I had used my sense of humor; I had called it proportion, perspective. But perspective is distance.
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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Best marks go to cheaters and memorizers. Marks depend on memorizing and not on real knowledge. When you cram into your head for a test you may get a high mark but forget it the next day. That’s not an education.
BEL KAUFMAN -
Laughter keeps you healthy. You can survive by seeing the humor in everything. Thumb your nose at sadness; turn the tables on tragedy.
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Mythology is studied in the school system because most of us come from it.
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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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Education is not a product: mark, diploma, job, money-in that order; it is a process, a never-ending one.
BEL KAUFMAN -
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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When giving comes directly from the heart, it can never disappoint or embarrass.
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Time collapses and expands like an erratic accordion.
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Children are the true connoisseurs. What’s precious to them has no price, only value.
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A teacher is frequently the only adult in the pupil’s environment who treats him with respect.
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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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“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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To the young, cliches seem freshly minted.
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… good teachers, like Tolstoy’s happy families, are alike everywhere.
BEL KAUFMAN