Sidney Hook Quotes & Sayings

“Everyone who remembers his own education remembers teachers, not methods and techniques. The teacher is the heart of the educational system.”

“Tolerance always has limits - it cannot tolerate what is itself actively intolerant.”

“Idealism, alas, does not protect one from ignorance, dogmatism, and foolishness.”

“Those who say that life is worth living at any cost have already written an epitaph of infamy, for there is no cause and no person that they will not betray to stay alive.”

“Fear of death has been the greatest ally of tyranny past and present.”

“To silence criticism is to silence freedom.”

“Students rarely disappoint teachers who assure them in advance that they are doomed to failure.”

“Wisdom is a kind of knowledge. It is knowledge of the nature, career, and consequences of human values.”

“Philosophy, most broadly viewed, is the critical survey of existence from the standpoint of value.”

“Before impugning an opponent's motives, even when they legitimately may be impugned, answer his arguments.”