--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: So what indeed! The lesson I myself…" description: "\"“So what indeed! The lesson I myself learned over and over again when teaching at the college and then the prison was the uselessness of information to..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76c/kurt-vonnegut-41_education_so-what-indeed-the-lesson-i-myself-learn_3029445.jpg" --- # So what indeed! The lesson I myself learned over and over… ![“So what indeed! The lesson I myself learned over and over again when teaching at the college and then the prison was the uselessness of information to most people, except as entertainment. If facts weren't funny or scary, or couldn't make you rich, the heck with them.” quote by Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76c/kurt-vonnegut-41_education_so-what-indeed-the-lesson-i-myself-learn_3029445.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76c/kurt-vonnegut-41_education_so-what-indeed-the-lesson-i-myself-learn_3029445.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76c/kurt-vonnegut-41_education_so-what-indeed-the-lesson-i-myself-learn_3029445.jpg) > ““So what indeed! The lesson I myself learned over and over again when teaching at the college and then the prison was the uselessness of information to most people, except as entertainment. If facts weren't funny or scary, or couldn't make you rich, the heck with them.”” [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Information often fails to engage unless it entertains, educates, or enriches. **In simple terms:** Facts need humor, fear, or profit to matter. Key Takeaway Make learning entertaining to be effective. Themes education entertainment information engagement learning Mood witty critical reflective Type educational philosophical When to use this quote - classroom teaching - prison education - public speaking Key Concepts pedagogy media studies psychology of attention Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance fun and depth? - What makes information memorable? A Different Perspective Risk of trivializing important topics. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [College Prison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/college-prison-4776756/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Facts Weren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts-weren-4941087/) [Lesson learned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lesson-learned/) [Prison Uselessness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prison-uselessness-386128/) [Uselessness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uselessness/) ## Related quotes > [If facts weren't funny, or scary, or couldn't make you rich, the heck with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/if-facts-weren-t-funny-or-scary-or-couldn-t-make-you-rich-the-heck/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [A children's author on a soapbox is not a pleasant sight but I have become drawn into issues, slightly unwillingly, relating to young people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-horowitz/a-children-s-author-on-a-soapbox-is-not-a-pleasant-sight-but-i-have/) [Anthony Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-horowitz/) > [I attended college in prison. 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The”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-o-keefe/his-uselessness-ached-the/) [Molly O'Keefe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-o-keefe/) > [“they were nice in a useless sort of way, which is, after all, the only way to be truly nice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/they-were-nice-in-a-useless-sort-of-way-which-is-after-all-the-only/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [“He wishes he were a skilled poet, it would fit his chosen image perfectly; the poor, tragic, tortured artiste. But he has no talent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-ackie/he-wishes-he-were-a-skilled-poet-it-would-fit-his-chosen-image/) [Curtis Ackie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-ackie/) > [It is quite useless knocking at the door of heaven for earthly comfort. It's not the sort of comfort they supply there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/it-is-quite-useless-knocking-at-the-door-of-heaven-for-earthly/) [C. S. 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Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“The role of useless ideas is to help us see the useful ones.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamerlan-kuzgov/the-role-of-useless-ideas-is-to-help-us-see-the-useful-ones/) [Tamerlan Kuzgov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamerlan-kuzgov/) > [“If you leave this world without solving the problems for which you were born, then you are a failure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/if-you-leave-this-world-without-solving-the-problems-for-which-you/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [“Our only real pleasure is to squander our resources to no purpose, just as if a wound were bleeding away inside us; we always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bataille/our-only-real-pleasure-is-to-squander-our-resources-to-no-purpose/) [Georges Bataille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bataille/) > [“The new, alien string of letters had no illustration. No etymology. No pronunciation guide, even. It was just a hard-hearted, ungenerous little word whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-new-alien-string-of-letters-had-no-illustration-no-etymology-no/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Indolence is the dry rot of even a good mind and a good character; the practical uselessness of both. It is the waste of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tryon-edwards/indolence-is-the-dry-rot-of-even-a-good-mind-and-a-good-character-the/) [Tryon Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tryon-edwards/) > [“Being divorced does not necessarily make one’s advice on marriage useless … or useful.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/being-divorced-does-not-necessarily-make-one-s-advice-on-marriage/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) ## More by Kurt Vonnegut > [“You must bloom as a writer and I must bloom as a painter. Everything else about us is uninteresting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/you-must-bloom-as-a-writer-and-i-must-bloom-as-a-painter-everything/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“People aren't supposed to look back.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/people-aren-t-supposed-to-look-back/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“Have a good nap, did you?” said the porter. “Yes,” said Billy. “Man,” said the porter, “you sure had a hard-on.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/have-a-good-nap-did-you-said-the-porter-yes-said-billy-man-said-the/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“I told him that if we doubted that we are demons in Hell, he should read The Mysterious Stranger, which Mark Twain wrote in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/i-told-him-that-if-we-doubted-that-we-are-demons-in-hell-he-should/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [ “Thomas Jefferson High School \[..\] His high school was named after a slave owner who was also one of the world’s greatest theoreticians on… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/thomas-jefferson-high-school-his-high-school-was-named-after-a-slave/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“I had a certain amount of skill as a dramatist, and Dr. Goebbels wanted me to use it”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/i-had-a-certain-amount-of-skill-as-a-dramatist-and-dr-goebbels-wanted/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [I was some of the mud that got to sit up and look around. Lucky me, lucky mud.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/i-was-some-of-the-mud-that-got-to-sit-up-and-look-around-lucky-me/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“The town was Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.A., Earth, Solar System, Milky Way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/the-town-was-newport-rhode-island-u-s-a-earth-solar-system-milky-way/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“Her face was one of a kind, a surprising variation that made observers think, Yes--that would be another very nice way for people to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/her-face-was-one-of-a-kind-a-surprising-variation-that-made-observers/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“You finally fell in love, I see,” said Salo. “Only an Earthling year ago,” said Constant. “It took us that long to realize that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/you-finally-fell-in-love-i-see-said-salo-only-an-earthling-year-ago/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“Like all Earthlings at the point of death, Mary Young sent faint reminders of herself to those who had known her. 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