---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The pupil wants not so much to learn, as…"
description: "\"The pupil wants not so much to learn, as to learn how to learn.\" — Samuel Boden"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d6/samuel-boden-89461_chess_the-pupil-wants-not-so-much-to-learn-as_1847377.png"
---

#  The pupil wants not so much to learn, as to learn how to…

![“The pupil wants not so much to learn, as to learn how to learn.” quote by Samuel Boden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d6/samuel-boden-89461_chess_the-pupil-wants-not-so-much-to-learn-as_1847377.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d6/samuel-boden-89461_chess_the-pupil-wants-not-so-much-to-learn-as_1847377.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d6/samuel-boden-89461_chess_the-pupil-wants-not-so-much-to-learn-as_1847377.png)

> “The pupil wants not so much to learn, as to learn how to learn.”

[Samuel Boden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-boden/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Learning how to learn is more valuable than simply acquiring knowledge.

**In simple terms:** Meta‑learning outweighs rote learning.

Key Takeaway

Focus on learning strategies.

Themes

education learning self‑improvement

Mood

motivational reflective

Type

educational philosophical

When to use this quote

- schooling
- skill development
- career training
- personal growth

Key Concepts

pedagogy metacognition

Questions to Reflect On

- How does meta‑learning affect long‑term success?
- What habits foster learning how to learn?

A Different Perspective

Some may prioritize content over process.

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## Related quotes

> [We should seek to be fellow students with the pupil, and should learn of, as well as with him, if we would be most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/we-should-seek-to-be-fellow-students-with-the-pupil-and-should-learn/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [One repays a teacher badly if one always remains nothing but a pupil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-repays-a-teacher-badly-if-one-always-remains-nothing-but-a-pupil/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [You are rewarding a teacher poorly if you remain always a pupil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/you-are-rewarding-a-teacher-poorly-if-you-remain-always-a-pupil/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [(I was) my own teacher and pupil, and thanks to the efforts of both, they were not discontented with each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andres-segovia/i-was-my-own-teacher-and-pupil-and-thanks-to-the-efforts-of-both-they/)

[Andres Segovia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andres-segovia/)

> [The greater the teacher, the greater the pupil may become.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-m-burton/the-greater-the-teacher-the-greater-the-pupil-may-become/)

[Theodore M. Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-m-burton/)

> [Teaching, I find, is not the most amusing thing on earth; in fact, with a stupid lump for a Pupil, it is about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-welsh-carlyle/teaching-i-find-is-not-the-most-amusing-thing-on-earth-in-fact-with-a/)

[Jane Welsh Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-welsh-carlyle/)

> [I have always felt that the true text-book for the pupil is his teacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-have-always-felt-that-the-true-text-book-for-the-pupil-is-his/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

> [The instructor can scarcely give sensibility where it is essentially wanting, nor talent to the unpercipient block. But he can cultivate and direct the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft-shelley/the-instructor-can-scarcely-give-sensibility-where-it-is-essentially/)

[Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft-shelley/)

> [The pupil will eclipse his tutor, I warrant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juvenal/the-pupil-will-eclipse-his-tutor-i-warrant/)

[Juvenal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juvenal/)

> [I am too old to fawn upon a nurse, Too far in years to be a pupil now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-am-too-old-to-fawn-upon-a-nurse-too-far-in-years-to-be-a-pupil-now/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [I believe that our own experience instructs us that the secret of Education lies in respecting the pupil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/i-believe-that-our-own-experience-instructs-us-that-the-secret-of-2/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [A tutor should not be continually thundering instruction into the ears of his pupil, as if he were pouring it through a funnel, but,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/a-tutor-should-not-be-continually-thundering-instruction-into-the/)

[Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/)

> [The pupil is ... 'schooled' to confuse teaching with learning, grade advancement with education, a diploma with competence, and fluency with the ability to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/the-pupil-is-schooled-to-confuse-teaching-with-learning-grade/)

[Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/)

> [How much longer are you going to be a pupil? From now on do some teaching as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/how-much-longer-are-you-going-to-be-a-pupil-from-now-on-do-some/)

[Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/)

> [Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/creativity-is-a-type-of-learning-process-where-the-teacher-and-pupil/)

[Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/)

## More by Samuel Boden

> [In a gambit you give up a Pawn for the sake of getting a lost game](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-boden/in-a-gambit-you-give-up-a-pawn-for-the-sake-of-getting-a-lost-game/)

[Samuel Boden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-boden/)

[Explore all 2 Samuel Boden quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-boden/)

## More Chess quotes

> [I have known many chess players, but among them there has been only one genius - Capablanca!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emanuel-lasker/i-have-known-many-chess-players-but-among-them-there-has-been-only/)

[Emanuel Lasker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emanuel-lasker/)

> [Real chessplayers think about chess more or less 24 hours a day. It is a passion and a fate that one has to live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simen-agdestein/real-chessplayers-think-about-chess-more-or-less-24-hours-a-day-it-is/)

[Simen Agdestein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simen-agdestein/)

> [It's interesting that the greatest minds of computer science, the founding fathers, like Alan Turing and Claude Shannon and Norbert Wiener, they all looked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-kasparov/it-s-interesting-that-the-greatest-minds-of-computer-science-the/)

[Garry Kasparov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-kasparov/)

> [“Relationships are chess for women," he said. "They can see the whole board, plan way ahead. They're the queens, after all. We're the kings,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-lippman/relationships-are-chess-for-women-he-said-they-can-see-the-whole/)

[Laura Lippman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-lippman/)

> [The election of Trump threw the chess board up. The pieces are all over the place. That's upsetting to a lot of people, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-rubin/the-election-of-trump-threw-the-chess-board-up-the-pieces-are-all/)

[Dave Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-rubin/)

> [Playing for complications is an extreme measure that a player should adopt only when he cannot find a clear and logical plan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-alekhine/playing-for-complications-is-an-extreme-measure-that-a-player-should/)

[Alexander Alekhine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-alekhine/)

> [“the shadows. “Why do you think they invented chess?” “He’s got you there,” said the captain, following Fletcher. Jake jogged slightly to catch up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-blake/the-shadows-why-do-you-think-they-invented-chess-he-s-got-you-there/)

[Russell Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-blake/)

> [ \[Photographer Julian Wasser\] had this great idea that I should play chess naked with Marcel Duchamp and it seem to be such a great… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-babitz/photographer-julian-wasser-had-this-great-idea-that-i-should-play/)

[Eve Babitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-babitz/)

> [Chess is a good mistress but a bad master.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-abrahams/chess-is-a-good-mistress-but-a-bad-master/)

[Gerald Abrahams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-abrahams/)

> [I am not some sort of freak. I might be very good at chess but I'm just a normal person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/magnus-carlsen/i-am-not-some-sort-of-freak-i-might-be-very-good-at-chess-but-i-m/)

[Magnus Carlsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/magnus-carlsen/)

> [Some sacrifices are sound; the rest are mine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-tal/some-sacrifices-are-sound-the-rest-are-mine/)

[Mikhail Tal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-tal/)

> [My parents were very supportive of my chess. When I got home after a game of chess, having missed school or something, they always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viswanathan-anand/my-parents-were-very-supportive-of-my-chess-when-i-got-home-after-a/)

[Viswanathan Anand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viswanathan-anand/)

> [Amberley excelled at chess - a mark, Watson, of a scheming mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/amberley-excelled-at-chess-a-mark-watson-of-a-scheming-mind/)

[Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/)

> [In high school, my sister went out with the captain of the chess team. My parents loved him... They figured that any guy that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-kiley/in-high-school-my-sister-went-out-with-the-captain-of-the-chess-team/)

[Brian Kiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-kiley/)

> [The King is a fighting piece. Use it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-steinitz/the-king-is-a-fighting-piece-use-it/)

[Wilhelm Steinitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-steinitz/)

[Browse all 2,003 Chess quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chess/)

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