“I am not fully informed of the practices at Harvard, but there is one from which we shall certainly vary, although it has been copied, I believe, by nearly every college and academy in the United States. That is, the holding the students all to one prescribed course of reading, and disallowing exclusive application to those branches only which are to qualify them for the particular vocations to which they are destined. We shall, on the contrary, allow them uncontrolled choice in the lectures they shall choose to attend, and require elementary qualification only, and sufficient age.” BelieveHas BeensStatesAgeChoicesCoursesReadingI BelieveUnitedEducationKnowledgePracticeUnited StatesLearningStudentsCollegeParticularAuthorityContrarySufficientBranchesApplicationDestinedVocationExclusiveLecturesAcademyVaryHarvardQualificationsFree Thought Book:Thomas Jefferson: A Chronology of His Thoughts Source: Thomas Jefferson: A Chronology of His Thoughts
“I believe the alphabet is no longer considered an essential piece of equipment for traveling through life. In my day it was the keystone to knowledge. You learned the alphabet as you learned to count to ten, as you learned "Now I lay me" and the Lord's Prayer and your father's and mother's name and address and telephone number, all in case you were lost.” BelieveMotherFatherNamesLostI BelievePrayerNumbersLordKnowledgeCasesPiecesTenEssentialsLaysAddressesEquipmentTelephonesAlphabetKeystones Book:One Writer's Beginnings Source: One Writer's Beginnings