Zetetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnostic-zetetic/) > [Once you understand the power of stimulus control, you can use it to your advantage by changing the stimuli in your environment and avoiding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/once-you-understand-the-power-of-stimulus-control-you-can-use-it-to/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [We have a fear of facing ourselves. That is the obstacle. 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The notion that some subjects and methods and that acquaintance with certain facts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/there-is-no-such-thing-as-educational-value-in-the-abstract-the/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Men live in a community in virtue of the things which they have in common; and communication is the way in which they come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/men-live-in-a-community-in-virtue-of-the-things-which-they-have-in/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [We can have facts without thinking but we cannot have thinking without facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/we-can-have-facts-without-thinking-but-we-cannot-have-thinking/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [But progress in knowledge has made us aware of the superficiality of Plato's lumping of individuals and their original powers into a few sharply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/but-progress-in-knowledge-has-made-us-aware-of-the-superficiality-of/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Even the alleged benefits of war, so far as more than alleged, spring from the fact that conflict of peoples at least enforces intercourse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/even-the-alleged-benefits-of-war-so-far-as-more-than-alleged-spring/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“When the organization called soul is free, moving and operative, initial as well as terminal, it is spirit. 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Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-a-reich/) [Browse all 13,840 Community quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The problem is to extract the desirable traits of forms of community life which actually exist, and employ them to criticize undesirable features and suggest improvement", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Dewey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-problem-is-to-extract-the-desirable-traits-of-forms-of-community/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Community" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-problem-is-to-extract-the-desirable-traits-of-forms-of-community/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79f/john-dewey-545_community_the-problem-is-to-extract-the-desirable_1245117.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79f/john-dewey-545_community_the-problem-is-to-extract-the-desirable_1245117.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79f/john-dewey-545_community_the-problem-is-to-extract-the-desirable_1245117.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The problem is to extract the desirable traits of forms of community life which actually exist, and employ…” — John Dewey", "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": "John Dewey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The problem is to extract the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-problem-is-to-extract-the-desirable-traits-of-forms-of-community/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-problem-is-to-extract-the-desirable-traits-of-forms-of-community/#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 } } ] } ```