The obligation to amuse and instruct myself was entirely my own, and people who didn't know that were childish people, to be avoided if possible. Certainly not to be trusted.

Child labor becomes a label of condemnation in spite of its ancient function as the quickest, most reliable way to human independence

Why are you so docile when you give up your child to a government agent called a schoolteacher?

There isn't a right way to become educated; there are as many ways as there are fingerprints.

Is there an idea more radical in the history of the human race than turning your children over to total strangers whom you know nothing about, and having those strangers work on your child's mind, out of your sight, for a period of twelve years? Could there be a more radical idea than that? Back in Colonial days in America, if you proposed that kind of idea, they'd burn you at the stake, you mad person! It's a mad idea!

Schools teach exactly what they are intended to teach and they do it well: how to be a good Egyptian and remain in your place in the pyramid.

Genius is an exceedingly common human quality, probably natural to most of us.