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John Dewey

John Dewey Quotes

Philosopher

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Famous John Dewey Quotes

“Intelligent thinking means an increment of freedom in action-an emancipation from chance and fatality. 'Thought' represents the suggestion of a way of response that is different from that which would have been followed if intelligent observation had not effected an inference as to the future.”

IfsThinkingWayMeanHas BeensDifferentActionChanceIntelligentResponseObservationSuggestionsEmancipationInferenceFatality
Book:The Middle Works, 1899-1924: 1920
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“When we consider the close connection between science and industrial development on the one hand, and between literary and aesthetic cultivation and an aristocratic social organization on the other, we get light on the opposition between technical scientific studies and refining literary studies. We have before us the need of overcoming this separation in education if society is to be truly democratic.”

IfsNeedsHandsLightSocialStudyDevelopmentConnectionsOrganizationOvercomingDemocraticSeparationOppositionAestheticCultivationRefiningAristocraticSocial Organization
Book:Democracy And Education
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“While the living thing may easily be crushed by superior force, it none the less tries to turn the energies which act upon it into means of its own further existence. If it cannot do so, it does not just split into smaller pieces (at least in the higher forms of life), but loses its identity as a living thing.”

IfsTryingMayMeanDoeFormTurnsEnergyForceLosesExistencePiecesIdentityHigherSuperiorsSplitsLiving ThingsCrushed
Book:Democracy And Education
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“Even in a savage tribe, the achievements of adults are far beyond what the immature members would be capable of if left to themselves. With the growth of civilization, the gap between the original capacities of the immature and the standards and customs of the elders increases.”

IfsWould BeLeftGrowthCivilizationMembersAchievementCapableStandardsAdultsCapacityIncreaseOriginalsCustomsGapsSavagesTribesEldersImmature
Book:Democracy and Education - An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education
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“The parts of a machine work with a maximum of cooperativeness for a common result, but they do not form a community. If, however, they were all cognizant of the common end and all interested in it so that they regulated their specific activity in view of it, then they would form a community. But this would involve communication. Each would have to know what the other was about and would have to have some way of keeping the other informed as to his own purpose and progress.”

IfsKnowsWayEndsFormPurposeCommunityResultsViewsCommonProgressCommunicationActivityMachinesMaximumCognizant
Book:The Middle Works of John Dewey, 1899-1924, Volume 9: 1916, Democracy and Education
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“The importance of language in gaining knowledge is doubtless the chief cause of the common notion that knowledge may be passed directly from one to another. It almost seems as if all we have to do to convey an idea into the mind of another is to convey a sound into his ear. Thus imparting knowledge gets assimilated to a purely physical process.”

IfsMindMayIdeasSeemsLanguageCausesProcessSoundCommonEarsImportanceNotionChiefsGaining Knowledge
Book:Democracy And Education
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“If the eyes are open and there is light, seeing occurs; the stimulus is but a condition of the fulfillment of the proper function of the organ, not an outside interruption. To some extent, then, all direction or control is a guiding of activity to its own end; it is an assistance in doing fully what some organ is already tending to do.”

IfsEndsLightEyeSeeingConditionsActivityFunctionFulfillmentOrgansAssistanceStimulusInterruptions
Book:Democracy and Education: Top American Authors
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“Even when a person is frightened by threats into doing something, the threats work only because the person has an instinct of fear. If he has not, or if, though having it, it is under his own control, the threat has no more influence upon him than light has in causing a person to see who has no eyes.”

IfsPersonsLightEyeInfluenceThreatInstinctFrightened
Book:Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education
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“There is more than a verbal tie between the words common, community, and communication.... Try the experiment of communicating, with fullness and accuracy, some experience to another, especially if it be somewhat complicated, and you will find your own attitude toward your experience changing.”

IfsTryingLanguageCommunityCommonAttitudeCommunicationCommunicateComplicatedExperimentsDialogueTiesResolutionFullnessAccuracyWin WinVerbal Communication
Author:John Dewey
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