--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think the hardest thing to teach a…" description: "\"I think the hardest thing to teach a student is that what he or she puts down on paper is changeable. It's not the final thing, it's the first thing, w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d0/m-h-abrams-28509_editing_i-think-the-hardest-thing-to-teach-a-stu_926655.jpg" --- # I think the hardest thing to teach a student is that what… ![“I think the hardest thing to teach a student is that what he or she puts down on paper is changeable. It's not the final thing, it's the first thing, which may just be the suggestive, vague identification of something that you have to come back to and rewrite.” quote by M. H. Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d0/m-h-abrams-28509_editing_i-think-the-hardest-thing-to-teach-a-stu_926655.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d0/m-h-abrams-28509_editing_i-think-the-hardest-thing-to-teach-a-stu_926655.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d0/m-h-abrams-28509_editing_i-think-the-hardest-thing-to-teach-a-stu_926655.jpg) > “I think the hardest thing to teach a student is that what he or she puts down on paper is changeable. It's not the final thing, it's the first thing, which may just be the suggestive, vague identification of something that you have to come back to and rewrite.” [M. H. Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-h-abrams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing is iterative; initial drafts are mutable and serve as starting points for revision. **In simple terms:** First drafts are just beginnings, not final. Key Takeaway Embrace revision as part of writing. Themes writing revision learning process Mood supportive encouraging Type advice educational When to use this quote - classroom teaching - author workshops - self‑editing - content creation Key Concepts education creative writing pedagogy Questions to Reflect On - How can you encourage students to view drafts positively? - What strategies help manage revision fatigue? A Different Perspective Students may feel discouraged by constant changes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Editing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/editing/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Finals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finals/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Hardest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hardest/) [Hardest thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hardest-thing/) [Identification](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identification/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Paper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paper/) [Paper Changeable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paper-changeable-1477120/) [Student Puts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/student-puts-1477121/) [Students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students/) [Teach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teach/) [Teach Student](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teach-student-403477/) [Thing Teach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-teach-792935/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Vague](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vague/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [Teach the student to see the land, understand what he sees, and enjoy what he understands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldo-leopold/teach-the-student-to-see-the-land-understand-what-he-sees-and-enjoy/) [Aldo Leopold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldo-leopold/) > [Sometimes when I teach a student something that I think is really simple, I realize I'm teaching them something they can do 90 percent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-molsky/sometimes-when-i-teach-a-student-something-that-i-think-is-really/) [Bruce Molsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-molsky/) > [Teach the student what needs to be taught. 'Cause black and white kids both take shorts When one doesn't know about the other one's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krs-one/teach-the-student-what-needs-to-be-taught-cause-black-and-white-kids/) [KRS-One](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krs-one/) > [I think a lot of teachers feel like they're teaching to a test. Our response is you teach to a student, you really teach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-gruwell/i-think-a-lot-of-teachers-feel-like-they-re-teaching-to-a-test-our/) [Erin Gruwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-gruwell/) > [“A Teacher doesn't teach, until the student is ready to ask the question.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/springwolf/a-teacher-doesn-t-teach-until-the-student-is-ready-to-ask-the-question/) [Springwolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/springwolf/) > [If you only know one kriya, then share that. Just be humble, teach it. Every student is a teacher.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/if-you-only-know-one-kriya-then-share-that-just-be-humble-teach-it/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clay-p-bedford/you-can-teach-a-student-a-lesson-for-a-day-but-if-you-can-teach-him/) [Clay P Bedford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clay-p-bedford/) > [Teach the student first, the music second and the piano third.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-elliott-clark/teach-the-student-first-the-music-second-and-the-piano-third/) [Frances Elliott Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-elliott-clark/) > [Once you know that every moment and every person and every situation has something to teach you, you're a student all day. You know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/once-you-know-that-every-moment-and-every-person-and-every-situation/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [I think the best thing I could ever teach my daughter is that she's not an object or a trophy, and that she can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-homme/i-think-the-best-thing-i-could-ever-teach-my-daughter-is-that-she-s/) [Josh Homme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-homme/) > [There may be no single thing that can teach us more about life than death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arianna-huffington/there-may-be-no-single-thing-that-can-teach-us-more-about-life-than/) [Arianna Huffington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arianna-huffington/) > [Once she knows how to read there's only one thing you can teach her to believe in and that is herself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/once-she-knows-how-to-read-there-s-only-one-thing-you-can-teach-her/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Commit to finding the true nature of art. Go for that thing no one can teach you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-deavere-smith/commit-to-finding-the-true-nature-of-art-go-for-that-thing-no-one-can/) [Anna Deavere Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-deavere-smith/) > [The important thing is to teach a child that good can always triumph over evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/the-important-thing-is-to-teach-a-child-that-good-can-always-triumph/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) > [One thing I teach my children and want everyone to know that even if you happen to be on a pedestal you should have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shahrukh-khan/one-thing-i-teach-my-children-and-want-everyone-to-know-that-even-if/) [Shahrukh Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shahrukh-khan/) ## More by M. H. Abrams > [If you read quickly to get through a poem to what it means, you have missed the body of the poem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-h-abrams/if-you-read-quickly-to-get-through-a-poem-to-what-it-means-you-have/) [M. H. Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-h-abrams/) > [We are human, and nothing is more interesting to us than humanity. The appeal of literature is that it is so thoroughly a human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-h-abrams/we-are-human-and-nothing-is-more-interesting-to-us-than-humanity-the/) [M. H. Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-h-abrams/) > [Life without literature is a life reduced to penury.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-h-abrams/life-without-literature-is-a-life-reduced-to-penury/) [M. H. Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-h-abrams/) > [We are human, and nothing is more interesting to us than humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-h-abrams/we-are-human-and-nothing-is-more-interesting-to-us-than-humanity/) [M. H. Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-h-abrams/) > [It's amazing how, age after age, in country after country, and in all languages, Shakespeare emerges as incomparable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-h-abrams/it-s-amazing-how-age-after-age-in-country-after-country-and-in-all/) [M. H. Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-h-abrams/) > [The survival of artistic modes in which we recognize ourselves, identify ourselves and place ourselves will survive as long as humanity survives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-h-abrams/the-survival-of-artistic-modes-in-which-we-recognize-ourselves/) [M. H. Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-h-abrams/) > [We worked on solving the problem of voice communications in a noisy military environment. We established military codes that are highly audible and invented…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-h-abrams/we-worked-on-solving-the-problem-of-voice-communications-in-a-noisy/) [M. H. Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-h-abrams/) > [At first, students tend to freeze at the first effort. The breakthrough comes when they realize that they can make it better - can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-h-abrams/at-first-students-tend-to-freeze-at-the-first-effort-the-breakthrough/) [M. H. Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-h-abrams/) > [If you learn one thing from having lived through decades of changing views, it is that all predictions are necessarily false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-h-abrams/if-you-learn-one-thing-from-having-lived-through-decades-of-changing/) [M. H. Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-h-abrams/) > [If you don't set your writing - teaching - at a level that makes them stretch, they are never going to develop their intellectual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-h-abrams/if-you-don-t-set-your-writing-teaching-at-a-level-that-makes-them/) [M. H. Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-h-abrams/) > [When I was a graduate student, the leading spirits at Harvard were interested in the history of ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-h-abrams/when-i-was-a-graduate-student-the-leading-spirits-at-harvard-were/) [M. H. Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-h-abrams/) > [When something startlingly new comes up, young people, especially, seize it. You can't complain about that. I think its heyday has passed, but it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-h-abrams/when-something-startlingly-new-comes-up-young-people-especially-seize/) [M. H. Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-h-abrams/) > [Hard work makes easy reading or, at least, easier reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-h-abrams/hard-work-makes-easy-reading-or-at-least-easier-reading/) [M. H. Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-h-abrams/) > [Life without literature is a life reduced to penury. It expands you in every way. It illuminates what you’re doing. It shows you possibilities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-h-abrams/life-without-literature-is-a-life-reduced-to-penury-it-expands-you-in/) [M. H. Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-h-abrams/) > [The theories of the major philosophers of the 18th century secular enlightenment were biblical and theological in spite of themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-h-abrams/the-theories-of-the-major-philosophers-of-the-18th-century-secular/) [M. H. Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-h-abrams/) [Explore all 19 M. H. Abrams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-h-abrams/) ## More Editing quotes > [Forcing modern speakers of English to not - whoops, not to split an infinitive because it isn't done in Latin makes about as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/forcing-modern-speakers-of-english-to-not-whoops-not-to-split-an/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [It's not writing in the traditional sense, but I've always said that the writing process continues on the set and even into the editing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-weide/it-s-not-writing-in-the-traditional-sense-but-i-ve-always-said-that/) [Robert B. Weide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-weide/) > [Whenever I finish a film, I feel that this is the worst film that I have made. This is bound to happen because while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajkumar-hirani/whenever-i-finish-a-film-i-feel-that-this-is-the-worst-film-that-i/) [Rajkumar Hirani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajkumar-hirani/) > [A perfect movie is a different thing, but a funny movie is easy. I was really happy that I got everyone that I got.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-walsh/a-perfect-movie-is-a-different-thing-but-a-funny-movie-is-easy-i-was/) [Matt Walsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-walsh/) > [When I see my movies on the editing table, I do think I could have done them a certain way. The satisfaction is never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sajid-nadiadwala/when-i-see-my-movies-on-the-editing-table-i-do-think-i-could-have/) [Sajid Nadiadwala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sajid-nadiadwala/) > [I've driven people mad on films that I've made - I want more takes; I want to try new lines. Then I want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-grant/i-ve-driven-people-mad-on-films-that-i-ve-made-i-want-more-takes-i/) [Hugh Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-grant/) > [Songwriting is like editing. You write down all this stuff - all this bad, stupid stuff - and then you have to get rid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juliana-hatfield/songwriting-is-like-editing-you-write-down-all-this-stuff-all-this/) [Juliana Hatfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juliana-hatfield/) > [I think what holds people up in creative processes is the expectation of what it is they're doing. It's also the sense of judgement,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-hegarty/i-think-what-holds-people-up-in-creative-processes-is-the-expectation/) [Antony Hegarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-hegarty/) > [And then to see the whole movie, you're pretty much waiting until the end of production. And the major lifting in terms of editing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-kaufman/and-then-to-see-the-whole-movie-you-re-pretty-much-waiting-until-the/) [Charlie Kaufman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-kaufman/) > [I believe there's a platonic ideal for every book that is written, like there's the perfect version of the book somewhere in the ether,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-heti/i-believe-there-s-a-platonic-ideal-for-every-book-that-is-written/) [Sheila Heti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-heti/) > [“It’s easy to see what to do once it’s already been done. The difficult time is before it’s to be done, and while you’re…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/it-s-easy-to-see-what-to-do-once-it-s-already-been-done-the-difficult/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [Once you sign on as an actor, you know, you don't go to the editing room, you don't see how they cut, you don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-brooks/once-you-sign-on-as-an-actor-you-know-you-don-t-go-to-the-editing/) [Albert Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-brooks/) > [The momentum of production keeps you from giving up, so it's really the editing and writing phases where things can look bleakest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rian-johnson/the-momentum-of-production-keeps-you-from-giving-up-so-it-s-really/) [Rian Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rian-johnson/) > [I spend a lot of time in preproduction working with authors, and a lot of time in postproduction.: editing, music, all that sort of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-kaufman/i-spend-a-lot-of-time-in-preproduction-working-with-authors-and-a-lot/) [Charlie Kaufman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-kaufman/) [Browse all 938 Editing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/editing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think the hardest thing to teach a student is that what he or she puts down on paper is changeable. 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