--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Men had better be without education than…" description: "\"Men had better be without education than be educated by their rulers; for their education is but the mere breaking in of the steer to the yoke; the mer..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/146/thomas-hodgskin-80291_devouring_men-had-better-be-without-education-than_133959.jpg" --- # Men had better be without education than be educated by… ![“Men had better be without education than be educated by their rulers; for their education is but the mere breaking in of the steer to the yoke; the mere discipline of the hunting dog, which, by dint of severity, is made to forego the strongest impulse of his nature, and instead of devouring his…” quote by Thomas Hodgskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/146/thomas-hodgskin-80291_devouring_men-had-better-be-without-education-than_133959.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/146/thomas-hodgskin-80291_devouring_men-had-better-be-without-education-than_133959.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/146/thomas-hodgskin-80291_devouring_men-had-better-be-without-education-than_133959.jpg) > “Men had better be without education than be educated by their rulers; for their education is but the mere breaking in of the steer to the yoke; the mere discipline of the hunting dog, which, by dint of severity, is made to forego the strongest impulse of his nature, and instead of devouring his prey, to hasten with it to the feet of his master.” [Thomas Hodgskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hodgskin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Education imposed by rulers serves only to control and suppress natural instincts, turning people into obedient tools. **In simple terms:** Forced education creates obedience. Key Takeaway Resist imposed learning that limits freedom. Themes education authority control freedom Mood critical revolutionary Type philosophical political When to use this quote - school curricula - government training programs - workplace indoctrination - propaganda campaigns Key Concepts political philosophy critical pedagogy social control Questions to Reflect On - How can education foster critical thinking? - What alternatives exist to authoritarian teaching? A Different Perspective Some education can empower rather than oppress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Devouring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devouring/) [Discipline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discipline/) [Discipline Hunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discipline-hunting-1528636/) [Dog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dog/) [Educated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/educated/) [Educated Rulers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/educated-rulers-1528634/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Education Educated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education-educated-1165788/) [Feet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feet/) [Historical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historical/) [Hunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunting/) [Hunting dog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunting-dog/) [Impulse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impulse/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Masters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/masters/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Mere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mere/) [Mere Discipline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mere-discipline-1528635/) [Prey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prey/) [Rulers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rulers/) [Rulers Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rulers-education-1528637/) [Severity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/severity/) [Steers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/steers/) [Strongest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strongest/) [Yoke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yoke/) ## Related quotes > [Men had better be without education than be educated by their rulers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hodgskin/men-had-better-be-without-education-than-be-educated-by-their-rulers-2/) [Thomas Hodgskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hodgskin/) > [In the search for reality, energy creates its own discipline. But mere discipline, without full comprehension of all this, has no meaning, it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/in-the-search-for-reality-energy-creates-its-own-discipline-but-mere/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [I remember that - you know, I didnt receive a formal education. I was educated in the Montevideo cafe, in the cafes of Montevideo.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-galeano/i-remember-that-you-know-i-didnt-receive-a-formal-education-i-was/) [Eduardo Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-galeano/) > [As countries get rich they start increasing education and the very educated people tend to not like trial and error, because they think they're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/as-countries-get-rich-they-start-increasing-education-and-the-very/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Why do most Americans look up to education and down upon educated people?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/why-do-most-americans-look-up-to-education-and-down-upon-educated/) [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [I remember that - you know, I didn't receive a formal education. I was educated in the Montevideo cafe, in the cafes of Montevideo.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-galeano/i-remember-that-you-know-i-didn-t-receive-a-formal-education-i-was/) [Eduardo Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-galeano/) > [Don't' call it a failure, call it an education. Some of us are very educated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/don-t-call-it-a-failure-call-it-an-education-some-of-us-are-very/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [No other investment yields as great a return as the investment in education. An educated workforce is the foundation of every community and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-henry/no-other-investment-yields-as-great-a-return-as-the-investment-in/) [Brad Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-henry/) > [“People can never be educated with education, they can only be educated with humor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sneha-mehta/people-can-never-be-educated-with-education-they-can-only-be-educated/) [Sneha Mehta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sneha-mehta/) > [Everyone wins when children - and especially girls – have access to education. An educated girl is likely to increase her personal earning potential…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angelique-kidjo/everyone-wins-when-children-and-especially-girls-have-access-to/) [Angelique Kidjo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angelique-kidjo/) > [Education is a cause very close to me. What matters is encouraging my fans to focus on their education, because only an educated generation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-garrix/education-is-a-cause-very-close-to-me-what-matters-is-encouraging-my/) [Martin Garrix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-garrix/) > [I love my hunting dog. I loved my hunting dog - I'm not very good at hunting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-mcfarlane/i-love-my-hunting-dog-i-loved-my-hunting-dog-i-m-not-very-good-at/) [Bonnie McFarlane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-mcfarlane/) > [You might be a redneck if your favorite hunting dog has a bigger tombstone than your grandfather.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-foxworthy/you-might-be-a-redneck-if-your-favorite-hunting-dog-has-a-bigger/) [Jeff Foxworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-foxworthy/) > [If you turn the imagination loose like a hunting dog, it will often return with the bird in its mouth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-maxwell/if-you-turn-the-imagination-loose-like-a-hunting-dog-it-will-often/) [William Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-maxwell/) > [“Clary saw the group of lycanthropes look up, alert as a group of hunting dogs senting game. She turned- And saw Luke, tired and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/clary-saw-the-group-of-lycanthropes-look-up-alert-as-a-group-of/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) ## More by Thomas Hodgskin > [Men had better be without education than be educated by their rulers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hodgskin/men-had-better-be-without-education-than-be-educated-by-their-rulers-2/) [Thomas Hodgskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hodgskin/) > [I look in a right of property - on the right of individuals, to have and to own, for their own separate and selfish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hodgskin/i-look-in-a-right-of-property-on-the-right-of-individuals-to-have-and/) [Thomas Hodgskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hodgskin/) [Explore all 3 Thomas Hodgskin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hodgskin/) ## More Devouring quotes > [Introspection is a devouring monster. You have to feed it with much material, much experience, many people, many places, many loves, many creations, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/introspection-is-a-devouring-monster-you-have-to-feed-it-with-much/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Science is the only truth and it is the great lie. It knows nothing, and people think it knows everything. It is misrepresented. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/science-is-the-only-truth-and-it-is-the-great-lie-it-knows-nothing/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [Do you know, I always imagine that the subway trains are dragons,' Rose said to Bear as they clung to his coat for support…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/regina-doman/do-you-know-i-always-imagine-that-the-subway-trains-are-dragons-rose/) [Regina Doman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/regina-doman/) > [The cruelty of a Fijian god, who, represented as devouring the souls of the dead, may be supposed to inflict torture during the process,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/the-cruelty-of-a-fijian-god-who-represented-as-devouring-the-souls-of/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Marriage must perforce fight against the all-devouring monster of habit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/marriage-must-perforce-fight-against-the-all-devouring-monster-of/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [In the tension between devouring want or simple need it's clear the only lines between the ones we preserve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/as-i-lay-dying/in-the-tension-between-devouring-want-or-simple-need-it-s-clear-the/) [As I Lay Dying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/as-i-lay-dying/) > [We want something desperately and we try to force the God to give it up before it is ready. We want everything now. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-want-something-desperately-and-we-try-to-force-the-god-to-give-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We have unmistakable proof that throughout all past time, there has been a ceaseless devouring of the weak by the strong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/we-have-unmistakable-proof-that-throughout-all-past-time-there-has/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Growing up, I didn't have any comic books, at all. But my friend had a trunk full of them, so comic books were like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-spader/growing-up-i-didn-t-have-any-comic-books-at-all-but-my-friend-had-a/) [James Spader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-spader/) > [Fame requires every kind of excess. I mean true fame, a devouring neon, not the sombre renown of waning statesmen or chinless kings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/fame-requires-every-kind-of-excess-i-mean-true-fame-a-devouring-neon/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [The pure present is an ungraspable advance of the past devouring the future. In truth, all sensation is already memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-pure-present-is-an-ungraspable-advance-of-the-past-devouring-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Wolves and women are relational by nature, inquiring, possessed of great endurance and strength. They are deeply intuitive, intensely concerned with their young, their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/wolves-and-women-are-relational-by-nature-inquiring-possessed-of/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [It’s only when you’ve lost someone that you realize the nonsense of that phrase “It’s a small world”. It isn’t. It’s a vast, devouring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barker/it-s-only-when-you-ve-lost-someone-that-you-realize-the-nonsense-of/) [Clive Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barker/) > [Precisely because the State has the monopoly of coercion it can be allowed the monopoly only of coercion. Only if the modern State can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-hazlitt/precisely-because-the-state-has-the-monopoly-of-coercion-it-can-be/) [Henry Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-hazlitt/) > [Society proceeds like the ocean. After a disaster, it resume its wonted level and rhythms; its devouring interests efface all traces of damage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/society-proceeds-like-the-ocean-after-a-disaster-it-resume-its-wonted/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) [Browse all 112 Devouring quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devouring/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Men had better be without education than be educated by their rulers; for their education is but the mere breaking in of the steer to the yoke; the mere discipline of the hunting dog, which, by dint of severity, is made to forego the strongest impulse of his nature, and instead of devouring his prey, to hasten with it to the feet of his master.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Hodgskin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hodgskin/men-had-better-be-without-education-than-be-educated-by-their-rulers/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Devouring" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hodgskin/men-had-better-be-without-education-than-be-educated-by-their-rulers/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/146/thomas-hodgskin-80291_devouring_men-had-better-be-without-education-than_133959.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/146/thomas-hodgskin-80291_devouring_men-had-better-be-without-education-than_133959.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/146/thomas-hodgskin-80291_devouring_men-had-better-be-without-education-than_133959.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Men had better be without education than be educated by their rulers; for their education is but the mere…” — Thomas Hodgskin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Thomas Hodgskin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hodgskin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Men had better be without education...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hodgskin/men-had-better-be-without-education-than-be-educated-by-their-rulers/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hodgskin/men-had-better-be-without-education-than-be-educated-by-their-rulers/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```