--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No other job in the world could possibly…" description: "\"No other job in the world could possibly dispossess one so completely as this job of teaching. You could stand all day in a laundry, for instance, stil..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a6/sylvia-ashton-warner-20159_cutting_no-other-job-in-the-world-could-possibly_3186656.png" --- # No other job in the world could possibly dispossess one so… ![“No other job in the world could possibly dispossess one so completely as this job of teaching. You could stand all day in a laundry, for instance, still in possession of your mind. But this teaching utterly obliterates you. It cuts right into your being: essentially, it takes over your spirit. It…” quote by Sylvia Ashton-Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a6/sylvia-ashton-warner-20159_cutting_no-other-job-in-the-world-could-possibly_3186656.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a6/sylvia-ashton-warner-20159_cutting_no-other-job-in-the-world-could-possibly_3186656.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a6/sylvia-ashton-warner-20159_cutting_no-other-job-in-the-world-could-possibly_3186656.png) > “No other job in the world could possibly dispossess one so completely as this job of teaching. You could stand all day in a laundry, for instance, still in possession of your mind. But this teaching utterly obliterates you. It cuts right into your being: essentially, it takes over your spirit. It drags it out from where it would hide.” [Sylvia Ashton-Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-ashton-warner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Teaching demands total surrender of self, consuming mind and spirit completely. **In simple terms:** Teaching consumes you fully. Key Takeaway Embrace the total commitment of teaching. Themes education self‑sacrifice identity passion Mood intense reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - classroom leadership - mentor‑mentee relationships - personal growth - burnout prevention Key Concepts ego dissolution spiritual immersion professional identity Questions to Reflect On - How do you preserve self‑identity while teaching? - What boundaries protect your spirit? A Different Perspective It may erode personal boundaries and lead to burnout if not balanced. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cutting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cutting/) [Drag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drag/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Instance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instance/) [Job Teaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/job-teaching-3488504/) [Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jobs/) [Laundry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laundry/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Mind Teaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind-teaching-5008766/) [Over you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/over-you/) [Possession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possession/) [Possession Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possession-mind-831706/) [Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Takes Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/takes-spirit-4213840/) [Teaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching/) [Teaching Utterly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching-utterly-5861527/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Lasting change can occur only when it takes in the spirit of the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/myles-munroe/lasting-change-can-occur-only-when-it-takes-in-the-spirit-of-the-mind/) [Myles Munroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/myles-munroe/) > [The only thing that I was equipped for with my very mediocre college Arts degree was to get a job in teaching.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/the-only-thing-that-i-was-equipped-for-with-my-very-mediocre-college/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [Also, while I was at Yale, I had a job teaching kids at the museum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-t-bakker/also-while-i-was-at-yale-i-had-a-job-teaching-kids-at-the-museum/) [Robert T. Bakker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-t-bakker/) > [All of us have to do a better job of teaching young people not to let themselves be defined by the words other people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-clinton/all-of-us-have-to-do-a-better-job-of-teaching-young-people-not-to-let/) [William J. Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-clinton/) > [The non-doing of any evil, the performance of what's skillful, the cleansing of one's own mind: this is the teaching of the Awakened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-non-doing-of-any-evil-the-performance-of-what-s-skillful-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A teacher will alter the balance of power by actually lifting a person into other states of mind. In those states of mind the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-teacher-will-alter-the-balance-of-power-by-actually-lifting-a/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [To cease from evil, to do good, and to purify the mind yourself, this is the teaching of all the Buddhas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/to-cease-from-evil-to-do-good-and-to-purify-the-mind-yourself-this-is/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [The bad things, don't do them. The good things, try to do them. Try to purify, subdue your own mind. That is the teaching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-bad-things-don-t-do-them-the-good-things-try-to-do-them-try-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A genius is simply one who has taken full possession of his own mind and directed it toward objectives of his own choosing, without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/a-genius-is-simply-one-who-has-taken-full-possession-of-his-own-mind/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [The great master key to riches is nothing more or less than the self-discipline necessary to help you take full and complete possession of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/the-great-master-key-to-riches-is-nothing-more-or-less-than-the-self/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [“Everything about him enveloped her, made her crave exactly this. His possession. In her mind something relaxed; the balance shifted. She welcomed every way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cari-silverwood/everything-about-him-enveloped-her-made-her-crave-exactly-this-his/) [Cari Silverwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cari-silverwood/) > [There is a power under your control that is greater than poverty, greater than the lack of education, greater than all your fears and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-carnegie/there-is-a-power-under-your-control-that-is-greater-than-poverty/) [Andrew Carnegie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-carnegie/) > [“Slavery is simply a possession of the mind, before the individual submits their spiritual component to the will of another person or deity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mwanandeke-kindembo/slavery-is-simply-a-possession-of-the-mind-before-the-individual/) [Mwanandeke Kindembo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mwanandeke-kindembo/) > [“I don't have a philosophy as such. Maybe a guiding principle, Carnegie's A man who acquires the ability to take full possession of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-james/i-don-t-have-a-philosophy-as-such-maybe-a-guiding-principle-carnegie/) [E.L. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-james/) > [“A man who acquires the ability to take full possession of his own mind may take possession of anything else to which he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-carnegie/a-man-who-acquires-the-ability-to-take-full-possession-of-his-own/) [Andrew Carnegie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-carnegie/) ## More by Sylvia Ashton-Warner > [Inspiration is the richest nation I know, the most powerful on earth. Sexual energy Freud calls it; the capital of desire I call it;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-ashton-warner/inspiration-is-the-richest-nation-i-know-the-most-powerful-on-earth/) [Sylvia Ashton-Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-ashton-warner/) > [I am my own Universe, I my own Professor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-ashton-warner/i-am-my-own-universe-i-my-own-professor/) [Sylvia Ashton-Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-ashton-warner/) > [The truth is that I am enslaved... in one vast love affair with 70 children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-ashton-warner/the-truth-is-that-i-am-enslaved-in-one-vast-love-affair-with-70/) [Sylvia Ashton-Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-ashton-warner/) > [Education, fundamentally, is the increase of the percentage of the conscious in relation to the unconscious. It must be a developing idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-ashton-warner/education-fundamentally-is-the-increase-of-the-percentage-of-the/) [Sylvia Ashton-Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-ashton-warner/) > [I flung my tongue round like a cat-o'-nine-tails so that my pleasant peaceful infant room became little less than a German concentration camp as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-ashton-warner/i-flung-my-tongue-round-like-a-cat-o-nine-tails-so-that-my-pleasant/) [Sylvia Ashton-Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-ashton-warner/) > [... of the two kinds of order, the conscious and the unconscious order, only one is real. It's the order in the deep hidden places.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-ashton-warner/of-the-two-kinds-of-order-the-conscious-and-the-unconscious-order/) [Sylvia Ashton-Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-ashton-warner/) > [When love turns away, now, I don't follow it. I sit and suffer, unprotesting, until I feel the tread of another step.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-ashton-warner/when-love-turns-away-now-i-don-t-follow-it-i-sit-and-suffer/) [Sylvia Ashton-Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-ashton-warner/) > [I see the mind of the five-year-old as a volcano with two vents: destructiveness and creativeness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-ashton-warner/i-see-the-mind-of-the-five-year-old-as-a-volcano-with-two-vents/) [Sylvia Ashton-Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-ashton-warner/) > [As the blackness of the night recedes so does the nadir of yesterday. The child I am forgets so quickly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-ashton-warner/as-the-blackness-of-the-night-recedes-so-does-the-nadir-of-yesterday/) [Sylvia Ashton-Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-ashton-warner/) > [What can be heavier than wealth than freedom?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-ashton-warner/what-can-be-heavier-than-wealth-than-freedom/) [Sylvia Ashton-Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-ashton-warner/) > [You must be true to yourself. Strong enough to be true to yourself. Brave enough to be strong enough to be true to yourself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-ashton-warner/you-must-be-true-to-yourself-strong-enough-to-be-true-to-yourself/) [Sylvia Ashton-Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-ashton-warner/) > [Children have two visions, the inner and the outer. Of the two the inner vision is brighter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-ashton-warner/children-have-two-visions-the-inner-and-the-outer-of-the-two-the/) [Sylvia Ashton-Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-ashton-warner/) > [Self-forgetfulness in creativity can lead to self-transcendence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-ashton-warner/self-forgetfulness-in-creativity-can-lead-to-self-transcendence/) [Sylvia Ashton-Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-ashton-warner/) > [It is not so much the content of what one says as the way in which one says it. However important the thing you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-ashton-warner/it-is-not-so-much-the-content-of-what-one-says-as-the-way-in-which/) [Sylvia Ashton-Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-ashton-warner/) > [To feel as well as hear what someone says requires whole attention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-ashton-warner/to-feel-as-well-as-hear-what-someone-says-requires-whole-attention/) [Sylvia Ashton-Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-ashton-warner/) [Explore all 31 Sylvia Ashton-Warner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-ashton-warner/) ## More Cutting quotes > [“I locked the door and turned on the water to fill the tub. I made it so hot that I had to get in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-crandall/i-locked-the-door-and-turned-on-the-water-to-fill-the-tub-i-made-it/) [Susan Crandall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-crandall/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [Since I worked with Danny Boyle before on Slumdog Millionaire, we have great success and everything. So, when I first got the script and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-rahman/since-i-worked-with-danny-boyle-before-on-slumdog-millionaire-we-have/) [A. R. Rahman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-rahman/) > [A man has a right to use a saw, an axe, a plane, separately; may he not combine their uses on the same piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-man-has-a-right-to-use-a-saw-an-axe-a-plane-separately-may-he-not/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [I didn't understand Southland Tales script at all! Is there a single word to describe it? Cacophony? It's celebrity meets pornography meets politics -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-grant/i-didn-t-understand-southland-tales-script-at-all-is-there-a-single/) [Beth Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-grant/) > [Confidence comes from cutting yourself some slack.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tess-daly/confidence-comes-from-cutting-yourself-some-slack/) [Tess Daly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tess-daly/) > [The nineteenth century lynching mob cuts off ears, toes, and fingers, strips off flesh, and distributes portions of the body as souvenirs among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-b-wells/the-nineteenth-century-lynching-mob-cuts-off-ears-toes-and-fingers/) [Ida B. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-b-wells/) > [There ain't no such thing as black Muslims. That's how they tried to cut off all my brothers in the rest of the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali/there-ain-t-no-such-thing-as-black-muslims-that-s-how-they-tried-to/) [Muhammad Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali/) > [ We have no clear ideas of the agency of \[demonic\] spirits, nor is it necessary. The Scripture says little to satisfy our curiosity; but… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-newton/we-have-no-clear-ideas-of-the-agency-of-demonic-spirits-nor-is-it/) [John Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-newton/) > [The child who ran weeping to you with a cut finger is now brought home, smiling gamely, with a broken collarbone and incredible contusions-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-brown/the-child-who-ran-weeping-to-you-with-a-cut-finger-is-now-brought/) [Pam Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-brown/) > [Somewhere somebody must have some sense. Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/somewhere-somebody-must-have-some-sense-men-must-see-that-force/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [“I hate the way you talk to me And the way you cut your hair I hate the way you drive my car I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/i-hate-the-way-you-talk-to-me-and-the-way-you-cut-your-hair-i-hate/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [God holds each of us by a string. When we sin, we cut the string. But God ties it up again, making a knot.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meister-eckhart/god-holds-each-of-us-by-a-string-when-we-sin-we-cut-the-string-but/) [Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meister-eckhart/) > [What's the difference between obsolete and cutting edge? Obsolete works.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-negroponte/what-s-the-difference-between-obsolete-and-cutting-edge-obsolete-works/) [Nicholas Negroponte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-negroponte/) > [Geometry, which should only obey Physics, when united with it sometimes commands it. If it happens that the question which we wish to examine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/geometry-which-should-only-obey-physics-when-united-with-it-sometimes/) [Jean le Rond d'Alembert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/) [Browse all 6,010 Cutting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cutting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "No other job in the world could possibly dispossess one so completely as this job of teaching. You could stand all day in a laundry, for instance, still in possession of your mind. But this teaching utterly obliterates you. 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