--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I almost stopped teaching entirely. The…" description: "\"I almost stopped teaching entirely. The worst thing for me is contact with students. I like universities without students. And I especially hate Americ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/004/slavoj-i-ek-1738_contact_i-almost-stopped-teaching-entirely-the-w_2926637.png" --- # I almost stopped teaching entirely. The worst thing for me… ![“I almost stopped teaching entirely. The worst thing for me is contact with students. I like universities without students. And I especially hate American students. They think you owe them something. They come to you ... Office hours!” quote by Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/004/slavoj-i-ek-1738_contact_i-almost-stopped-teaching-entirely-the-w_2926637.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/004/slavoj-i-ek-1738_contact_i-almost-stopped-teaching-entirely-the-w_2926637.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/004/slavoj-i-ek-1738_contact_i-almost-stopped-teaching-entirely-the-w_2926637.png) > “I almost stopped teaching entirely. The worst thing for me is contact with students. I like universities without students. And I especially hate American students. They think you owe them something. They come to you ... Office hours!” [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker expresses disdain for students, especially Americans, claiming they feel entitled and demand attention. **In simple terms:** Students can be demanding. Key Takeaway Question entitlement. Themes education culture critique elitism Mood critical provocative Type philosophical political When to use this quote - university policy - curriculum design - public lectures - academic publishing Key Concepts student‑teacher dynamics American academia Questions to Reflect On - What drives student entitlement? - How can educators improve engagement? A Different Perspective Generalizations can be unfair. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Hate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hate/) [Office](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/office/) [Office hours](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/office-hours/) [Students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students/) [Teaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [University](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/university/) [Worst things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worst-things/) ## Related quotes > [We all know that the real reason universities have students is in order to educate the professors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-archibald-wheeler/we-all-know-that-the-real-reason-universities-have-students-is-in/) [John Archibald Wheeler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-archibald-wheeler/) > [What is the matter with universities is that the students are school children, whereas it is of the very essence of university education that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/what-is-the-matter-with-universities-is-that-the-students-are-school/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [For instance, in places like universities, where everyone speaks so rationally, it is necessary for a kind of enchanter to appear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-beuys/for-instance-in-places-like-universities-where-everyone-speaks-so/) [Joseph Beuys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-beuys/) > [ Alix \[ MacKenzie\] had stopped teaching because we had a child and she stayed home to take care of the baby, and I taught. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/alix-mackenzie-had-stopped-teaching-because-we-had-a-child-and-she/) [Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/) > [Like how do you kindly tell a teacher, without being mean, 'you're such a bad teacher, it would benefit you if you stopped teaching'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/like-how-do-you-kindly-tell-a-teacher-without-being-mean-you-re-such/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I had become increasingly concerned in recent years about the lack of civics education in our nation's schools. In recent years, the schools have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-day-o-connor/i-had-become-increasingly-concerned-in-recent-years-about-the-lack-of/) [Sandra Day O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-day-o-connor/) > [Education is a very large area, and we have our hands full. For example, SSN has to become a university; we have to keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shiv-nadar/education-is-a-very-large-area-and-we-have-our-hands-full-for-example/) [Shiv Nadar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shiv-nadar/) > [In places like universities, where everyone talks too rationally, it is necessary for a kind of enchanter to appear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-beuys/in-places-like-universities-where-everyone-talks-too-rationally-it-is/) [Joseph Beuys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-beuys/) > [The 'futures' and 'careers' for which American students now prepare are for the most part intellectual and moral wastelands. 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However 10 out of 10…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/according-to-a-new-geographic-literacy-study-4-out-of-10-american/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [I established relationships with so many of those Iran students that went on for years.And they were so different from American students. They seemed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-c-driskell/i-established-relationships-with-so-many-of-those-iran-students-that/) [David C. Driskell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-c-driskell/) > [“The question then was not what other countries were doing, but why. Why did these countries have this consensus around rigor? In the education…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-ripley/the-question-then-was-not-what-other-countries-were-doing-but-why-why/) [Amanda Ripley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-ripley/) > [Like many others, I have deep misgivings about the state of education in the United States. Too many of our students fail to graduate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/like-many-others-i-have-deep-misgivings-about-the-state-of-education/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) ## More by Slavoj Žižek > [The ultimate goal of radical politics is gradually to displace the limit of social exclusions, empowering the excluded agents (sexual and ethnic minorities) by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/the-ultimate-goal-of-radical-politics-is-gradually-to-displace-the/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [“In Kant’s description, ethical duty functions like a foreign traumatic intruder that from the outside disturbs the subject’s homeostatic balance, its unbearable pressure forcing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/in-kant-s-description-ethical-duty-functions-like-a-foreign-traumatic/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [I think Kafka was right when he said that for a modern, secular, nonreligious man, state bureaucracy is the only remaining contact with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/i-think-kafka-was-right-when-he-said-that-for-a-modern-secular/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [“The cliche about prison life is that I am actually integrated into it, ruined by it, when my accommodation to it is so overwhelming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/the-cliche-about-prison-life-is-that-i-am-actually-integrated-into-it/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [“In our quest for entertainment and instant gratification, we have become detached from the real world and its problems, contributing to the erosion of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/in-our-quest-for-entertainment-and-instant-gratification-we-have/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [The problem for us is not are our desires satisfied or not. The problem is how do we know what we desire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/the-problem-for-us-is-not-are-our-desires-satisfied-or-not-the/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [“Ultimately,we hear things because we cannot see everything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/ultimately-we-hear-things-because-we-cannot-see-everything/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [“In contrast to the situation in 1945, the world does not need the US; it is the US that needs the rest of the world”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/in-contrast-to-the-situation-in-1945-the-world-does-not-need-the-us/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [Humanity is OK, but 99% of people are boring idiots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/humanity-is-ok-but-99-of-people-are-boring-idiots/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [We need useless theory more than ever today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/we-need-useless-theory-more-than-ever-today/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [Those who were still able to write beautiful melodies were kitsch composers like Tchaikovsky. 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It got to the point where I would try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-moyet/becoming-famous-is-a-really-shocking-thing-especially-when-you-don-t/) [Alison Moyet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-moyet/) > [Some people are like ants. Give them a warm day and a piece of ground and they start digging. There the similarity ends. Ants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/some-people-are-like-ants-give-them-a-warm-day-and-a-piece-of-ground/) [Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/) > [The Harvard Business Review recently had an article called 'The Human Moment,' about how to make real contact with a person at work: ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goleman/the-harvard-business-review-recently-had-an-article-called-the-human/) [Daniel Goleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goleman/) > [The improved American highway system isolated the American-in-transit. On his speedway he had no contact with the towns which he by-passed. 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