Alive Quote by S. I. Hayakawa
“If everybody is rewarded just for being alive, you get the same sort of effect as you do when you reward every student just for being enrolled. You destroy not only education, you destroy society by giving A's to everyone. This is a philosophical consideration that bothers me very much as I sit in the United States Senate and see the great budget allocations going through.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: United States Senate remarks on education policy, 1990s
Rewarding everyone equally erodes merit and devalues achievement, leading to societal decline.
In simple terms: Giving all the same reward destroys standards.
Key Takeaway
Preserve standards, reward merit.
Themes
education
merit
society
policy
inequality
Mood
critical
reflective
Type
analytical
political
When to use this quote
- school grading
- government funding
- workplace incentives
- college admissions
- social welfare programs
Key Concepts
philosophy
public policy
economics
Questions to Reflect On
- How would you balance fairness with excellence?
- What alternative incentives could encourage participation without diluting value?
A Different Perspective
If standards are too strict, they may exclude those in need of support.
![“In the case of drama (stage, movies, television ), there appear to be people in almost every audience who never quite fully realize that a play is a set of fictional, symbolic representations. An actor is one who symbolizes other people, real or imagined. [...] Also some years ago it was reported…” quote by S. I. Hayakawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d10/s-i-hayakawa-15018_actors_in-the-case-of-drama-stage-movies-televi_548778.jpg)
