--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is the object of learning, not only to…" description: "\"It is the object of learning, not only to satisfy the curiosity and perfect the spirits of ordinary men, but also to advance civilization.\" — Woodrow W..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0f/woodrow-wilson-534_civilization_it-is-the-object-of-learning-not-only-to_2640689.png" --- # It is the object of learning, not only to satisfy the… ![“It is the object of learning, not only to satisfy the curiosity and perfect the spirits of ordinary men, but also to advance civilization.” quote by Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0f/woodrow-wilson-534_civilization_it-is-the-object-of-learning-not-only-to_2640689.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0f/woodrow-wilson-534_civilization_it-is-the-object-of-learning-not-only-to_2640689.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0f/woodrow-wilson-534_civilization_it-is-the-object-of-learning-not-only-to_2640689.png) > “It is the object of learning, not only to satisfy the curiosity and perfect the spirits of ordinary men, but also to advance civilization.” [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Learning serves curiosity and personal growth, and also drives societal progress. **In simple terms:** Education benefits individuals and civilization. Key Takeaway Promote learning for personal and collective good. Themes education civilization progress Mood hopeful inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - schools - public policy - community programs Key Concepts knowledge human development Questions to Reflect On - What role does education play in your community? - How can learning be directed toward societal benefit? A Different Perspective Learning alone cannot guarantee civilization without ethical application. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Curiosity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curiosity/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Ordinary man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary-man/) [Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit/) ## Related quotes > [One machine can do the work of hundred ordinary men but no machine can do the work of one extra ordinary man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/smartmuslimanas/one-machine-can-do-the-work-of-hundred-ordinary-men-but-no-machine/) SmartMuslimAnas > [Great men simplify great principles and make them easily intelligible to ordinary men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tunku-abdul-rahman/great-men-simplify-great-principles-and-make-them-easily-intelligible/) [Tunku Abdul Rahman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tunku-abdul-rahman/) > [ The decision to do it \[play Maigret\] was related to the fact that the character is a very ordinary man, and generally speaking I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-atkinson/the-decision-to-do-it-play-maigret-was-related-to-the-fact-that-the/) [Rowan Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-atkinson/) > [When it wishes anything done which is really serious, it collects twelve of the ordinary men standing round. The same thing was done, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/when-it-wishes-anything-done-which-is-really-serious-it-collects/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [What changed these very ordinary men (who were such cowards that they did not dare stand too near the cross in case they got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bertram-phillips/what-changed-these-very-ordinary-men-who-were-such-cowards-that-they/) [John Bertram Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bertram-phillips/) > [Our civilization has decided that determining the guilt or innocence of men is a thing too important to be trusted to trained men. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/our-civilization-has-decided-that-determining-the-guilt-or-innocence/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [It is rather astonishing how little practical value scientific knowledge has for ordinary men, how dull and commonplace such of it as has value…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-h-hardy/it-is-rather-astonishing-how-little-practical-value-scientific/) [G. H. Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-h-hardy/) > [With ordinary men the moments which are united in a close continuity out of the original discrete multiplicity are very few, and the course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-weininger/with-ordinary-men-the-moments-which-are-united-in-a-close-continuity/) [Otto Weininger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-weininger/) > [There aren't any great men. There are just great challenges that ordinary men like you and me are forced by circumstances to meet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-halsey/there-aren-t-any-great-men-there-are-just-great-challenges-that/) [William Halsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-halsey/) > [The real accomplishment of modern science and technology consists in taking ordinary men, informing them narrowly and deeply and then, through appropriate organization, arranging…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/the-real-accomplishment-of-modern-science-and-technology-consists-in/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [“Smoking comforts ordinary men, but I'm not an ordinary man. There aren't many like me left. And it's a good thing for the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-willeford/smoking-comforts-ordinary-men-but-i-m-not-an-ordinary-man-there-aren/) [Charles Willeford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-willeford/) > [Choice word and measured phrase above the reach Of ordinary men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/choice-word-and-measured-phrase-above-the-reach-of-ordinary-men/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [To consider oneself different from ordinary men is wrong, but it is right to hope that one will not remain like ordinary men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoshida-shoin/to-consider-oneself-different-from-ordinary-men-is-wrong-but-it-is/) [Yoshida Shoin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoshida-shoin/) > [The taste for glory can make ordinary men behave in extraordinary ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/the-taste-for-glory-can-make-ordinary-men-behave-in-extraordinary-ways/) [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) > [There are no great men, only ordinary men, who have met extraordinary challenges.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-halsey/there-are-no-great-men-only-ordinary-men-who-have-met-extraordinary/) [William Halsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-halsey/) ## More by Woodrow Wilson > [If I am to speak ten minutes, I need a week for preparation; if fifteen minutes, three days; if half an hour, two days;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/if-i-am-to-speak-ten-minutes-i-need-a-week-for-preparation-if-fifteen/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [There is here a great melting pot in which we must compound a precious metal. That metal is the metal of nationality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/there-is-here-a-great-melting-pot-in-which-we-must-compound-a/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [One cannot pay the price of self-respect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/one-cannot-pay-the-price-of-self-respect/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [I would rather lose in a cause that will some day win, than win in a cause that will some day lose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/i-would-rather-lose-in-a-cause-that-will-some-day-win-than-win-in-a/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [I have received delegations of working men who, apparently speaking with the utmost sincerity, have declared that they would regard it as a genuine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/i-have-received-delegations-of-working-men-who-apparently-speaking/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [Absolute identity with one's cause is the first and great condition of successful leadership.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/absolute-identity-with-one-s-cause-is-the-first-and-great-condition/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [America cannot be an ostrich with its head in the sand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/america-cannot-be-an-ostrich-with-its-head-in-the-sand/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [...We are intensely proud of their noble record and are glad to have had the whole world see how irresistible they are in their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/we-are-intensely-proud-of-their-noble-record-and-are-glad-to-have-had/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [ The facts of the case will always have the better of \[an\] argument. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/the-facts-of-the-case-will-always-have-the-better-of-an-argument/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [The greatest embarrassment of my political career has been that active duties seem to deprive me of time for careful investigation. I seem almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/the-greatest-embarrassment-of-my-political-career-has-been-that/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [Some Americans need hyphens in their names because only part of them has come over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/some-americans-need-hyphens-in-their-names-because-only-part-of-them/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [The history of liberty is the history of limitations on the power of government, not the increase of it. When we resist, therefore, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/the-history-of-liberty-is-the-history-of-limitations-on-the-power-of/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [When I think of the flag… I see alternate strips of parchment upon which are written the rights of liberty and justice, and stripes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/when-i-think-of-the-flag-i-see-alternate-strips-of-parchment-upon/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [If I am to speak ten minutes, I need a week for preparation; if an hour, I am ready now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/if-i-am-to-speak-ten-minutes-i-need-a-week-for-preparation-if-an-hour/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [Energy in a nation is like sap in a tree; it rises from bottom up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/energy-in-a-nation-is-like-sap-in-a-tree-it-rises-from-bottom-up/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) [Explore all 492 Woodrow Wilson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) ## More Civilization quotes > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Sentiment is the mightiest force in civilization; not sentimentality, but sentiment. Women will bring this into politics. Home, sweet home, is as powerful on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-ellen-foster/sentiment-is-the-mightiest-force-in-civilization-not-sentimentality/) [Judith Ellen Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-ellen-foster/) > [Violence is not necessary to destroy a civilization. Each civilization dies from indifference toward the unique values which created it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-gomez-davila/violence-is-not-necessary-to-destroy-a-civilization-each-civilization/) [Nicolas Gomez Davila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-gomez-davila/) > [“The voice in the head that never stops speaking becomes a civilization that is obsessed with form and therefore knows nothing of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-voice-in-the-head-that-never-stops-speaking-becomes-a/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [We released 400,000 classified documents, the most extraordinary history of a war to ever have been released in our civilization. Those documents cover 109,000…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-assange/we-released-400-000-classified-documents-the-most-extraordinary/) [Julian Assange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-assange/) > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Whenever we touch nature we get clean. People who have got dirty through too much civilization take a walk in the woods, or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/whenever-we-touch-nature-we-get-clean-people-who-have-got-dirty/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/the-invention-of-gunpowder-and-the-constant-improvement-of-firearms/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“The mission is, not to replace old world mindlessness with new world mindlessness, but to put an end to all forms of brainless authoritarianism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-mission-is-not-to-replace-old-world-mindlessness-with-new-world/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Our civilization, bequeathed to us by fierce adventurers, eaters of meat and hunters, is so full of hurry and combat, so busy about many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/our-civilization-bequeathed-to-us-by-fierce-adventurers-eaters-of/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Coal lay in ledges under the ground since the Flood, until a laborer with pick and windlass brings it to the surface. We may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/coal-lay-in-ledges-under-the-ground-since-the-flood-until-a-laborer/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Once we allow ourselves to be disobedient to the test of an accountant's profit, we have begun to change our civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/once-we-allow-ourselves-to-be-disobedient-to-the-test-of-an/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-josiah-brewer/our-laws-and-our-institutions-must-necessarily-be-based-upon-and/) [David Josiah Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-josiah-brewer/) [Browse all 4,084 Civilization quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is the object of learning, not only to satisfy the curiosity and perfect the spirits of ordinary men, but also to advance civilization.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Woodrow Wilson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/it-is-the-object-of-learning-not-only-to-satisfy-the-curiosity-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Civilization" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/it-is-the-object-of-learning-not-only-to-satisfy-the-curiosity-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0f/woodrow-wilson-534_civilization_it-is-the-object-of-learning-not-only-to_2640689.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0f/woodrow-wilson-534_civilization_it-is-the-object-of-learning-not-only-to_2640689.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0f/woodrow-wilson-534_civilization_it-is-the-object-of-learning-not-only-to_2640689.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is the object of learning, not only to satisfy the curiosity and perfect the spirits of ordinary men, but…” — Woodrow Wilson", "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": "Woodrow Wilson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is the object of learning,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/it-is-the-object-of-learning-not-only-to-satisfy-the-curiosity-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/it-is-the-object-of-learning-not-only-to-satisfy-the-curiosity-and/#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 } } ] } ```