--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What passes for education, culture or…" description: "\"What passes for education, culture or maturity in most minds is merely how individuals want to think of themselves, a contrived egocentric self-concept..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddb/kenny-smith-2406_civilization_what-passes-for-education-culture-or-mat_1609697.jpg" --- # What passes for education, culture or maturity in most… ![“What passes for education, culture or maturity in most minds is merely how individuals want to think of themselves, a contrived egocentric self-concept, not actual and effective principles and values. This is what is known in the cliche as the "veneer" of civilization.” quote by Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddb/kenny-smith-2406_civilization_what-passes-for-education-culture-or-mat_1609697.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddb/kenny-smith-2406_civilization_what-passes-for-education-culture-or-mat_1609697.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddb/kenny-smith-2406_civilization_what-passes-for-education-culture-or-mat_1609697.jpg) > “What passes for education, culture or maturity in most minds is merely how individuals want to think of themselves, a contrived egocentric self-concept, not actual and effective principles and values. This is what is known in the cliche as the "veneer" of civilization.” [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques superficial self‑identities that masquerade as culture, urging deeper, genuine values. **In simple terms:** Superficial self‑images replace true principles. Key Takeaway Seek authentic values over ego. Themes identity culture values ego authenticity Mood critical thought‑provoking Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - personal development - education reform - cultural analysis Key Concepts self‑concept civilization veneer social critique Questions to Reflect On - How do you distinguish genuine values from ego? - What societal forces reinforce superficial self‑concepts? A Different Perspective It may overlook structural factors shaping identity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Cliche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cliche/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Ego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ego/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Maturity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/maturity/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Principles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/) [Principles and values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles-and-values/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self concept](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-concept/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) [Veneer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/veneer/) ## Related quotes > [“the veneer of civilization is exceedingly thin”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karin-tansek/the-veneer-of-civilization-is-exceedingly-thin/) Karin Tansek > [“His insights have come to him through a crack in the veneer of civilization, which was also a crack in his own soul. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/his-insights-have-come-to-him-through-a-crack-in-the-veneer-of/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [The destruction that barbarians leave behind has a grim fascination, doesn't it? We're reminded how thin is the veneer of civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/the-destruction-that-barbarians-leave-behind-has-a-grim-fascination/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [“The veneer of civilization is extremely thin.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-cook-m-d/the-veneer-of-civilization-is-extremely-thin/) Charles Cook M.D > [“The veneer of civilization is like that on the kitchen counter - very thin.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-watts/the-veneer-of-civilization-is-like-that-on-the-kitchen-counter-very/) [Malcolm Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-watts/) > [In this land of the Ganga (Varanasi), there was education of culture. But, more importantly, there was a culture of education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/in-this-land-of-the-ganga-varanasi-there-was-education-of-culture-but/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [What we call education and culture is for the most part nothing but the substitution of reading for experience, of literature for life, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/what-we-call-education-and-culture-is-for-the-most-part-nothing-but/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The purpose of education is to keep a culture from being drowned in senseless repetitions, each of which claims to offer a new insight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-rosenberg/the-purpose-of-education-is-to-keep-a-culture-from-being-drowned-in/) [Harold Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-rosenberg/) > [The system has a way of convincing people that because they live in the USA they are better off than all other people in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-yates/the-system-has-a-way-of-convincing-people-that-because-they-live-in/) [Michael Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-yates/) > [Accept yourself as you are. And that is the most difficult thing in the world, because it goes against your training, education, your culture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/accept-yourself-as-you-are-and-that-is-the-most-difficult-thing-in/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [“The biggest problem in AFRICA, is the government/public service leaders ensure that the education system teaches people WHAT to think, and NOT HOW TO…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-dovale/the-biggest-problem-in-africa-is-the-government-public-service/) [Tony Dovale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-dovale/) > [The sure foundations of the state are laid in knowledge, not in ignorance; and every sneer at education, at culture, at book learning, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-william-curtis/the-sure-foundations-of-the-state-are-laid-in-knowledge-not-in/) [George William Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-william-curtis/) > [There is so much each one of us can do to make a difference. We are at a dangerous juncture in the history of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bianca-jagger/there-is-so-much-each-one-of-us-can-do-to-make-a-difference-we-are-at/) [Bianca Jagger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bianca-jagger/) > [For me, teaching helps to reaffirm the right principles and values of acting. It helps me focus on the good stuff that can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-pellegrino/for-me-teaching-helps-to-reaffirm-the-right-principles-and-values-of/) [Mark Pellegrino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-pellegrino/) > [I've been blessed by learning certain principles and values that transformed my life and enabled me to accomplish more than I really had the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-koch/i-ve-been-blessed-by-learning-certain-principles-and-values-that/) [Charles Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-koch/) ## More by Kenny Smith > [The approach of intellect or noesis will forever be an effete and limited sort of thing by contrast with the vigor and color of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/the-approach-of-intellect-or-noesis-will-forever-be-an-effete-and/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [One can hardly appreciate how academia has perverted its highest tasks and "ideals" without pondering long and hard the implications of Jacques Barzun's House…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/one-can-hardly-appreciate-how-academia-has-perverted-its-highest/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [When academics claim a topic is obsolete, they mean merely they are tired of flogging it with their cliches.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/when-academics-claim-a-topic-is-obsolete-they-mean-merely-they-are/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [If you look at the NBA, it's the richest and wealthiest group of African-American men in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/if-you-look-at-the-nba-it-s-the-richest-and-wealthiest-group-of/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [In late modernity we grow more and more accustomed to politicians and public figures who are indebted to their appetites for their "values," to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/in-late-modernity-we-grow-more-and-more-accustomed-to-politicians-and/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [How infinitely happier and more grateful is the whole personality or spirit when it finds something nourishing in art or writing or thinking, than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/how-infinitely-happier-and-more-grateful-is-the-whole-personality-or/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [There are a lot more famous fathers out there than me with daughters who wouldn't mind singing careers... but the talent and the work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/there-are-a-lot-more-famous-fathers-out-there-than-me-with-daughters/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [Games like 'Call of Duty' and 'NBA Baller Beats' have so much to them. I was more of the 'Pac-Man' generation where we were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/games-like-call-of-duty-and-nba-baller-beats-have-so-much-to-them-i/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [The Rockets have a philosophy of what they think their coach should be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/the-rockets-have-a-philosophy-of-what-they-think-their-coach-should-be/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [I've played more park games than NBA games, and I had a 10-year NBA career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/i-ve-played-more-park-games-than-nba-games-and-i-had-a-10-year-nba/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [I'm always the neutral guy, man. I'm able to bring people together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/i-m-always-the-neutral-guy-man-i-m-able-to-bring-people-together/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [People compose the schedules they do out of the priorities they have; and someone who says otherwise is deceiving himself about what he really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/people-compose-the-schedules-they-do-out-of-the-priorities-they-have/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [There's hasn't been a day in my life since I was 9 years old that I haven't touched a basketball or done something connected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/there-s-hasn-t-been-a-day-in-my-life-since-i-was-9-years-old-that-i/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [You can have your own thought process about things, but you still need to include and co-exist with other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/you-can-have-your-own-thought-process-about-things-but-you-still-need/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [NCAA is looking at how to do a better job enforcing their rules instead of looking at why the predatorial environment is created. There's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/ncaa-is-looking-at-how-to-do-a-better-job-enforcing-their-rules/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) [Explore all 168 Kenny Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) ## More Civilization quotes > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Sentiment is the mightiest force in civilization; not sentimentality, but sentiment. Women will bring this into politics. Home, sweet home, is as powerful on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-ellen-foster/sentiment-is-the-mightiest-force-in-civilization-not-sentimentality/) [Judith Ellen Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-ellen-foster/) > [Violence is not necessary to destroy a civilization. Each civilization dies from indifference toward the unique values which created it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-gomez-davila/violence-is-not-necessary-to-destroy-a-civilization-each-civilization/) [Nicolas Gomez Davila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-gomez-davila/) > [“The voice in the head that never stops speaking becomes a civilization that is obsessed with form and therefore knows nothing of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-voice-in-the-head-that-never-stops-speaking-becomes-a/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [We released 400,000 classified documents, the most extraordinary history of a war to ever have been released in our civilization. Those documents cover 109,000…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-assange/we-released-400-000-classified-documents-the-most-extraordinary/) [Julian Assange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-assange/) > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Whenever we touch nature we get clean. People who have got dirty through too much civilization take a walk in the woods, or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/whenever-we-touch-nature-we-get-clean-people-who-have-got-dirty/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/the-invention-of-gunpowder-and-the-constant-improvement-of-firearms/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“The mission is, not to replace old world mindlessness with new world mindlessness, but to put an end to all forms of brainless authoritarianism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-mission-is-not-to-replace-old-world-mindlessness-with-new-world/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Our civilization, bequeathed to us by fierce adventurers, eaters of meat and hunters, is so full of hurry and combat, so busy about many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/our-civilization-bequeathed-to-us-by-fierce-adventurers-eaters-of/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Coal lay in ledges under the ground since the Flood, until a laborer with pick and windlass brings it to the surface. We may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/coal-lay-in-ledges-under-the-ground-since-the-flood-until-a-laborer/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Once we allow ourselves to be disobedient to the test of an accountant's profit, we have begun to change our civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/once-we-allow-ourselves-to-be-disobedient-to-the-test-of-an/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-josiah-brewer/our-laws-and-our-institutions-must-necessarily-be-based-upon-and/) [David Josiah Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-josiah-brewer/) [Browse all 4,084 Civilization quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What passes for education, culture or maturity in most minds is merely how individuals want to think of themselves, a contrived egocentric self-concept, not actual and effective principles and values. 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