{
  "schema": "tga.work.v1",
  "identifier": "dresden:vol-11:a-word-about-education",
  "slug": "a-word-about-education",
  "title": "A Word About Education",
  "subtitle": "Essay.",
  "excerpt": "A short essay on education — what the schools of the day were doing well, what they were doing badly, and the role of the teacher in a free society.",
  "year": 1891,
  "volume": 11,
  "category": "Essay",
  "author": {
    "name": "Robert G. Ingersoll",
    "wikidata": "Q360326",
    "viaf": "44331023"
  },
  "isPartOf": {
    "title": "The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll",
    "edition": "Dresden Edition",
    "publisher": "C. P. Farrell",
    "year": 1900
  },
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/",
  "url": "https://thegreatagnostic.com/works/a-word-about-education/",
  "wordCount": 817,
  "body": "THE end of life—the object of life—is happiness. Nothing can be better\nthan that—nothing higher. In order to be really happy, man must be in\nharmony with his surroundings, with the conditions of well-being. In\norder to know these surroundings, he must be educated, and education is\nof value only as it contributes to the wellbeing of man, and only\nthat is education which increases the power of man to gratify his real\nwants—wants of body and of mind.\n\nThe educated man knows the necessity of finding out the facts in nature,\nthe relations between himself and his fellow-men, between himself and\nthe world, to the end that he may take advantage of these facts and\nrelations for the benefit of himself and others. He knows that a man may\nunderstand Latin and Greek, Hebrew and Sanscrit, and be as ignorant of\nthe great facts and forces in nature as a native of Central Africa.\n\nThe educated man knows something that he can use, not only for the\nbenefit of himself, but for the benefit of others. Every skilled\nmechanic, every good farmer, every man who knows some of the real\nfacts in nature that touch him, is to that extent an educated man. The\nskilled mechanic and the intelligent farmer may not be what we call\n\"scholars,\" and what we call scholars may not be educated men.\n\nMan is in constant need. He must protect himself from cold and heat,\nfrom sun and storm. He needs food and raiment for the body, and he needs\nwhat we call art for the development and gratification of his brain.\nBeginning with what are called the necessaries of life, he rises to\nwhat are known as the luxuries, and the luxuries become necessaries, and\nabove luxuries he rises to the highest wants of the soul.\n\nThe man who is fitted to take care of himself, in the conditions he may\nbe placed, is, in a very important sense, an educated man. The savage\nwho understands the habits of animals, who is a good hunter and fisher,\nis a man of education, taking into consideration his circumstances. The\ngraduate of a university who cannot take care of himself—no matter how\nmuch he may have studied—is not an educated man.\n\nIn our time, an educated man, whether a mechanic, a farmer, or one who\nfollows a profession, should know something about what the world has\ndiscovered. He should have an idea of the outlines of the sciences. He\nshould have read a little, at least, of the best that has been written.\nHe should know something of mechanics, a little about politics,\ncommerce, and metaphysics; and in addition to all this, he should know\nhow to make something. His hands should be educated, so that he can, if\nnecessary, supply his own wants by supplying the wants of others.\n\nThere are mental misers—men who gather learning all their lives and\nkeep it to themselves. They are worse than hoarders of gold, because\nwhen they die their learning dies with them, while the metal miser is\ncompelled to leave his gold for others.\n\nThe first duty of man is to support himself—to see to it that he\ndoes not become a burden. His next duty is to help others if he has a\nsurplus, and if he really believes they deserve to be helped.\n\nIt is not necessary to have what is called a university education in\norder to be useful or to be happy, any more than it is necessary to be\nrich, to be happy. Great wealth is a great burden, and to have more than\nyou can use, is to care for more than you want. The happiest are those\nwho are prosperous, and who by reasonable endeavor can supply their\nreasonable wants and have a little surplus year by year for the winter\nof their lives.\n\nSo, it is no use to learn thousands and thousands of useless facts, or\nto fill the brain with unspoken tongues. This is burdening yourself with\nmore than you can use. The best way is to learn the useful.\n\nWe all know that men in moderate circumstances cau have just as\ncomfortable houses as the richest, just as comfortable clothing, just\nas good food. They can see just as fine paintings, just as marvelous\nstatues, and they can hear just as good music. They can attend the same\ntheatres and the same operas. They can enjoy the same sunshine, and\nabove all, can love and be loved just as well as kings and millionaires.\n\nSo the conclusion of the whole matter is, that he is educated who knows\nhow to take care of himself; and that the happy man is the successful\nman, and that it is only a burden to have more than you want, or to\nlearn those things that you cannot use.—The High School Register,\nOmaha, Nebraska, January. 1891.\n"
}