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Frank Smith

Frank Smith Quotes

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Famous Frank Smith Quotes

“It is a libel to suggest that children need rewards for attending to tasks, apart from intrinsic interest and satisfaction. Children work very hard in their purposeful endeavors in the world, when they have ends they want to accomplish themselves. It is meaningless teaching, not learning, that demands irrelevant incentives.”

WorldWantNeedsChildrenEndsHardInterestTeachingDemandTasksRewardsSatisfactionAccomplishEndeavorMeaninglessIrrelevantIncentivesAttendingLibel
Author:Frank Smith
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“Uses are always much broader than functions, and usually far less contentious. The word function carries overtones of purpose andpropriety, of concern with why something was developed rather than with how it has actually been found useful. The function of automobiles is to transport people and objects, but they are used for a variety of other purposes--as homes, offices, bedrooms, henhouses, jetties, breakwaters, even offensive weapons.”

PeopleUseHomeUsedPurposeFoundObjectsOfficeWeaponsConcernFunctionVarietyCarrieBedroomOffensiveAutomobileTransportContentiousHome OfficeJetty
Book:To Think: In Language, Learning and Education
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“It is difficult to distinguish deduction from what in other circumstances is called problem-solving. And concept learning, inference, and reasoning by analogy are all instances of inductive reasoning. (Detectives typically induce, rather than deduce.) None of these things can be done separately from each other, or from anything else. They are pseudo-categories.”

DoneProblemDifficultCircumstancesConceptsInstanceReasoningCategoriesProblem SolvingDetectivesAnalogiesPseudoDeductionsInference
Book:To Think: In Language, Learning and Education
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“Thoughts are created in the act of writing. [It is a myth that] you must have something to say in order to write. Reality: You often need to write in order to have anything to say. Thought comes with writing, and writing may never come if it is postponed until we are satisfied that we have something to say...The assertion of write first, see what you had to say later applies to all manifestations of written language, to letters...as well as to diaries and journals”

IfsNeedsWritingFirstsWellsMayRealityOrderLanguageWrittenLettersMythSatisfiedManifestationJournalDiariesAssertionWritten Language
Author:Frank Smith
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“Writing is for stories to be read, books to be published, poems to be recited, plays to be acted, songs to be sung, newspapers to be shared, letters to be mailed, jokes to be told, notes to be passed, recipes to be cooked, messages to be exchanged, memos to be circulated, announcements to be posted, bills to be collected, posters to be displayed and diaries to be concealed. Writing is for ideas, action, reflection, and experience. It is not for having your ignorance exposed, your sensitivity destroyed, or your ability assessed.”

WritingBookIdeasPlayStoriesActionSongAbilityIgnoranceMessagesJokesReflectionLettersBillsNotesNewspapersDestroyedExposedSensitivityRecipesDiariesConcealedPostersAnnouncementsMemos
Author:Frank Smith
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“It is infinitely more useful for a child to hear a story told by a person than by computer. Because the greatest part of the learning experience lies not in the particular words of the story but in the involvement with the individual reading it.”

ChildrenPersonsStoriesLyingReadingIndividualFamilyParticularComputerInvolvementLearning Experience
Book:Insult to Intelligence: The Bureaucratic Invasion of Our Classroom
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