--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: By leaving a student to himself he may…" description: "\"By leaving a student to himself he may... be led to undertake matters above his strength, but the trial will at least have this advantage: it will disc..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/244/joshua-reynolds-8159_acquisition_by-leaving-a-student-to-himself-he-may-b_2999205.jpg" --- # By leaving a student to himself he may... be led to… ![“By leaving a student to himself he may... be led to undertake matters above his strength, but the trial will at least have this advantage: it will discover to himself his own deficiencies and this discovery alone is a very considerable acquisition.” quote by Joshua Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/244/joshua-reynolds-8159_acquisition_by-leaving-a-student-to-himself-he-may-b_2999205.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/244/joshua-reynolds-8159_acquisition_by-leaving-a-student-to-himself-he-may-b_2999205.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/244/joshua-reynolds-8159_acquisition_by-leaving-a-student-to-himself-he-may-b_2999205.jpg) > “By leaving a student to himself he may... be led to undertake matters above his strength, but the trial will at least have this advantage: it will discover to himself his own deficiencies and this discovery alone is a very considerable acquisition.” [Joshua Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-reynolds/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Self‑directed learning can reveal personal limits, turning weakness into valuable self‑knowledge **In simple terms:** Alone study exposes personal deficiencies, which is valuable Key Takeaway Embrace solitary challenges to discover strengths Themes self‑improvement learning self‑knowledge Mood introspective motivational Type educational philosophical When to use this quote - solo projects - skill building - self‑assessment Key Concepts educational theory personal development Questions to Reflect On - What personal deficiency have you uncovered alone? - How can you turn that into a strength? A Different Perspective Isolation can hinder progress without guidance ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Acquisition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acquisition/) [Advantage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/advantage/) [Discovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovery/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students/) [Teaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching/) [Trials](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trials/) ## Related quotes > [A painter must compensate the natural deficiencies of his art. He has but one sentence to utter, but one moment to exhibit. He cannot,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-reynolds/a-painter-must-compensate-the-natural-deficiencies-of-his-art-he-has/) [Joshua Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-reynolds/) > [If you have great talents, industry will improve them: if you have but moderate abilities, industry will supply their deficiency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-reynolds/if-you-have-great-talents-industry-will-improve-them-if-you-have-but/) [Joshua Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-reynolds/) > [It does not matter what your personal deficiency, or whether it be a hundred and one different things, God has always one sufficient answer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/watchman-nee/it-does-not-matter-what-your-personal-deficiency-or-whether-it-be-a/) [Watchman Nee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/watchman-nee/) > [By the deficiency or absence of one necessary constituent, all the others being present, the soil is rendered barren for all those crops to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justus-von-liebig/by-the-deficiency-or-absence-of-one-necessary-constituent-all-the/) [Justus von Liebig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justus-von-liebig/) > [Indeed taking all the evidence together, it is not too much to say that there is no single historic incident better or more variously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/indeed-taking-all-the-evidence-together-it-is-not-too-much-to-say/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The first step to improvement, whether mental, moral, or religious, is to know ourselves - our weakness, errors, deficiencies, and sins, that, by divine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tryon-edwards/the-first-step-to-improvement-whether-mental-moral-or-religious-is-to/) [Tryon Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tryon-edwards/) > [I'm trying to get at this. That is, a man may know that he belongs to, say, a group - this group or that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/i-m-trying-to-get-at-this-that-is-a-man-may-know-that-he-belongs-to/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [“For years I had been aware of an important deficiency in the English language: a word to describe something a person loses that was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-miller/for-years-i-had-been-aware-of-an-important-deficiency-in-the-english/) Ellen Miller > [Can there be a more lamentable picture than that of a Chancellor of the Exchequer seated on an empty chest by a pool of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-peel/can-there-be-a-more-lamentable-picture-than-that-of-a-chancellor-of/) [Robert Peel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-peel/) > [To behold, is not necessary to observe, and the power of comparing and combining is only to be obtained by education. It is much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-von-humboldt/to-behold-is-not-necessary-to-observe-and-the-power-of-comparing-and/) [Wilhelm von Humboldt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-von-humboldt/) > [If somewhere is a deficiency the normal American answer would have been well then, let's spend some more money, build some more weapons and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helmut-schmidt/if-somewhere-is-a-deficiency-the-normal-american-answer-would-have/) [Helmut Schmidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helmut-schmidt/) > [The ancient Greek oral poets all had this anxiety about the deficiencies of their memories and always began poems by praying to the Muse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-antin/the-ancient-greek-oral-poets-all-had-this-anxiety-about-the/) [David Antin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-antin/) > [“Where any one body of educated men, of whatever denomination, are condemned indiscriminately, there must be a deficiency of information, (or smiling) of something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/where-any-one-body-of-educated-men-of-whatever-denomination-are/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [He that fancies himself very enlightened, because he sees the deficiencies of others, may be very ignorant, because he has not studied his own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/he-that-fancies-himself-very-enlightened-because-he-sees-the/) [Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/) > [You can trace every sickness, every disease and every ailment to a mineral deficiency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linus-pauling/you-can-trace-every-sickness-every-disease-and-every-ailment-to-a/) [Linus Pauling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linus-pauling/) ## More by Joshua Reynolds > [Words should be employed as the means, not the end; language is the instrument, conviction is the work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-reynolds/words-should-be-employed-as-the-means-not-the-end-language-is-the/) [Joshua Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-reynolds/) > [Grandeur of effect is produced by two different ways which seem entirely opposed to each other. One is by reducing the colors to little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-reynolds/grandeur-of-effect-is-produced-by-two-different-ways-which-seem/) [Joshua Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-reynolds/) > [And he who does not know himself does not know others, so it may be said with equal truth, that he who does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-reynolds/and-he-who-does-not-know-himself-does-not-know-others-so-it-may-be/) [Joshua Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-reynolds/) > [If you have great talents, industry will improve them: if you have but moderate abilities, industry will supply their deficiency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-reynolds/if-you-have-great-talents-industry-will-improve-them-if-you-have-but/) [Joshua Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-reynolds/) > [Certainly, nothing can be more simple than monotony.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-reynolds/certainly-nothing-can-be-more-simple-than-monotony/) [Joshua Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-reynolds/) > [The real character of a man is found out by his amusements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-reynolds/the-real-character-of-a-man-is-found-out-by-his-amusements/) [Joshua Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-reynolds/) > [A mere copier of nature can never produce anything great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-reynolds/a-mere-copier-of-nature-can-never-produce-anything-great/) [Joshua Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-reynolds/) > [The general ideas which are expressed in sketches, correspond very well to the art often used in poetry... every reader making out the detail…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-reynolds/the-general-ideas-which-are-expressed-in-sketches-correspond-very/) [Joshua Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-reynolds/) > [All the gestures of children are graceful; the reign of distortion and unnatural attitudes commences with the introduction of the dancing master.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-reynolds/all-the-gestures-of-children-are-graceful-the-reign-of-distortion-and/) [Joshua Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-reynolds/) > [Our studies will be forever, in a very great degree, under the direction of chance; like travelers, we must take what we can get,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-reynolds/our-studies-will-be-forever-in-a-very-great-degree-under-the/) [Joshua Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-reynolds/) > [Style in painting is the same as in writing; a power over materials, whether words or colors, by which conceptions or sentiments are conveyed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-reynolds/style-in-painting-is-the-same-as-in-writing-a-power-over-materials/) [Joshua Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-reynolds/) > [The distinct blue, red, and yellow colors... though they have not the kind of harmony which is produced by a variety of broken and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-reynolds/the-distinct-blue-red-and-yellow-colors-though-they-have-not-the-kind/) [Joshua Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-reynolds/) > [I do not see in what manner practice alone can be sufficient for the production of correct, excellent, and finished pictures. Works deserving this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-reynolds/i-do-not-see-in-what-manner-practice-alone-can-be-sufficient-for-the/) [Joshua Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-reynolds/) > [There can be no doubt but that he who has the most materials has the greatest means of invention...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-reynolds/there-can-be-no-doubt-but-that-he-who-has-the-most-materials-has-the/) [Joshua Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-reynolds/) > [Excellence is never granted to man, but as the reward of labour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-reynolds/excellence-is-never-granted-to-man-but-as-the-reward-of-labour/) [Joshua Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-reynolds/) [Explore all 83 Joshua Reynolds quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-reynolds/) ## More Acquisition quotes > [The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance”: “The differences between expert performers and normal adults are not immutable, that is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-anders-ericsson/the-role-of-deliberate-practice-in-the-acquisition-of-expert/) K. 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The only possible way, then, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/we-may-affirm-that-the-balance-of-power-in-a-society-accompanies-the/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [Learning to play the guitar is a combination of mental and motor skill acquisition. And to develop motor skill, repetition is essential... Whenever musicians…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-roberts/learning-to-play-the-guitar-is-a-combination-of-mental-and-motor/) [Howard Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-roberts/) > [All worldly pursuits have but one unavoidable and inevitable end, which is sorrow; acquisitions end in dispersion; buildings in destruction; meetings in separation; births…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milarepa/all-worldly-pursuits-have-but-one-unavoidable-and-inevitable-end/) [Milarepa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milarepa/) > [When ice appears out of doors, and boys seize it up while it is solid, at first they experience new pleasures. But in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/when-ice-appears-out-of-doors-and-boys-seize-it-up-while-it-is-solid/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [Accounting consequences do not influence our operating or capital-allocation decisions. When acquisition costs are similar, we much prefer to purchase $2 of earnings that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-buffett/accounting-consequences-do-not-influence-our-operating-or-capital/) [Warren Buffett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-buffett/) > [A sustainable economy represents nothing less than a higher social order one as concerned with future generations as with our own, and more focused…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-r-brown/a-sustainable-economy-represents-nothing-less-than-a-higher-social/) [Lester R. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-r-brown/) > [One industrial age belief is that GDP or GNP is a measure of progress. I don't care if you're the President of China or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-senge/one-industrial-age-belief-is-that-gdp-or-gnp-is-a-measure-of-progress/) [Peter Senge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-senge/) > [I ended up doing four or five plays in college and being an English major with my thesis in language acquisition, which I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-coon/i-ended-up-doing-four-or-five-plays-in-college-and-being-an-english/) [Carrie Coon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-coon/) > [But most automotive dealerships are set up for customer acquisition - which is crazy when you consider the average cost of customer acquisition is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-hughes/but-most-automotive-dealerships-are-set-up-for-customer-acquisition/) Arthur Hughes > [As priestcraft was always the enemy of knowledge, because priestcraft supports itself by keeping people in delusion and ignorance, it was consistent with its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/as-priestcraft-was-always-the-enemy-of-knowledge-because-priestcraft/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Even as the unborn babe is in the womb of his mother, these five are fixed as his life destiny: his life span, his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/even-as-the-unborn-babe-is-in-the-womb-of-his-mother-these-five-are/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What becomes of a man who acquires a beautiful woman, with her "beauty" his sole target? 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