--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For what can give a finer example of that…" description: "\"“For what can give a finer example of that frankness and manly self- confidence which our great public schools, and none of them so much as Eton, are s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68f/matthew-arnold-1235_confidence_for-what-can-give-a-finer-example-of-tha_1725609.jpg" --- # For what can give a finer example of that frankness and… ![“For what can give a finer example of that frankness and manly self- confidence which our great public schools, and none of them so much as Eton, are supposed to inspire, of that buoyant ease in holding up one's head, speaking out what is in one's mind, and flinging off all sheepishness and…” quote by Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68f/matthew-arnold-1235_confidence_for-what-can-give-a-finer-example-of-tha_1725609.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68f/matthew-arnold-1235_confidence_for-what-can-give-a-finer-example-of-tha_1725609.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68f/matthew-arnold-1235_confidence_for-what-can-give-a-finer-example-of-tha_1725609.jpg) > ““For what can give a finer example of that frankness and manly self- confidence which our great public schools, and none of them so much as Eton, are supposed to inspire, of that buoyant ease in holding up one's head, speaking out what is in one's mind, and flinging off all sheepishness and awkwardness, than to see an Eton assistant-master offering in fact himself as evidence that to combine boarding-house- keeping with teaching is a good thing, and his brother as evidence that to train and race little boys for competitive examinations is a good thing?”” [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Arnold critiques the superficial confidence fostered by elite schools, suggesting true self-assurance comes from genuine character, not institutional prestige. **In simple terms:** Schools may teach confidence, but real self-assurance is deeper. Key Takeaway Seek authenticity over appearances. Themes education confidence authenticity Mood reflective critical Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - school leadership - parental guidance - student self-development Key Concepts social conformity institutional influence Questions to Reflect On - How do you define genuine confidence? - What role should schools play in character building? A Different Perspective Confidence taught in schools can be shallow without personal integrity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Confidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confidence/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Eton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eton/) [Little boys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/little-boys/) [Public schools](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-schools/) ## Related quotes > [Free milk will be provided in Hoxton and Shoredith, in Eton and Harrow. What more social equality can you have than that?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-wilkinson/free-milk-will-be-provided-in-hoxton-and-shoredith-in-eton-and-harrow/) [Ellen Wilkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-wilkinson/) > [ My education \[takes place\] during the holidays from Eton. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osbert-sitwell/my-education-takes-place-during-the-holidays-from-eton/) [Osbert Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osbert-sitwell/) > [“It started off very underprivileged, but got more affluent.' Amis suddenly smiles to himself, remembering a moment with his father. 'I remember saying –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonella-gambotto-burke/it-started-off-very-underprivileged-but-got-more-affluent-amis/) [Antonella Gambotto-Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonella-gambotto-burke/) > [An unemployed electrician,whom I had been taunting with my reminder of how much richer I was, leaned forward and said:'What are your qualifications? I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-waugh/an-unemployed-electrician-whom-i-had-been-taunting-with-my-reminder/) [Auberon Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-waugh/) > [I went to prep school, Eton and Oxford. When people hear that, they think they know you, and you think: 'No, you don't.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-lloyd/i-went-to-prep-school-eton-and-oxford-when-people-hear-that-they/) [Harry Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-lloyd/) > [It is essential to rear a generation at the very top of society that has all the qualities needed to lead and give the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-kuan-yew/it-is-essential-to-rear-a-generation-at-the-very-top-of-society-that/) [Lee Kuan Yew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-kuan-yew/) > [I taught principally German language and literature at Eton. But any master with private pupils must be prepared to teach anything they ask for.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-le-carre/i-taught-principally-german-language-and-literature-at-eton-but-any/) [John le Carre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-le-carre/) > [It's the weird thing Eton does - you're at school next to lords and earls and, in my case, Prince William, so you end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-redmayne/it-s-the-weird-thing-eton-does-you-re-at-school-next-to-lords-and/) [Eddie Redmayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-redmayne/) > [I'd like thousands of schools as good as the one I went to, Eton.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-johnson/i-d-like-thousands-of-schools-as-good-as-the-one-i-went-to-eton/) [Boris Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-johnson/) > [As far as the physical miseries go, I am sure I will cope. I lived at Eton in the 1950s and I know all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-aitken/as-far-as-the-physical-miseries-go-i-am-sure-i-will-cope-i-lived-at/) [Jonathan Aitken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-aitken/) > [It is contended that those who have been bred at Eton, Harrow, Rugby, and Westminster, that the public sentiment within each of those schools…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/it-is-contended-that-those-who-have-been-bred-at-eton-harrow-rugby/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [There is an old story about the boy at Eton who committed suicide. The other boys in his house were gathered together and asked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-waugh/there-is-an-old-story-about-the-boy-at-eton-who-committed-suicide-the/) [Auberon Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-waugh/) > [Were I to deduce any system from my feelings on leaving Eton, it might be called The Theory of Permanent Adolescence. It is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/were-i-to-deduce-any-system-from-my-feelings-on-leaving-eton-it-might/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [I am inclined to agree with the Head Master of Eton that pæderastic passions among schoolboys 'do no harm'; further, I think them the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleister-crowley/i-am-inclined-to-agree-with-the-head-master-of-eton-that-p-derastic/) [Aleister Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleister-crowley/) > [Britain won its wars on the playing fields of Eton. America developed its mettle at the muddy gaps of the Cumberlands, in the swift…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-broome/britain-won-its-wars-on-the-playing-fields-of-eton-america-developed/) [Harvey Broome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-broome/) ## More by Matthew Arnold > [Culture looks beyond machinery, culture hates hatred; culture has one great passion, the passion for sweetness and light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/culture-looks-beyond-machinery-culture-hates-hatred-culture-has-one/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [We must hold fast to the austere but true doctrine as to what really governs politics and saves or destroys states. Having in mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/we-must-hold-fast-to-the-austere-but-true-doctrine-as-to-what-really/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [“Culture is the endeavour to know the best and to make this knowledge prevail for the good of all humankind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/culture-is-the-endeavour-to-know-the-best-and-to-make-this-knowledge/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [The difference between genuine poetry and the poetry of Dryden, Pope, and all their school, is briefly this: their poetry is conceived and composed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/the-difference-between-genuine-poetry-and-the-poetry-of-dryden-pope/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Culture, the acquainting ourselves with the best that has been known and said in the world, and thus with the history of the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/culture-the-acquainting-ourselves-with-the-best-that-has-been-known/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Strew on her roses, roses, And never a spray of yew! In quiet she reposes; Ah, would that I did too!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/strew-on-her-roses-roses-and-never-a-spray-of-yew-in-quiet-she/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Nature, with equal mind, Sees all her sons at play, Sees man control the wind, The wind sweep man away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/nature-with-equal-mind-sees-all-her-sons-at-play-sees-man-control-the/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Six years-six little years-six drops of time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/six-years-six-little-years-six-drops-of-time/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Let the long contention cease! / Geese are swans, and swans are geese.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/let-the-long-contention-cease-geese-are-swans-and-swans-are-geese/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [It is almost impossible to exaggerate the proneness of the human mind to take miracles as evidence, and to seek for miracles as evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/it-is-almost-impossible-to-exaggerate-the-proneness-of-the-human-mind/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Religion is ethics heightened, enkindled, lit up by feeling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/religion-is-ethics-heightened-enkindled-lit-up-by-feeling/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Genius is mainly an affair of energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/genius-is-mainly-an-affair-of-energy/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Culture is both an intellectual phenomenon and a moral one](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/culture-is-both-an-intellectual-phenomenon-and-a-moral-one/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [English civilization the humanizing, the bringing into one harmonious and truly humane life, of the whole body of English society that is what interests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/english-civilization-the-humanizing-the-bringing-into-one-harmonious/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [“Wandering between two worlds, one dead The other powerless to be born, With nowhere yet to rest my head Like these, on earth I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/wandering-between-two-worlds-one-dead-the-other-powerless-to-be-born/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) [Explore all 267 Matthew Arnold quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) ## More Confidence quotes > [The CIA has concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win the presidency rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-maddow/the-cia-has-concluded-in-a-secret-assessment-that-russia-intervened/) [Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-maddow/) > [I was just confident my work was good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bunny-yeager/i-was-just-confident-my-work-was-good/) [Bunny Yeager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bunny-yeager/) > [I am confident when I take the penalty otherwise I would pass for somebody else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-fernandes/i-am-confident-when-i-take-the-penalty-otherwise-i-would-pass-for/) [Bruno Fernandes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-fernandes/) > [I started out dancing on a reality TV show, but always with the intention of making my way over to film. I transitioned into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-hough/i-started-out-dancing-on-a-reality-tv-show-but-always-with-the/) [Julianne Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-hough/) > [One of the ways that I discovered my confidence and my ability to overpower is becoming a mother. Suddenly, my world wasn't about myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lights/one-of-the-ways-that-i-discovered-my-confidence-and-my-ability-to/) [Lights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lights/) > [My friend made me a leather dress for the MTV awards. It gives you confidence, wearing something you love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cat-deeley/my-friend-made-me-a-leather-dress-for-the-mtv-awards-it-gives-you/) [Cat Deeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cat-deeley/) > [Confidence comes from cutting yourself some slack.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tess-daly/confidence-comes-from-cutting-yourself-some-slack/) [Tess Daly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tess-daly/) > [I would rather regret the things that I have done than the things that I have not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucille-ball/i-would-rather-regret-the-things-that-i-have-done-than-the-things/) [Lucille Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucille-ball/) > [You want to remain hungry and stay in a good place as a competitor; at the same time, you want to be confident but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lamar-odom/you-want-to-remain-hungry-and-stay-in-a-good-place-as-a-competitor-at/) [Lamar Odom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lamar-odom/) > [Get to know yourself well enough to not only expect, but also control, your response to the unexpected challenges in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senoraroy/get-to-know-yourself-well-enough-to-not-only-expect-but-also-control/) Senoraroy > [The four Cs of making dreams come true: Curiosity, Courage, Consistency, Confidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/the-four-cs-of-making-dreams-come-true-curiosity-courage-consistency/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) > [I look for someone who has confidence. Also someone whose energetic, cause I'm NOT that energetic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-jonas/i-look-for-someone-who-has-confidence-also-someone-whose-energetic/) [Nick Jonas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-jonas/) > [Why shouldn't I be confident? I'm well educated, I can deliver a line, and I have more than three expressions. That's good right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonakshi-sinha/why-shouldn-t-i-be-confident-i-m-well-educated-i-can-deliver-a-line/) [Sonakshi Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonakshi-sinha/) > [I was very confident on the stage, and I stood out in a red gown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-johnson/i-was-very-confident-on-the-stage-and-i-stood-out-in-a-red-gown/) [Nicole Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-johnson/) > [If you go to any nunnery and ask them what the main obstacle is, they'll always say low self-esteem and lack of confidence. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/if-you-go-to-any-nunnery-and-ask-them-what-the-main-obstacle-is-they/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) [Browse all 11,290 Confidence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confidence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“For what can give a finer example of that frankness and manly self- confidence which our great public schools, and none of them so much as Eton, are supposed to inspire, of that buoyant ease in holding up one's head, speaking out what is in one's mind, and flinging off all sheepishness and awkwardness, than to see an Eton assistant-master offering in fact himself as evidence that to combine boarding-house- keeping with teaching is a good thing, and his brother as evidence that to train and race little boys for competitive examinations is a good thing?”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Matthew Arnold" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/for-what-can-give-a-finer-example-of-that-frankness-and-manly-self/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Confidence" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/for-what-can-give-a-finer-example-of-that-frankness-and-manly-self/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68f/matthew-arnold-1235_confidence_for-what-can-give-a-finer-example-of-tha_1725609.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68f/matthew-arnold-1235_confidence_for-what-can-give-a-finer-example-of-tha_1725609.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68f/matthew-arnold-1235_confidence_for-what-can-give-a-finer-example-of-tha_1725609.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For what can give a finer example of that frankness and manly self- confidence which our great public…” — Matthew Arnold", "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": "Matthew Arnold", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“For what can give a finer...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/for-what-can-give-a-finer-example-of-that-frankness-and-manly-self/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/for-what-can-give-a-finer-example-of-that-frankness-and-manly-self/#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 } } ] } ```