Immauel Kant

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) - German philosopher from the Prussian city of Königsberg. He published important works on science, religion, law, and history, believing himself to be creating a compromise between empiricism and rationalism (simply put - experience and reason combined rather than being each other 'opposites').



"Always recognize that human individuals are ends, and do not use them as means to your end."

"There can be no doubt that all our knowledge begins with experience."

"He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."

"Seek not the favor of the multitude; it is seldom got by honest and lawful means. But seek the testimony of few; and number not voices, but weigh them."

"Everything good that is not based on a morally good disposition, however, is nothing but pretense and glittering misery."

"Live your life as though your every act were to become a universal law."

- Immanuel Kant

John Dewey

Information cropped from Wikipedia.
John Dewey (October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer. The overriding theme of Dewey's works was his profound belief in democracy, be it in politics, education or communication and journalism.

Dewey continually argued that education and learning are social and interactive processes, and thus the school itself is a social institution through which social reform can and should take place. According to Dewey, the teacher should not be one to stand at the front of the room doling out bits of information to be absorbed by passive students. Instead, the teacher’s role should be that of facilitator and guide.

He was one of the original 34 signees of the first Humanist Manifesto (1933).
Kinda cool in my book. :)

I'm inspired by some of his educational ideas in my own studies to be a teacher and hope that some of his quotes might inspire you too.


"Every great advance in science has issued from a new audacity of imagination."

"We only think when we are confronted with problems."

"Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes."

"Skepticism: the mark and even the pose of the educated mind."

"The self is not something ready-made, but something in continuous formation through choice of action."

"Education is a social process. Education is growth. Education is, not a preparation for life; education is life itself."

"The teacher is not in the school to impose certain ideas or to form certain habits in the child, but is there as a member of the community to select the influences which shall affect the child and to assist him in properly responding to these influences."

Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher. Central to his philosophy is the idea of “life-affirmation,” which involves an honest questioning of all doctrines that drain life's expansive energies, however socially prevalent those views might be.


In my opinion he seems to have been quite a gloomy guy. Very insightful and gloomy but, perhaps one can't be a philosopher without a certain amount of gloom...? ;)

More Nietzsche:

"The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently."

"It is not the struggle of opinions that has made history so violent, but rather the struggle of belief in opinions, that is, the struggle of convictions."

"One must have a good memory to be able to keep the promises one makes."

"You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist."

Confucius

Confucius (Kong Fu Zi), 551 BC – 479 BC. A Chinese thinker and social philosopher, whose teachings deeply influenced East Asian life and thought. Confucius presented himself as a "transmitter who invented nothing" (not speaking of unknown things? ;)) and he put great emphasis on the importance of study (or learning).

Confucius's moral system was based upon empathy and understanding others. Virtue was based upon harmony with other people, summed up in the earliest versions of the Golden Rule.

"What one does not wish for oneself,
one ought not to do to anyone else;
what one recognises as desirable for oneself,
one ought to be willing to grant to others."
- Confucius

More quotes from Confucius:

"Knowledge is recognizing what you know and what you don't."

"Reviewing what you have learned and learning anew, you are fit to be a teacher."

"To study and not think is a waste. To think and not study is dangerous."

"When we see men of worth, we should think of equaling them; when we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves."

"It does not matter how slowly you go
so long as you do not stop."

"To be able under all circumstances to practice five things constitutes perfect virtue; these five things are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness and kindness."

"He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good."

Epictetus

More really intriguing thoughts from Paulo Coelho's blog - Character of the week.



All philosophy lies in two words, sustain and abstain.

First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak. All religions must be tolerated… for every man must get to heaven in his own way. Freedom is the right to live as we wish.

Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant.

If evil be spoken of you and it be true, correct yourself, if it be a lie, laugh at it.

Do not seek to bring things to pass in accordance with your wishes, but wish for them as they are, and you will find them.

It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.
It is not he who reviles or strikes you who insults you, but your opinion that these things are insulting.
Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.

First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.

Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire. Is freedom anything else than the right to live as we wish? Nothing else. Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly.

No greater thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.

No man is free who is not master of himself.
God has entrusted me with myself.

Epictetus (AD 55–AD 135) was a Greek Stoic philosopher.