"Having reached this stage, and by this road, he is quite ready to enter upon the next stage to which I introduce him; the subjects I suggest for his consideration rouse his curiosity, because they are fine in themselves, because they are quite new to him, and because he is able to understand them. Your young people, on the other hand, are weary and overdone with your stupid lessons, your long sermons, and your tedious catechisms; why should they not refuse to devote their minds to what has made them sad, to the burdensome precepts which have been continually piled upon them, to the thought of the Author of their being, who has been represented as the enemy of their pleasures? All this has only inspired in them aversion, disgust, and weariness; constraint has set them against it; why then should they devote themselves to it when they are beginning to choose for themselves? They require novelty, you must not repeat what they learned as children. Just so with my own pupil, when he is a man I speak to him as a man, and only tell him what is new to him; it is just because they are tedious to your pupils that he will find them to his taste."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
translated by Barbara Foxley
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile%2C_or_On_Education
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Emile, or On Education
Emile, or On Education or Émile, Or Treatise on Education is a treatise on the nature of education and on the nature of man written by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who considered it to be the best and most important of all his writings. Due to a section of the book entitled “Profession of Faith of the Savoyard Vicar,” Emile was banned in Paris and Geneva and was publicly burned in 1762, the year of its first publication. During the French Revolution, Emile served as the inspiration for what became a n
391 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Emile, or On Education →
Related Quotes
"Parents choose a husband for their daughter and she is only consulted as a matter of form; that is the custom. We sha…"
"If you would guard against these abuses, and secure happy marriages, you must stifle your prejudices, forget human in…"
"I cannot repeat too often that I am not dealing with prodigies. Emile is no prodigy, neither is Sophy. He is a man an…"
""Husband and wife should choose each other. A mutual liking should be the first bond between them. They should follow…"
"Not every one can realise the motive power to be found in a love of what is right, nor the inner strength which resul…"
"The reply was simple. If it were only a question of the partner of her youth, her choice would soon be made; but a ma…"
"I am glad you feel this," said I, "but you need not be surprised; where strangers are scarce, they are welcome; nothi…"
"What is there to kindle the hearts of lovers for whom this perfection is nothing, for whom the loved one is merely th…"
"In a word, she endures patiently the wrong-doing of others, and she is eager to atone for her own. This amiability is…"
"By nature man thinks but seldom. He learns to think as he acquires the other arts, but with even greater difficulty. …"