--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Had he learned nothing from all those…" description: "\"Had he learned nothing from all those years of teaching Hawthorne? Through story after story he'd led his boys to consider the folly of obsession with ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31e/tobias-wolff-7890_boys_had-he-learned-nothing-from-all-those-ye_1093450.png" --- # Had he learned nothing from all those years of teaching… ![“Had he learned nothing from all those years of teaching Hawthorne? Through story after story he'd led his boys to consider the folly of obsession with purity - its roots sunk deep in pride, flowering condemnation and violence against others and self.” quote by Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31e/tobias-wolff-7890_boys_had-he-learned-nothing-from-all-those-ye_1093450.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31e/tobias-wolff-7890_boys_had-he-learned-nothing-from-all-those-ye_1093450.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31e/tobias-wolff-7890_boys_had-he-learned-nothing-from-all-those-ye_1093450.png) > “Had he learned nothing from all those years of teaching Hawthorne? Through story after story he'd led his boys to consider the folly of obsession with purity - its roots sunk deep in pride, flowering condemnation and violence against others and self.” [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage critiques how obsessive purity, rooted in pride, breeds condemnation and violence toward oneself and others. **In simple terms:** Obsessive purity leads to cruelty. Key Takeaway Beware pride and its harm. Themes pride purity violence self‑criticism Mood reflective critical Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - teaching - personal growth - conflict resolution - self‑reflection Key Concepts moral psychology ethical decay social dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How does pride shape your judgments? - Can compassion replace condemnation? A Different Perspective It may overlook the value of nuanced moral standards. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boys/) [Condemnation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/condemnation/) [Flowering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flowering/) [Flowering Condemnation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flowering-condemnation-2838946/) [Folly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/folly/) [Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hawthorne/) [Hawthorne Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hawthorne-story-2838944/) [Obsession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obsession/) [Obsession Purity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obsession-purity-2838945/) [Pride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pride/) [Purity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purity/) [Roots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/roots/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Teaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching/) [Teaching Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching-hawthorne-2838943/) [Violence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violence/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [Nathaniel Hawthorne once said that easy reading is damn hard writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/nathaniel-hawthorne-once-said-that-easy-reading-is-damn-hard-writing/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [My work holds up the mirror to hypocrisy, which puts me in a tradition of American writing that reaches back to Nathaniel Hawthorne.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ishmael-reed/my-work-holds-up-the-mirror-to-hypocrisy-which-puts-me-in-a-tradition/) [Ishmael Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ishmael-reed/) > [“I kiss her. I kiss her and kiss her. I try not to bite her lip. She tastes like vodkahoney.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/i-kiss-her-i-kiss-her-and-kiss-her-i-try-not-to-bite-her-lip-she/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [“Nathaniel Hawthorne had placed the w in his name to distance himself from his cruel ancestor, his writing driven by his desire to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-hoffman/nathaniel-hawthorne-had-placed-the-w-in-his-name-to-distance-himself/) [Alice Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-hoffman/) > [There is the grand truth about Nathaniel Hawthorne. He says NO! in thunder; but the Devil himself cannot make him say yes. For all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/there-is-the-grand-truth-about-nathaniel-hawthorne-he-says-no-in/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“There is no decay. Each human soul is the first created inhabitant of its own Eden. We dwell in an old moss-covered mansion, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/there-is-no-decay-each-human-soul-is-the-first-created-inhabitant-of/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“Because the power of God does not fade over time, Dr. Hawthorne,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-hoesel/because-the-power-of-god-does-not-fade-over-time-dr-hawthorne/) [Don Hoesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-hoesel/) > [Mayer Hawthorne's old school pop-R&B homages are so meticulous that it's tempting to overrate his pipes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-eddy/mayer-hawthorne-s-old-school-pop-r-b-homages-are-so-meticulous-that/) [Chuck Eddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-eddy/) > [“I was too much of a Bronx kid to read Emerson or Hawthorne.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/i-was-too-much-of-a-bronx-kid-to-read-emerson-or-hawthorne/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“The sharp white steeple of the Hawthorne First Baptist Church stuck up through the leafless trees like an admonishing finger.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-r-mccammon/the-sharp-white-steeple-of-the-hawthorne-first-baptist-church-stuck/) [Robert R. 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John Updike's readable. Hawthorne's readable. It's a meaningless term. You have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/great-books-are-readable-anyway-dickens-is-readable-jane-austen-is/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [ \[Hawthorne''s\] pious blame is a chuckle of praise all the while. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/hawthorne-s-pious-blame-is-a-chuckle-of-praise-all-the-while/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) ## More by Tobias Wolff > [Memory is funny. Once you hit a vein the problem is not how to remember but how to control the flow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/memory-is-funny-once-you-hit-a-vein-the-problem-is-not-how-to/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [You boys know what tropism is, it's what makes a plant grow toward the light. Everything aspires to the light. You don't have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/you-boys-know-what-tropism-is-it-s-what-makes-a-plant-grow-toward-the/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [We even talked like Hemingway characters, though in travesty, as if to deny our discipleship: That is your bed, and it is a good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/we-even-talked-like-hemingway-characters-though-in-travesty-as-if-to/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [“But for now Anders can still make time. 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They have to, whatever the cost, say what truth they have to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/writers-cannot-let-themselves-be-servants-of-the-official-mythology/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [One can imagine a world without essays. It would be a little poorer, of course, like a world without chess, but one could live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/one-can-imagine-a-world-without-essays-it-would-be-a-little-poorer-of/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [I was giving up--being realistic, as people liked to say, meaning the same thing. Being realistic made me feel bitter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/i-was-giving-up-being-realistic-as-people-liked-to-say-meaning-the/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [“Lose Faith. Pray anyway. Persist. We are made to persist, to complete the whole tour. That's how we find out who we are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/lose-faith-pray-anyway-persist-we-are-made-to-persist-to-complete-the/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [I believe that the short story is as different a form from the novel as poetry is, and the best stories seem to me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/i-believe-that-the-short-story-is-as-different-a-form-from-the-novel/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [It's probably why I'm a short story writer. I tend to remember things in the past in narrative form, in story form, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/it-s-probably-why-i-m-a-short-story-writer-i-tend-to-remember-things/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [When we are green, still half-created, we believe that our dreams are rights, that the world is disposed to act in our best interests,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/when-we-are-green-still-half-created-we-believe-that-our-dreams-are/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) [Explore all 86 Tobias Wolff quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) ## More Boys quotes > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [Boys and boys' body image and clothes have become just as important an issue for boys as for girls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosalind-wiseman/boys-and-boys-body-image-and-clothes-have-become-just-as-important-an/) [Rosalind Wiseman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosalind-wiseman/) > [Lets face it this world is ruled by girls that why we must away pleases our girls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mrawesome/lets-face-it-this-world-is-ruled-by-girls-that-why-we-must-away/) [MrAwesome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mrawesome/) > [I grew up in Synagogue in the boys' choir. We didn't listen to music in the house; only at temple. Then I went to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-patinkin/i-grew-up-in-synagogue-in-the-boys-choir-we-didn-t-listen-to-music-in/) [Mandy Patinkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-patinkin/) > [When it comes to bullying small businesses, Donald Trump is the poster boy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/when-it-comes-to-bullying-small-businesses-donald-trump-is-the-poster/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [When other boys dreamt of going to the moon or becoming doctors, I wanted to be a designer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivier-theyskens/when-other-boys-dreamt-of-going-to-the-moon-or-becoming-doctors-i/) [Olivier Theyskens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivier-theyskens/) > [In the middle of a play, I go crazy and don't realize what I'm doing. 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