“Nothing in education is so astonishing as the amount of ignorance it accumulates in the form of inert facts.”

— Henry Adams, The Education of Henry Adams (1907)

About Henry Adams

1838 – 1918

American historian and writer, author of 'The Education of Henry Adams', which won the Pulitzer Prize after his death.

“Friends are born, not made.”

“One friend in a lifetime is much; two are many; three are hardly possible.”

“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.”

“Men are born ignorant, not stupid; they are made stupid by education.”

“Learning without thought is labour lost; thought without learning is perilous.”

“Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education; in the elder, a part of experience.”

“Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned.”

“We learn our lessons, not for life, but for the lecture room.”

“One day I would be a better hand at the game. One day I would learn how to laugh.”