--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My view of university training is to…" description: "\"My view of university training is to unsettle the minds of young men, to widen their horizons, to inflame their intellects. It is not a hardening, or s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6d/robert-m-70700_education_my-view-of-university-training-is-to-uns_2765526.jpg" --- # My view of university training is to unsettle the minds of… ![“My view of university training is to unsettle the minds of young men, to widen their horizons, to inflame their intellects. It is not a hardening, or settling process. Education is not to teach men facts, theories, or laws; it is not to reform them, or amuse them, or to make them expert…” quote by Robert M](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6d/robert-m-70700_education_my-view-of-university-training-is-to-uns_2765526.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6d/robert-m-70700_education_my-view-of-university-training-is-to-uns_2765526.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6d/robert-m-70700_education_my-view-of-university-training-is-to-uns_2765526.jpg) > “My view of university training is to unsettle the minds of young men, to widen their horizons, to inflame their intellects. It is not a hardening, or settling process. Education is not to teach men facts, theories, or laws; it is not to reform them, or amuse them, or to make them expert technicians in any field; it is to teach them to think, to think straight if possible; but to think always for themselves.” [Robert M](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m/) ## 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 provoke independent thought, not just transmit facts. **In simple terms:** Teach thinking, not memorization. Key Takeaway Encourage critical thinking. Themes education independence critical thinking Mood thoughtful inspirational Type educational philosophical When to use this quote - classroom design - curriculum development - self‑directed learning Key Concepts philosophy of education pedagogy Questions to Reflect On - How can teachers foster autonomy? - What barriers prevent critical thinking in schools? A Different Perspective Changing entrenched teaching habits is hard. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Experts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experts/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fields/) [Fitness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fitness/) [Horizon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horizon/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Intellect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellect/) [Intellects Hardening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellects-hardening-3201800/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Reform](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reform/) [Settling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/settling/) [Teach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teach/) [Teach Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teach-men-276164/) [Teach Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teach-think-276420/) [Technicians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technicians/) [Theory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theory/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Training](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/training/) [Training Unsettle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/training-unsettle-3201801/) [University](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/university/) [University Training](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/university-training-352863/) [Views](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/views/) [Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young/) [Young man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-man/) [Young men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-men/) ## Related quotes > [Education is not to reform students or amuse them or to make them expert technicians. It is to unsettle their minds, widen their horizons,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-hutchins/education-is-not-to-reform-students-or-amuse-them-or-to-make-them/) [Robert M. Hutchins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-hutchins/) > [I (naively) thought university training would make you better in following what happens in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-rosling/i-naively-thought-university-training-would-make-you-better-in/) [Hans Rosling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-rosling/) > [There are as many fools at a university as anywhere? But their folly,I admit, has a certain stampthe stamp of university training, if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gerhardie/there-are-as-many-fools-at-a-university-as-anywhere-but-their-folly-i/) [William Gerhardie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gerhardie/) > [If, in any individual, university training produces a taste for refined idleness, a distaste for sustained effort, a barren intellectual arrogance, or a sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/if-in-any-individual-university-training-produces-a-taste-for-refined/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [“A university training is the great ordinary means to a great but ordinary end; it aims at raising the intellectual tone of society…It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cardinal-newman/a-university-training-is-the-great-ordinary-means-to-a-great-but/) [Cardinal Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cardinal-newman/) > [Priests are not men of the world; it is not intended that they should be; and a University training is the one best adapted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/priests-are-not-men-of-the-world-it-is-not-intended-that-they-should/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [“I teach the kids history, or quantum physics, or art – but above all I try to teach them to think for themselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/i-teach-the-kids-history-or-quantum-physics-or-art-but-above-all-i/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Some kind of philosophy undergirds every movie, commercial, lecture, or book. Everything we take into our minds is trying to teach us something about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-morrison/some-kind-of-philosophy-undergirds-every-movie-commercial-lecture-or/) [Jon Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-morrison/) > [It must be remembered that the purpose of education is not to fill the minds of students with facts... it is to teach them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-must-be-remembered-that-the-purpose-of-education-is-not-to-fill/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We prepare our students for jobs and careers, but we don't teach them to think as individuals about what kind of world they would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/we-prepare-our-students-for-jobs-and-careers-but-we-don-t-teach-them/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) > [“He doesn't teach you what to think. He teaches you how to think.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lurlene-mcdaniel/he-doesn-t-teach-you-what-to-think-he-teaches-you-how-to-think/) [Lurlene McDaniel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lurlene-mcdaniel/) > [Do not indoctrinate your children. Teach them how to think for themselves, how to evaluate evidence, and how to disagree with you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/do-not-indoctrinate-your-children-teach-them-how-to-think-for/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Teach him to think for himself? Oh, my God, teach him rather to think like other people!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/teach-him-to-think-for-himself-oh-my-god-teach-him-rather-to-think/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A true teacher doesn't teach you to think like him, but to think without him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/a-true-teacher-doesn-t-teach-you-to-think-like-him-but-to-think/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [“The aim of education should be to teach us how to think, rather than what to think”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-beattie/the-aim-of-education-should-be-to-teach-us-how-to-think-rather-than/) [James Beattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-beattie/) ## More by Robert M > [Your best friend could be your soulmate. True story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m/your-best-friend-could-be-your-soulmate-true-story/) [Robert M](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m/) > [Our soul should be a mirror of Christ; we should reflect every feature: for every grace in Christ there should be a counterpart in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m/our-soul-should-be-a-mirror-of-christ-we-should-reflect-every-feature/) [Robert M](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m/) > [One day you'll make peace with your demons, and the chaos in your heart will settle flat. And maybe for the first time in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m/one-day-you-ll-make-peace-with-your-demons-and-the-chaos-in-your/) [Robert M](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m/) [Explore all 4 Robert M quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m/) ## More Education quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) [Ted Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-martinez/) > [“In school you are taught to obey and not to think straight for your own good. 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But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [There's no authoritarian structure at Reed College, but the education is conservative. So what you have is a lot of students who are very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/there-s-no-authoritarian-structure-at-reed-college-but-the-education/) [Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/) > [“What's the best thing about being in college? Good teachers. 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If something interested me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-only-began-to-enjoy-studying-after-i-got-through-the-educational/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [How wonderful it would be, I thought, if only we could practice the teachings of the Buddha as he really taught them from his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/how-wonderful-it-would-be-i-thought-if-only-we-could-practice-the/) [Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/) > [English teachers tend to put more thought in the books than the author did](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/english-teachers-tend-to-put-more-thought-in-the-books-than-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When will society, like a mother, take care of all her children?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/when-will-society-like-a-mother-take-care-of-all-her-children/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) [Browse all 37,666 Education quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My view of university training is to unsettle the minds of young men, to widen their horizons, to inflame their intellects. 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