--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: At its best, schooling can be about how…" description: "\"At its best, schooling can be about how to make a life, which is quite different from how to make a living.\" — Neil Postman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d23/neil-postman-1598_attitude_at-its-best-schooling-can-be-about-how-t_1982021.jpg" --- # At its best, schooling can be about how to make a life… ![“At its best, schooling can be about how to make a life, which is quite different from how to make a living.” quote by Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d23/neil-postman-1598_attitude_at-its-best-schooling-can-be-about-how-t_1982021.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d23/neil-postman-1598_attitude_at-its-best-schooling-can-be-about-how-t_1982021.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d23/neil-postman-1598_attitude_at-its-best-schooling-can-be-about-how-t_1982021.jpg) > “At its best, schooling can be about how to make a life, which is quite different from how to make a living.” [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Education should focus on shaping a fulfilling life, not just earning a paycheck. **In simple terms:** School should teach life skills, not just job skills. Key Takeaway Prioritize holistic learning over purely vocational training. Themes education life purpose values Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - curriculum design - career counseling - personal development Key Concepts philosophy pedagogy Questions to Reflect On - How can schools balance life skills and job preparation? - What does a meaningful life look like for you? A Different Perspective Economic pressures often push schools toward job training. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attitude/) [Best Schooling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/best-schooling-3389395/) [Different](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Make Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-life-261478/) [Make Living](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-living-261477/) [Schooling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/schooling/) [Schooling Make](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/schooling-make-3389394/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) ## Related quotes > [To make a living is no longer enough. Work also has to make a life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/to-make-a-living-is-no-longer-enough-work-also-has-to-make-a-life/) [Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/) > [The biggest mistake people make in life is not trying to make a living at doing what they most enjoy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-forbes/the-biggest-mistake-people-make-in-life-is-not-trying-to-make-a/) [Malcolm Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-forbes/) > [“Make a life while you make a living.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-sonnenberg/make-a-life-while-you-make-a-living/) [Frank Sonnenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-sonnenberg/) > [Make a living by what you earn, but make a life by what you give.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/make-a-living-by-what-you-earn-but-make-a-life-by-what-you-give/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [Our first half is about how to make a living, and our second half has the promise of being about how to make a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-buford/our-first-half-is-about-how-to-make-a-living-and-our-second-half-has/) [Bob Buford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-buford/) > [Happiness is not so much in having as sharing. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happiness-is-not-so-much-in-having-as-sharing-we-make-a-living-by/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Work is not a means to make a living but a means to live your making;we do not make a living,we make a life”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anyaele-sam-chiyson/work-is-not-a-means-to-make-a-living-but-a-means-to-live-your-making/) [Anyaele Sam Chiyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anyaele-sam-chiyson/) > [You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-make-a-living-by-what-you-get-you-make-a-life-by-what-you-give/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What we have done for ourselves dies with us, but what we have done for others remains forever. We make a living not by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sushan-sharma/what-we-have-done-for-ourselves-dies-with-us-but-what-we-have-done/) [Sushan Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sushan-sharma/) > [We make a living by what we get,& we make life by what we give.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-make-a-living-by-what-we-get-we-make-life-by-what-we-give/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Work to make a living; serve to make a life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/work-to-make-a-living-serve-to-make-a-life/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) > [I don't want to make a living. I want to make a life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/borns/i-don-t-want-to-make-a-living-i-want-to-make-a-life/) [Borns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/borns/) > [Public schooling does not serve a public; it creates a pubic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/public-schooling-does-not-serve-a-public-it-creates-a-pubic/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [I mean to suggest that without a transcendent and honorable purpose, schooling must reach its finish, and the sooner we are done with it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/i-mean-to-suggest-that-without-a-transcendent-and-honorable-purpose/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [“If I never got to make a living doing what I loved, I'd still do it--for fun and for free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-e-isaacs/if-i-never-got-to-make-a-living-doing-what-i-loved-i-d-still-do-it/) [Susan E. Isaacs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-e-isaacs/) ## More by Neil Postman > [“to whom will the technology give greater power and freedom? And whose power and freedom will be reduced by it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/to-whom-will-the-technology-give-greater-power-and-freedom-and-whose/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [Cyberspace' is a metaphorical idea which is supposed to be the space where your consciousness is located when you're using computer technology on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/cyberspace-is-a-metaphorical-idea-which-is-supposed-to-be-the-space/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [Textbooks, it seems to me, are enemies of education, instruments for promoting dogmatism and trivial learning. They may save the teacher some trouble, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/textbooks-it-seems-to-me-are-enemies-of-education-instruments-for/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [The whole problem with news on television comes down to this: all the words uttered in an hour of news coverage could be printed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/the-whole-problem-with-news-on-television-comes-down-to-this-all-the/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [“There being no international copyright laws, “pirated” editions abounded, with no complaint from the public, or much from authors, who were lionized.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/there-being-no-international-copyright-laws-pirated-editions-abounded/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [“The television commercial is not at all about the character of products to be consumed. It is about the character of the consumers of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/the-television-commercial-is-not-at-all-about-the-character-of/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [“Many decisions about the form and content of news programs are made on the basis of information about the viewer, the purpose of which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/many-decisions-about-the-form-and-content-of-news-programs-are-made/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [“the world we live in is very nearly incomprehensible to most of us. There is almost no fact, whether actual or imagined, that will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/the-world-we-live-in-is-very-nearly-incomprehensible-to-most-of-us/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [“Tüketici psikodramalarla yatıştırılan bir hastadır.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/t-ketici-psikodramalarla-yat-t-r-lan-bir-hastad-r/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [“Huxley grasped, as Orwell did not, that it is not necessary to conceal anything from a public insensible to contradiction and narcotized by technological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/huxley-grasped-as-orwell-did-not-that-it-is-not-necessary-to-conceal/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [“The written word is assumed to have been reflected upon and revised by its author,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/the-written-word-is-assumed-to-have-been-reflected-upon-and-revised/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [We do not measure a culture by its output of undisguised trivialities but by what it claims as significant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/we-do-not-measure-a-culture-by-its-output-of-undisguised-trivialities/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [“In America, the least amusing people are its professional entertainers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/in-america-the-least-amusing-people-are-its-professional-entertainers/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [“We were keeping our eye on 1984. When the year came and the prophecy didn't, thoughtful Americans sang softly in praise of themselves. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/we-were-keeping-our-eye-on-1984-when-the-year-came-and-the-prophecy/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [“The question is not, Does or doesn't public schooling create a public? The question is, What kind of public does it create? A conglomerate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/the-question-is-not-does-or-doesn-t-public-schooling-create-a-public/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) [Explore all 220 Neil Postman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) ## More Attitude quotes > [“WE CAN'T ALWAYS CONTROL OUR CIRCUMSTANCES BUT WE CAN CONTROL OUR ATTITUDE. WE MUST BE MORE CONCERNED WITH WHAT WE DO WITH WHAT HAPPENS…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-j-ashton/we-can-t-always-control-our-circumstances-but-we-can-control-our/) [MARVIN J. ASHTON](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-j-ashton/) > [It's not the method, it's the mindset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-gilbert/it-s-not-the-method-it-s-the-mindset/) [Andy Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-gilbert/) > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [Changes before your eyes, things you can do and things you can't. My attitude is always let it keep rolling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terrence-malick/changes-before-your-eyes-things-you-can-do-and-things-you-can-t-my/) [Terrence Malick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terrence-malick/) > [Vow to be valiant. Resolve to be radiant. Determine to be dynamic. Strive to be sincere. Aspire to be attuned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-arthur-ward/vow-to-be-valiant-resolve-to-be-radiant-determine-to-be-dynamic/) [William Arthur Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-arthur-ward/) > [Don't judge me because I'm stupid. Don't judge me because I'm, mean. Don't judge me because I'm weird. Don't judge me for mistakes. Because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-harden-me/don-t-judge-me-because-i-m-stupid-don-t-judge-me-because-i-m-mean-don/) [Isaiah Harden (Me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-harden-me/) > [Your feelings (mood) dictate your thought, your thought determines your attitude (reactions) and your attitude describes your lifestyle, so: be careful how you feel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheye-hassan/your-feelings-mood-dictate-your-thought-your-thought-determines-your/) [Sheye Hassan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheye-hassan/) > [Success will come when the societal attitude changes and not a single woman in America asks herself the question 'What did I do?'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-biden/success-will-come-when-the-societal-attitude-changes-and-not-a-single/) [Joe Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-biden/) > [“Good Seeds! Gratitude is the Greatest Attitude that has no Substitute.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-kelvin-clive/good-seeds-gratitude-is-the-greatest-attitude-that-has-no-substitute/) [Bernard Kelvin Clive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-kelvin-clive/) > [Jeff Chu's pilgrimage across America to discover his own place as a gay man in the Christian church as well as attitudes about being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-freitas/jeff-chu-s-pilgrimage-across-america-to-discover-his-own-place-as-a/) [Donna Freitas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-freitas/) > [One genuine reason to feel jealous of my parents:-) I will never ever have a kid as awesome as their's...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-genuine-reason-to-feel-jealous-of-my-parents-i-will-never-ever/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm optimistic Hong Kong will achieve universal suffrage - no matter the attitude of Beijing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-wong/i-m-optimistic-hong-kong-will-achieve-universal-suffrage-no-matter/) [Joshua Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-wong/) > [My attitude it that you don't give in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-taylor/my-attitude-it-that-you-don-t-give-in/) [Phil Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-taylor/) > [Transparency pertains to impartial behavior, implies openness, communication, and accountability. Inculcate transparency in attitude and experience a life free of controversy and blame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-anil-kr-sinha/transparency-pertains-to-impartial-behavior-implies-openness/) [Dr Anil Kr Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-anil-kr-sinha/) > [And if the mind thinks with a believing attitude one can do amazing things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/and-if-the-mind-thinks-with-a-believing-attitude-one-can-do-amazing/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) [Browse all 9,543 Attitude quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attitude/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "At its best, schooling can be about how to make a life, which is quite different from how to make a living.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Neil Postman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/at-its-best-schooling-can-be-about-how-to-make-a-life-which-is-quite/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Attitude" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/at-its-best-schooling-can-be-about-how-to-make-a-life-which-is-quite/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d23/neil-postman-1598_attitude_at-its-best-schooling-can-be-about-how-t_1982021.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d23/neil-postman-1598_attitude_at-its-best-schooling-can-be-about-how-t_1982021.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d23/neil-postman-1598_attitude_at-its-best-schooling-can-be-about-how-t_1982021.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“At its best, schooling can be about how to make a life, which is quite different from how to make a living.” — Neil Postman", "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": "Neil Postman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "At its best, schooling can be...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/at-its-best-schooling-can-be-about-how-to-make-a-life-which-is-quite/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/at-its-best-schooling-can-be-about-how-to-make-a-life-which-is-quite/#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 } } ] } ```