The roots of education are bitter...

It is the spring time of the year when kings go off to war and students leave their institutions of matriculation. Instead of imparting congratulatory remarks to those graduating this year I would like to provide you with a few quotations. Even if your graduation has long past, take a moment to reflect on wise words from our society’s brightest.

“Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams” – Eleanor Roosevelt

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” – Henry David Thoreau

“All our dreams can come true…if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney

“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” – Milton Berle

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.” – Dr. Seuss

Will to Power

“On the mountains of truth you can never climb in vain: either you will reach a point higher up today, or you will be training your powers so that you will be able to climb higher tomorrow.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche

You know what they say...

Everyone knows that boys are better than girls at math, that spicy foods will cause a pregnant woman to bare a son, and that lemmings drown themselves en masse. Likewise, we all believe that strange things happen during a full moon, that people become more conservative as they get older, and that stomach cramps will sink a swimmer who goes in the water too soon after eating. The only trouble with all this common knowledge is that it's wrong. Rarely, in fact, do we bother to question what "everyone knows," let alone check whether common beliefs are supported by good research.

I was raised to be a free thinker. To be unbounded in a world of accepted commonality. If you really want to honk me off, just start a sentence with “You know, they say that…..” Who are they? Why do they say what they say? And why should I believe you for simply telling me what they say.

These sayings of common knowledge are misleading and dangerous. Argumentum ad populum (appealing to the people) is a fallacy that leads to people taking something as a hard fact just because enough people have said the same. Some of these sayings are harmless: “You know what they say about big feet…” But others do nothing but spread disinformation and prejudice. It was Voltaire who said, “Common knowledge is not so common.”

Common sense quotations have become a part of our American folk wisdom. I’m sure that there is a grain of truth buried somewhere in the long history of most folk wisdom sayings. Some even come from well rooted English histories. For example, it was Shakespeare’s King Richard III who said that only the good die young. Well, that is not entirely accurate. King Richard III said, “So wise so young, they say do never live long.”

I encourage you to always do your own research, seek facts for yourself, and never accept the common. Discover for yourself! After all…they say that “Knowledge is power.”

1) “Knowledge is Power” is attributed to which English philosopher?

2) What are some of your favorite “They say” sayings?