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Quote by Lyndon B. Johnson

Work

Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965

The book serves as a comprehensive archive of the official documents and remarks made by President Lyndon B. Johnson during his term in office, providing insight into his administration's policies and priorities. more

Author

Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson

Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th President of the United States, served from 1963 to 1969. He assumed the presidency following the assassination of John F. Kennedy and is known for his 'Great Society' programs aimed at reducing poverty and racial injustice. more

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“Way back last summer I asked some of the most outstanding educational minds in this Nation to tackle this problem. I gave them a single instruction: find out how we can best invest each education dollar so that it will do the most good. Your support and the support of every leading education group proves that they did their job better than I had hoped, because for the first time we have succeeded in finding goals which unite us rather than divide us.”

“We decided that our first job was to help the schools serving the children from the very lowest income groups. Those families constitute the number one burden, the number one burden in this Nation on the school systems.”

“We know that they cannot bear their share of the taxes to help pay for their education. And unless those children get a good education we know that they become dropouts and they become delinquents and they become taxeaters instead of taxpayers. We know that they will join the unemployed. That is why we put top priority on breaking the vicious cycle that today threatens the future of 5 million children in this great land of opportunity which we talk about so much.”

“Most of all we need an education which will create an educated mind. This is a mind not simply a repository of information and skills, but a mind that is a source of creative skepticism, characterized by a willingness to challenge old assumptions and to be challenged, a spaciousness of outlook, and convictions that are deeply held, but which new facts and new experiences can always modify.”

“It means an educational system which does not simply equip the students to adjust to society, but which enables the student to challenge and to modify, and at times reject, if necessary, the received wisdom of his elders.”

“For it was only after I could become President of this country that I could really see in all its hopeful and troubling implications just how much the hopes of our citizens and the security of our Nation and the real strength of our democracy depended upon the learning and the understanding of our people.”