Oliver DeMille > Quotes

“Books are better than television, the internet, or the computer for educating and maintaining freedom.
Books matter because they state ideas and then attempt to thoroughly prove them. They have an advantage precisely because they slow down the process, allowing the reader to internalize, respond, react and transform. The ideas in books matter because time is taken to establish truth, and because the reader must take the time to consider each idea and either accept it or, if he rejects it, to think through sound reasons for doing so. A nation of people who write and read is a nation with the attention span to earn an education and free society if they choose.”
― Oliver DeMille

“Thinking is like exercise, it requires consistency and rigor. Like barbells in a weightlifting room, the classics force us to either put them down or exert our minds. They require us to think.”
― Oliver Van DeMille, A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-First Century

“Since the purpose of reading, of education, is to become good, our most important task is to choose the right books. Our personal set of stories, our canon, shapes our lives. I believe it is a law of the universe that we will not rise above our canon. Our canon is part of us, deeply, subconsciously. And the characters and teachings in our canon shape our characters--good, evil, mediocre, or great.”
― Oliver DeMille, A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-First Century

“The slaves in Rome were incapable of leisure and so their masters gave them entertainment to keep them pacified.”
― Oliver Van DeMille

“The myth is that it is possible for one human being to educate another”
― Oliver DeMille

“The liberal arts are the arts of communication and thinking. ‘They are the arts indispensable to further learning, for they are the arts of reading, writing, speaking, listening, figuring,”
― Oliver DeMille, A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-First Century

“Education occurs when students set out to educate themselves… the student will only learn, can only learn, what he chooses to learn…(An) advantage of not pushing is an innate sense (his) education is (his) responsibility and reward.”
― Oliver DeMille

“For the Three Percent:

You may sometimes feel
like you were born in the wrong century,
or that the struggle for freedom is already lost,
but you weren't, and it isn't.
Your day is coming.

Now is the time to prepare.”
― Oliver DeMille, The U.S. Constitution and the 196 Indispensable Principles of Freedom

“No U.S. president can “fix” education, no law can systematize inspiration, and no amount of funding, policy or resources can structure passion.”
― Oliver DeMille, The Student Whisperer

“How many have been persuaded that they needed to make it their life’s purpose to find a job, follow a career, be normal, fit in, or seek security, prestige, power or possessions? What great blessings has the world missed out on because of these choices?”
― Oliver DeMille, The Student Whisperer

“This one thing is great mentoring. Great mentors understand what the students are seeking, what they deeply and completely want, and how they can get it. Great mentors understand this even when the students don’t.”
― Oliver DeMille, The Student Whisperer

“Still reading but learning a lot about true education and the process of guiding our children in their educational pursuits.”
― Oliver DeMille

“For the Three Percent:
You may sometimes feel like you were born in the wrong century, or that the struggle for freedom is already lost, but weren't, and it isn't. Your day is coming. Now is the time to prepare.”
― Oliver DeMille

“Great education defies structure because it is always (always!) individualized, personalized, interactive, nimble, responsive and inspired.”
― Oliver DeMille, The Student Whisperer

“When the protection of freedom is left to a few officials, it is always lost.”
― Oliver DeMille, 1913

“Application of knowledge to the real world is essential; no education is complete, or even particularly valuable, unless the student uses what he or she has learned to serve the community, family, society, and God.”
― Oliver DeMille, A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-First Century

“When scholars (12+) do an assignment, either say "great work" or "do it again." You can help them, but have them do most of the work and never accept a low quality submission or performance.”
― Oliver DeMille, A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-First Century

“when a student is given the opportunity to gain an education, the ultimate responsibility for success or failure rests with him, and it is the role and obligation of the adults in his life to provide the best possible opportunity to gain that education.”
― Oliver DeMille, The Student Whisperer

“Someone who approaches twenty students with identical curriculum, methodology, goals, and plans is not acting as a mentor. The mentor helps each student identify where he or she is, and then says, "Okay, let's develop a program for you. What do you want to become? What do you want to create? What do you want to learn?" Once the mentor gets the answer from the student, he helps the student develop a personal plan to achieve it. You can't train leaders on a conveyor belt; if you want to teach students how to think, their studies must be personalized.”
― Oliver DeMille, A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-First Century

“Find a model of great education in history and you will find a great teacher who inspired students to make the hard choice to study. Wherever you find such a teacher, you will also find self-motivated students who study hard. When students study hard, learning occurs. We will never have high-quality education until students study hard, really hard, day in and day out. Let me be absolutely clear about this: When students don't study, no funding, program, policy, law, philanthropic donation, presidential mandate, or anything else will provide quality education. When students freely and voluntarily choose to study hard, then education improves. And over time, it achieves excellence.”
― Oliver DeMille, A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-First Century

“In the post-Butler system, in order to meet the desired federal spending, taxes are raised, and debts, deficits, and government spending balloon. When these traditional sources of money fail, the government simply prints more money through the Federal Reserve. This inflates our fiat currency, distorts the natural ups and downs of the business cycle and recessions, and increases the divide between the wealthy (who store their wealth in non-fiat assets) and the middle and lower classes.”
― Oliver DeMille, 1913

“The mentor who shares her love for learning and willingness to submit to the labor that is the process of acquiring mastery, will communicate the value of persevering through difficulties and trusting that ignorance and confusion must ultimately give way to knowledge and understanding. In fact, education is very simple. Teachers set the example by reading, pondering, writing, and discussing the classics, sharing their loves, interests and ideas with students. Students get inspired, go to work, find the study difficult, and go back to the teacher for encouragement. When they get it, they return to the difficult process of learning. Learning is difficult, but the process is not complex.”
― Oliver DeMille, A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-First Century

“We want something we can detect and observe, but can’t objectively measure, and we use objective measures that consistently extinguish the spark.”
― Oliver DeMille, The Student Whisperer

“The fundamental root cause of American educational failure is the myth that it is possible for one human being to educate another. It's not. Every human being learns exactly as much as he or she chooses to learn. We can increase opportunity, incentive, motivation, and improve the environment, the materials, the resources - but ultimately students must choose to learn, or they won't. The role of the teacher is to inspire.”
― Oliver DeMille, A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-First Century

“Take the greatest ideas of humanity and apply them to self and society. Question, probe, ponder, think, discuss, write, apply. Push yourself as a mentor, so that you can push your students. This is the key to great mentoring - lead out by pushing yourself even harder than you push them And push them by requiring quality work, just like Wythe did with Jefferson.”
― Oliver DeMille, A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-First Century

“The solution to American's educational dilemma is to get students to voluntarily and passionately study hard, because it is what they choose. The only way to get such students is to give great teachers the freedom to excel and inspire.”
― Oliver DeMille, A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-First Century

“Leaders are readers. This is true in business, in many areas of society, and certainly for citizens of nations that remain free. Leaders are readers, and leaders are also independent and innovative thinkers.”
― Oliver DeMille, 1913

“The only person who can fix education is the student.”
― Oliver DeMille, A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-First Century

“It is said that when God wants to change the world, he sends a baby - perfectly timed to grow, learn, prepare, and then take action at the right moment.

But there are times when one baby won't suffice, when the challenges facing the world are just to great; and so instead of a great reformer or a few key thinkers, what is needed is a whole generation of leaders.

This happened in the sixth century B. C., and in the first decade of the Common Era, then again in the American Founding Generation.

We believe it is happening again today...”
― Oliver DeMille, Thomas Jefferson Education for Teens

“To achieve truly excellent education, keep it simple: Read, Write, do Projects, and Discuss. The more complex our national curriculum has become, the less educated our society.”
― Oliver DeMille, A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-First Century