And that’s it; that’s why I want to teach; that’s the one and only compensation: to make a permanent difference in the life of a child.
BEL KAUFMANI’ll never retire as long as I live—that’s like retiring from life! I’ll never stop writing, teaching, lecturing. If you’re in good health, living is exciting on its own.
More Bel Kaufman Quotes
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Learning is a process of mutual discovery for teacher and pupil. Keep an open mind to their unexpected responses.
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Mythology is studied in the school system because most of us come from it.
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“Language Arts Dept.” is the English office; “literature based on child’s reading level and experiential background” means that’s all they’ve got in the Book Room; “non-academic-minded” is a delinquent; and “It has come to my attention” means you’re in trouble.
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… good teachers, like Tolstoy’s happy families, are alike everywhere.
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To the young, cliches seem freshly minted.
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Time collapses and expands like an erratic accordion.
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When giving comes directly from the heart, it can never disappoint or embarrass.
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To the outside world, of course, this job is a cinch: 9 to 3, five days a week, two months’ summer vacation with pay, all legal holidays, prestige and respect.
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I so enjoy being old because for the first time I don’t have to do anything-work, teach, study. I feel very good about myself-and at my age I can say no to anything now if I don’t want to do it. What a liberating word.
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Education can’t make us all leaders, but it can teach us which leader to follow.
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I like the word OLD. Not senior, that’s for proms. Older? Older than whom? ‘Old’ is honorable and ripe
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You can’t laugh and be angry, you can’t laugh and feel sad, you can’t laugh and feel envious.
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Never mind the cream; it will always rise to the top. It’s the skim milk that needs good teachers.
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I want to point the way to something that should forever lure them, when the TV set is broken and the movie is over and the school bell has rung for the last time.
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A teacher is frequently the only adult in the pupil’s environment who treats him with respect.
BEL KAUFMAN