Education quotations of the week (11-02-09)

No theme today–just a random bunch of my favorites…

A popular Government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance,  and a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives. (James Madison)

I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture in order to give their children are right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain. (John Adams)

Schools do not need instructional leaders—they need learning leaders who focus on evidence of learning. (Rick DuFour and Robert Marzano, from their February 2009 article in Educational Leadership)

In a completely rational society, the best of us would aspire to be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less, because passing civilization along from one generation to the next ought to be the highest honor and the highest responsibility anyone could have. (Lee Iacocca)

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. (Frederick Douglass)