--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Why is it that there was always a unit on…" description: "\"“Why is it that there was always a unit on history, math, science and god knows what other useless, totally forgettable information you taught those se..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a6/nicole-krauss-920_death_why-is-it-that-there-was-always-a-unit-o_1620855.png" --- # Why is it that there was always a unit on history, math… ![“Why is it that there was always a unit on history, math, science and god knows what other useless, totally forgettable information you taught those seventh graders year after year, but never any unit on death? No exercises, no workbooks, no final exams on the only subject that matters?” quote by Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a6/nicole-krauss-920_death_why-is-it-that-there-was-always-a-unit-o_1620855.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a6/nicole-krauss-920_death_why-is-it-that-there-was-always-a-unit-o_1620855.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a6/nicole-krauss-920_death_why-is-it-that-there-was-always-a-unit-o_1620855.png) > ““Why is it that there was always a unit on history, math, science and god knows what other useless, totally forgettable information you taught those seventh graders year after year, but never any unit on death? No exercises, no workbooks, no final exams on the only subject that matters?”” [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Education neglects death, leaving a vital topic unexamined. **In simple terms:** Schools rarely teach about death. Key Takeaway Integrate death education. Themes mortality education life meaning Mood somber reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - high school health class - college seminars - family discussions Key Concepts existential philosophy curriculum design psychology Questions to Reflect On - How would a death curriculum change perspectives? - What fears arise when confronting mortality? A Different Perspective Discussing death can be uncomfortable for some. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Final Exam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/final-exam/) [Final exams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/final-exams/) [Forgettable Information](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgettable-information-270485/) [God knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-knows/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Knows Useless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows-useless-270489/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Science And God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-and-god-227960/) [Taught Seventh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taught-seventh-270487/) [Unit History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unit-history-270488/) [Year Unit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/year-unit-270486/) ## Related quotes > [We know that there were so many Japanese American soldiers in World War II who were fighting in Europe despite the fact that their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamlyn-tomita/we-know-that-there-were-so-many-japanese-american-soldiers-in-world/) [Tamlyn Tomita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamlyn-tomita/) > [“There was religion, then there was God. Lianne wanted to disbelieve. Disbelief was the line of travel that led to clarity of thought and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/there-was-religion-then-there-was-god-lianne-wanted-to-disbelieve/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [Every man who has seen the world knows that nothing is so useless as a general maxim.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-rothschild-1st-baron-rothschild/every-man-who-has-seen-the-world-knows-that-nothing-is-so-useless-as-2/) [Nathan Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-rothschild-1st-baron-rothschild/) > [I was a schoolteacher; I taught seventh and eighth grade, and I tried to write fiction on the side.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grann/i-was-a-schoolteacher-i-taught-seventh-and-eighth-grade-and-i-tried/) [David Grann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grann/) > [It's in the preparation - in those dreary pedestrian virtues they taught you in seventh grade and you didn't believe. It's making the extra…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-sawyer/it-s-in-the-preparation-in-those-dreary-pedestrian-virtues-they/) [Diane Sawyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-sawyer/) ## More by Nicole Krauss > [“Narrative cannot sustain formlessness any more than light can sustain darkness - it is the antithesis of formlessness, and so it can never truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/narrative-cannot-sustain-formlessness-any-more-than-light-can-sustain/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [I think of novels as houses. You live in them over the course of a long period, both as a reader and as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/i-think-of-novels-as-houses-you-live-in-them-over-the-course-of-a/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [When we went into the ocean, I watched his body as he dove into the waves, and it gave me a feeling in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/when-we-went-into-the-ocean-i-watched-his-body-as-he-dove-into-the/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“There are times when the kindness of strangers only makes matter worse because one realizes how badly one is in need of kindness and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/there-are-times-when-the-kindness-of-strangers-only-makes-matter/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [She was gone, and all that was left was the space where you'd grown around her, like a tree that grows around a fence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/she-was-gone-and-all-that-was-left-was-the-space-where-you-d-grown/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“The air felt different in my lungs. The world no longer looked the same. You change and then you change again. You become a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/the-air-felt-different-in-my-lungs-the-world-no-longer-looked-the/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“The first language humans had was gestures. There was nothing primitive about this language that flowed from people’s hands, nothing we say now that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/the-first-language-humans-had-was-gestures-there-was-nothing/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [I feel really strongly about not wanting to overly guide the reader about what he or she should think. I really trust the reader…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/i-feel-really-strongly-about-not-wanting-to-overly-guide-the-reader/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [Mom?" I said. She turned. "Can I talk to you about something?" "Of course, darling. Come here." I took a few steps into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/mom-i-said-she-turned-can-i-talk-to-you-about-something-of-course/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [In one's youth, one has tremendous access to one's feelings. And as one gets older, some of those feelings kind of drift away. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/in-one-s-youth-one-has-tremendous-access-to-one-s-feelings-and-as-one/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [Obviously I've been reading Kafka for a long long time, since I was really young, and even before I ever read him I knew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/obviously-i-ve-been-reading-kafka-for-a-long-long-time-since-i-was/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“She's kept her love for him as alive as the summer they first met. In order to do this, she's turned life away. Sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/she-s-kept-her-love-for-him-as-alive-as-the-summer-they-first-met-in/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [Sometimes no length of string is long enough to say the thing that needs to be said. In such cases all the string can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/sometimes-no-length-of-string-is-long-enough-to-say-the-thing-that/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“Doesn’t part of the awe that fills us when we confront the unknown come from understanding that, should it at last flood into us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/doesn-t-part-of-the-awe-that-fills-us-when-we-confront-the-unknown/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“I knew how to raise my own child, what did he think it was, a game of Scrabble or Monopoly, there are no rules,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/i-knew-how-to-raise-my-own-child-what-did-he-think-it-was-a-game-of/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) [Explore all 323 Nicole Krauss quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) ## More Death quotes > [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [Retirement? You're talking about death, right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-altman/retirement-you-re-talking-about-death-right/) [Robert Altman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-altman/) > [With multiplayer, permanent death, and an ever-changing world to explore and conquer, 'A Valley Without Wind' might be the place you're looking for if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-manuel/with-multiplayer-permanent-death-and-an-ever-changing-world-to/) [Rob Manuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-manuel/) > [“What did you see?” she asked gently. His brow furrowed, as if he could not understand the question. Then his eyes turned to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-anthony-torino/what-did-you-see-she-asked-gently-his-brow-furrowed-as-if-he-could/) [J. Anthony Torino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-anthony-torino/) > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“I practice Dying--every night-- But have not learned to, still-- Though Talented--by Mortal bones-- For such a common Skill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-powers/i-practice-dying-every-night-but-have-not-learned-to-still-though/) [Alan W. Powers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-w-powers/) > [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/) [Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/) > [I am not a depressive person at all, but I reflect a lot on my life, and life in general, from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-am-not-a-depressive-person-at-all-but-i-reflect-a-lot-on-my-life/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [“Death is a reality that calls the rest of life and all of our assorted strivings into sharp relief.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/death-is-a-reality-that-calls-the-rest-of-life-and-all-of-our/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [I love life. I love life to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuelle-riva/i-love-life-i-love-life-to-death/) [Emmanuelle Riva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuelle-riva/) > [I think when you’re dying you start looking for important things in the corners. You can’t let anything that seems even semi-important pass, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/i-think-when-you-re-dying-you-start-looking-for-important-things-in/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) [Browse all 39,127 Death quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Why is it that there was always a unit on history, math, science and god knows what other useless, totally forgettable information you taught those seventh graders year after year, but never any unit on death? No exercises, no workbooks, no final exams on the only subject that matters?”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nicole Krauss" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/why-is-it-that-there-was-always-a-unit-on-history-math-science-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Death" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/why-is-it-that-there-was-always-a-unit-on-history-math-science-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a6/nicole-krauss-920_death_why-is-it-that-there-was-always-a-unit-o_1620855.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a6/nicole-krauss-920_death_why-is-it-that-there-was-always-a-unit-o_1620855.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a6/nicole-krauss-920_death_why-is-it-that-there-was-always-a-unit-o_1620855.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Why is it that there was always a unit on history, math, science and god knows what other useless, totally…” — Nicole Krauss", "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": "Nicole Krauss", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Why is it that there was...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/why-is-it-that-there-was-always-a-unit-on-history-math-science-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/why-is-it-that-there-was-always-a-unit-on-history-math-science-and/#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 } } ] } ```