Robert Henri Quotes

Actually, all education is self-education. A teacher is only a guide, to point out the way, and no school, no matter how excellent, can give you education. What you receive is like the outlines in a child’s coloring book. You must fill in the colors yourself.

I still say the only education worth anything is self-education.

No matter how much I admire our schools, I know that no university exists that can provide an education; what a university can provide is an outline, to give the learner a direction and guidance. The rest one has to do for oneself.

We need to look at learning as the product of educational self-organization. It’s not about making learning happen; it’s about letting it happen.

When you home study, you get a better education. I basically got to teach myself. Being naturally able to make my own opinions about the schoolwork I had to deal with, instead of being instructed under the tutelage of the teacher, was really nice academically.

My teachers helped guide and motivate me; but the responsibility of learning was left with me, an approach to learning which was later reinforced by my experiences at Amherst.

My high school didn't really have a good training program, so I did it on my own.

Only the autodidacts are free.

The aim of all education is, or should be, to teach people to educate themselves.

All education must be self-education.

Self-study, in a sense of learning by yourself without anybody teaching you anything, has an enormous value.

Children have to be educated, but they have also to be left to educate themselves.

I prefer home-schooling because you can work at your own pace and go towards more what you're interested in, whether it be history or geography or math.

Being home schooled is awesome because you can make your own schedule, so as far as time management, it's up to you how much you get done and when you get it done. It's all got to get done; how you do it is up to you.

I soon gave up instruction for self-teaching.

The ultimate goal of the educational system is to shift to the individual the burden of pursuing his own education.

I knew I had to find my own way of teaching.

I don't like books that seem to want to teach me things. Which is not to say that one doesn't learn from books - but you do your own learning in your own way.

I like to learn on my own.

Looking back, I realise it wasn't only gym I dreaded at school. Every class was a torment. It wasn't knowledge I objected to but instruction. Why couldn't they just tell us what books to read and leave us to get on and read them?

The fundamental basis of education must always remain that one must act for oneself. That is clear. One must act for him or herself.

The better part of every man's education is that which he gives himself.

The secret of sound education is to get each pupil to learn for himself, instead of instructing him by driving knowledge into him on a stereotyped system.

I do not much believe in education. Each person ought to be his or her own model, however frightful that may be.

In my opinion instruction is very purposeless for such individuals who do no want merely to collect a mass of knowledge, but are mainly interested in exercising (training) their own powers. One doesn't need to grasp such a one by the hand and lead him to the goal, but only from time to time give him suggestions, in order that he may reach it himself in the shortest way.