--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What nutrition and reproduction are to…" description: "\"What nutrition and reproduction are to physiological life, education is to social life.\" — John Dewey" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ca/john-dewey-545_education_what-nutrition-and-reproduction-are-to-p_1260910.png" --- # What nutrition and reproduction are to physiological life… ![“What nutrition and reproduction are to physiological life, education is to social life.” quote by John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ca/john-dewey-545_education_what-nutrition-and-reproduction-are-to-p_1260910.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ca/john-dewey-545_education_what-nutrition-and-reproduction-are-to-p_1260910.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ca/john-dewey-545_education_what-nutrition-and-reproduction-are-to-p_1260910.png) > “What nutrition and reproduction are to physiological life, education is to social life.” [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. Education shapes society just as nutrition sustains the body, linking personal development to communal well‑being. **In simple terms:** Education is to society what food is to the body. Key Takeaway Invest in education to strengthen communities. Themes education society development Mood inspirational thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - schools - public policy - community programs - family learning Key Concepts human development social capital Questions to Reflect On - How does education influence social structures? - What other factors shape societal health? A Different Perspective Education alone cannot fix systemic inequality without broader reforms. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Nutrition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nutrition/) [Reproduction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reproduction/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Social life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-life/) ## Related quotes > [Education is a social process. Education is growth. Education is, not a preparation for life; education is life itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/education-is-a-social-process-education-is-growth-education-is-not-a-2/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Education is a social process; education is growth; education is not a preparation for life but is life itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/education-is-a-social-process-education-is-growth-education-is-not-a/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [I believe that the school is primarily a social institution. Education being a social process, the school is simply that form of community life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/i-believe-that-the-school-is-primarily-a-social-institution-education/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [The conception of education as a social process and function has no definite meaning until we define the kind of society we have in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-conception-of-education-as-a-social-process-and-function-has-no/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/education-is-not-preparation-for-life-education-is-life-itself/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Education, therefore, is a process of living and not a preparation for future living. Without some goals and some efforts to reach it, no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/education-therefore-is-a-process-of-living-and-not-a-preparation-for-2/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Education is not a preparation for life; education is life itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/education-is-not-a-preparation-for-life-education-is-life-itself/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Personality must be educated, and personality cannot be educated by confining its operations to technical and specialized things, or to the less important relationships…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/personality-must-be-educated-and-personality-cannot-be-educated-by/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [The public is not cognizant of the real value of education, and does not realize that education as a social force is not receiving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-public-is-not-cognizant-of-the-real-value-of-education-and-does/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Education without social action is a one-sided value because it has no true power potential.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/education-without-social-action-is-a-one-sided-value-because-it-has/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Alas! how much there is in education, and in our social institutions, to prepare us and our children for insanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/alas-how-much-there-is-in-education-and-in-our-social-institutions-to/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [“Education has a social specificity of its own that centres on the conditions for the acquisition of knowledge that can never be reduced to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-f-d-young/education-has-a-social-specificity-of-its-own-that-centres-on-the/) [Michael F.D. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-f-d-young/) > [Public education is a great instrument of social change. Through it, if we so desire, we can make our country more nearly a democracy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-bryant-conant/public-education-is-a-great-instrument-of-social-change-through-it-if/) [James Bryant Conant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-bryant-conant/) > [ It has been difficult for \[young people in the U.S.\] to connect the dots between rising tuition costs and other assaults on their dignity… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/it-has-been-difficult-for-young-people-in-the-u-s-to-connect-the-dots/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [We destroy the most hallowed of relations, when we replace home education by social.And your education! Is not that also social, and determined by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-ciszek/we-destroy-the-most-hallowed-of-relations-when-we-replace-home/) Walter Ciszek ## More by John Dewey > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“Empirically, things are poignant, tragic, beautiful, humorous, settled, disturbed, comfortable, annoying, barren, harsh, consoling, splendid, fearful; are such immediately and in their own right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/empirically-things-are-poignant-tragic-beautiful-humorous-settled/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [A good aim surveys the present state of experience of pupils, and forming a tentative plan of treatment, keeps the plan constantly in view…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/a-good-aim-surveys-the-present-state-of-experience-of-pupils-and/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Experiences in order to be educative must lead out into an expanding world of subject matter, a subject matter of facts or information and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/experiences-in-order-to-be-educative-must-lead-out-into-an-expanding/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [A tribe, let us say, is warlike. 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Qualities are both static, substantial, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/when-the-organization-called-soul-is-free-moving-and-operative/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Since in reality there is nothing to which growth is relative save more growth, there is nothing to which education is subordinate save more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/since-in-reality-there-is-nothing-to-which-growth-is-relative-save/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Creative thinking will improve as we relate the new fact to the old and all facts to each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/creative-thinking-will-improve-as-we-relate-the-new-fact-to-the-old/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) [Explore all 486 John Dewey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) ## 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 > [“In school you are taught to obey and not to think straight for your own good. 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They inspire you, they entertain you, and you end up learning a ton even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/what-s-the-best-thing-about-being-in-college-good-teachers-they/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > [“If one has not a head of steel it will burst; if he has not within it a brain of liquid quicksilver, he will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ioannes-amos-commenius/if-one-has-not-a-head-of-steel-it-will-burst-if-he-has-not-within-it/) Ioannes Amos Commenius > [“let us not teach / what we have learned badly / and not profited by”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-d-hilda-doolittle/let-us-not-teach-what-we-have-learned-badly-and-not-profited-by/) 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": "What nutrition and reproduction are to physiological life, education is to social life.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Dewey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/what-nutrition-and-reproduction-are-to-physiological-life-education/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Education" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/what-nutrition-and-reproduction-are-to-physiological-life-education/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ca/john-dewey-545_education_what-nutrition-and-reproduction-are-to-p_1260910.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ca/john-dewey-545_education_what-nutrition-and-reproduction-are-to-p_1260910.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ca/john-dewey-545_education_what-nutrition-and-reproduction-are-to-p_1260910.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What nutrition and reproduction are to physiological life, education is to social life.” — 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": "What nutrition and reproduction are to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/what-nutrition-and-reproduction-are-to-physiological-life-education/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/what-nutrition-and-reproduction-are-to-physiological-life-education/#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 } } ] } ```