--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The British government documents, as…" description: "\"“The British government documents, as early as fifty years ago, an aim for education other than the one we have today: raising values, making good citi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcd/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_british-government_the-british-government-documents-as-earl_741443.png" --- # The British government documents, as early as fifty years… ![“The British government documents, as early as fifty years ago, an aim for education other than the one we have today: raising values, making good citizens, and “learning,” not economic growth (they were not suckers at the time)—a point also made by Alison Wolf.” quote by Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcd/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_british-government_the-british-government-documents-as-earl_741443.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcd/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_british-government_the-british-government-documents-as-earl_741443.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcd/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_british-government_the-british-government-documents-as-earl_741443.png) > ““The British government documents, as early as fifty years ago, an aim for education other than the one we have today: raising values, making good citizens, and “learning,” not economic growth (they were not suckers at the time)—a point also made by Alison Wolf.”” [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) ## 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 the shift from education aimed at moral development to a focus on economic outcomes. **In simple terms:** Education used to teach values, now it teaches profit. Key Takeaway Prioritize character over profit. Themes education values citizenship economics policy Mood reflective critical Type analytical commentary When to use this quote - school curricula - public policy debates - parental choices - teacher training Key Concepts human capital civic virtue neoliberalism Questions to Reflect On - How can schools balance values and skills? - What incentives drive current education policies? A Different Perspective Economic growth focus can overlook moral development. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [British government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/british-government/) [Economic growth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economic-growth/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Education today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education-today/) [Good citizens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-citizens/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) ## Related quotes > [The objective of education should be impressed on the children's minds. The academic education of today is shallow and useless because it has no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sai-baba/the-objective-of-education-should-be-impressed-on-the-children-s/) [Sai Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sai-baba/) > [Education today, in this particular social period, is assuming truly unlimited importance. And the increased emphasis on its practical value can be summed up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/education-today-in-this-particular-social-period-is-assuming-truly/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [“If we dont invest in education today how can we learn to make a brighter future.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terrence-wells/if-we-dont-invest-in-education-today-how-can-we-learn-to-make-a/) Terrence Wells > [Education today, more than ever before, must see clearly the dual objectives: education for living and educating for making a living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wood-mason/education-today-more-than-ever-before-must-see-clearly-the-dual/) James Wood-Mason > [Education today is a process of filling the mind with the contents of books, emptying the contents in the examination hall and returning empty-headed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sai-baba/education-today-is-a-process-of-filling-the-mind-with-the-contents-of/) [Sai Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sai-baba/) > [Education today does not impart to the students the capacity or grit to face the challenges of daily life. The educational field has become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sai-baba/education-today-does-not-impart-to-the-students-the-capacity-or-grit/) [Sai Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sai-baba/) > [The biggest dilemma in education today is the differing visions of what an educated person means. To do well on tests is often more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-lantieri/the-biggest-dilemma-in-education-today-is-the-differing-visions-of/) Linda Lantieri > [More people have access to education today than ever before. But I cannot help but feel that the modern educational experience is not preparing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-kelly/more-people-have-access-to-education-today-than-ever-before-but-i/) [Matthew Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-kelly/) > [The quality of education today decides the tomorrow of Gujarat... Government may build schools, but the future can be built by the schools only.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/the-quality-of-education-today-decides-the-tomorrow-of-gujarat/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [The children are now working as if I did not exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/the-children-are-now-working-as-if-i-did-not-exist/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [“Much of education today focuses on obedience skills rather than critical thinking skills.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/much-of-education-today-focuses-on-obedience-skills-rather-than/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [One of my great laments is that education today seems to have... be less about passion and more about process, more about tactic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/one-of-my-great-laments-is-that-education-today-seems-to-have-be-less/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Much education today is monumentally ineffective. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-w-gardner/much-education-today-is-monumentally-ineffective-all-too-often-we-are/) [John W. Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-w-gardner/) > [I think that education today is a form of child abuse. The natural tendency of children is to solve problems, but we try to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/i-think-that-education-today-is-a-form-of-child-abuse-the-natural/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [“Is education today improving the economic wellbeing of humanity?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/is-education-today-improving-the-economic-wellbeing-of-humanity/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) ## More by Nassim Nicholas Taleb > [To become a philosopher, start by walking very slowly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/to-become-a-philosopher-start-by-walking-very-slowly/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Wittgenstein's ruler: Unless you have confidence in the ruler's reliability, if you use a ruler to measure a table you may also be using…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/wittgenstein-s-ruler-unless-you-have-confidence-in-the-ruler-s/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [In politics we face the choice between warmongering, nation-state loving, big-business agents on one hand; and risk-blind, top-down, epistemic arrogant big servants of large…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/in-politics-we-face-the-choice-between-warmongering-nation-state/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [My nightmare scenario is that the government saves Citibank once again, as well as the other banks, and business resumes as usual. Then, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/my-nightmare-scenario-is-that-the-government-saves-citibank-once/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Using, as an excuse, others' failure of common sense is in itself a failure of common sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/using-as-an-excuse-others-failure-of-common-sense-is-in-itself-a/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [You know, children philosophize more than adults - and they are critical of adults.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/you-know-children-philosophize-more-than-adults-and-they-are-critical/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“Suckers think that you cure greed with money, addiction with substances, expert problems with experts, banking with bankers, economics with economists, and debt crises…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/suckers-think-that-you-cure-greed-with-money-addiction-with/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“One needs to go out and buy a lottery ticket in order to win. Does it mean that the work involved in the trip…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/one-needs-to-go-out-and-buy-a-lottery-ticket-in-order-to-win-does-it/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Individuals should think about the worst-case scenarios and plan for them. The world will be crazier than you think it will be. Put money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/individuals-should-think-about-the-worst-case-scenarios-and-plan-for/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“If you are looking for your misplaced wallet in your living room, in a trial and error mode, you exercise rationality by not looking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/if-you-are-looking-for-your-misplaced-wallet-in-your-living-room-in-a/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“Most humans manage to squander their free time, as free time makes them dysfunctional, lazy, and unmotivated—the busier they get, the more active they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/most-humans-manage-to-squander-their-free-time-as-free-time-makes/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [We learn the most from fools ... yet we pay them back with the worst ingratitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/we-learn-the-most-from-fools-yet-we-pay-them-back-with-the-worst/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [We are victims of the post-Enlightenment view that the world functions like a sophisticated machine, to be understood like a textbook engineering problem and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/we-are-victims-of-the-post-enlightenment-view-that-the-world/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“loss of bone density and degradation of the health of the bones also causes aging, diabetes, and, for males, loss of fertility and sexual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/loss-of-bone-density-and-degradation-of-the-health-of-the-bones-also/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“It takes a huge investment in introspection to learn that the thirty or more hours spent “studying” the news last month neither had any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/it-takes-a-huge-investment-in-introspection-to-learn-that-the-thirty/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) [Explore all 635 Nassim Nicholas Taleb quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) ## More British government quotes > [The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/the-british-government-has-learned-that-saddam-hussein-recently/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [When I learned that aliens really do exist, I wasn't too surprised. But what did shock me when I started investigating extra-terrestrial reports a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/when-i-learned-that-aliens-really-do-exist-i-wasn-t-too-surprised-but/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [The British government needs to bring its system in Ireland under control.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-mcguinness/the-british-government-needs-to-bring-its-system-in-ireland-under/) [Martin McGuinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-mcguinness/) > [Unless the Arab states give Israel formal recognition, within secure, recognised and mutually agreed boundaries, as a permanent feature of the geography and politics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-crosland/unless-the-arab-states-give-israel-formal-recognition-within-secure/) [Anthony Crosland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-crosland/) > [ The British government - any government - is potentially the worst \[architectural\] client in the world. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-heatherwick/the-british-government-any-government-is-potentially-the-worst/) [Thomas Heatherwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-heatherwick/) > [Interestingly, the British government announced a few weeks ago that they were going to introduce 500 educational targets for preschool children. And teachers complained…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-icke/interestingly-the-british-government-announced-a-few-weeks-ago-that/) [David Icke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-icke/) > [We say to the British government: you have kept those sculptures for almost two centuries. You have cared for them as well as you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-mercouri/we-say-to-the-british-government-you-have-kept-those-sculptures-for/) [Melina Mercouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-mercouri/) > [In all general questions which become the subjects of discussion, there are always some truths mixed with falsehoods. I confess, there is danger where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/in-all-general-questions-which-become-the-subjects-of-discussion/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [I'm not gonna give the British Government the joy of keeping taxing me. They don't tax art. And all my cars are just a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-kay/i-m-not-gonna-give-the-british-government-the-joy-of-keeping-taxing/) [Jay Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-kay/) > [I will walk on no grave of Ulster's honoured dead to do a deal with the IRA or the British government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-paisley/i-will-walk-on-no-grave-of-ulster-s-honoured-dead-to-do-a-deal-with/) [Ian Paisley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-paisley/) > [The military struggle may frankly be regarded for what it actually was, namely a war for independence, an armed attempt to imposethe views of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/the-military-struggle-may-frankly-be-regarded-for-what-it-actually/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [The British Government very naturally would like to see in India the form of democratic constitutions it knows best and thinks best, under which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali-jinnah/the-british-government-very-naturally-would-like-to-see-in-india-the/) [Muhammad Ali Jinnah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali-jinnah/) > [It is not for us to give an assessment to what happened, but in our opinion the reputation of British science, the reputation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrey-illarionov/it-is-not-for-us-to-give-an-assessment-to-what-happened-but-in-our/) [Andrey Illarionov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrey-illarionov/) > [For over 30 years, the IRA showed that the British government could not rule Ireland on its own terms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerry-adams/for-over-30-years-the-ira-showed-that-the-british-government-could/) [Gerry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerry-adams/) > [“the British government was thinking beyond the immediate war to a future in which a defeated United States could be hemmed in by an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/troy-bickham/the-british-government-was-thinking-beyond-the-immediate-war-to-a/) [Troy Bickham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/troy-bickham/) [Browse all 45 British government quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/british-government/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The British government documents, as early as fifty years ago, an aim for education other than the one we have today: raising values, making good citizens, and “learning,” not economic growth (they were not suckers at the time)—a point also made by Alison Wolf.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nassim Nicholas Taleb" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-british-government-documents-as-early-as-fifty-years-ago-an-aim/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "British government" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-british-government-documents-as-early-as-fifty-years-ago-an-aim/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcd/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_british-government_the-british-government-documents-as-earl_741443.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcd/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_british-government_the-british-government-documents-as-earl_741443.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcd/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_british-government_the-british-government-documents-as-earl_741443.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The British government documents, as early as fifty years ago, an aim for education other than the one we…” — Nassim Nicholas Taleb", "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": "Nassim Nicholas Taleb", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The British government documents, as early...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-british-government-documents-as-early-as-fifty-years-ago-an-aim/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-british-government-documents-as-early-as-fifty-years-ago-an-aim/#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 } } ] } ```