35 Horace Mann Quotes On Children, Education & More
Last updated on January 8th, 2024 at 10:55 am
“School hallway library, with Horace Mann bust” by “Boston City Archives“, licensed under CC BY 2.0
Horace Mann was an American educational reformer, who was born in Massachusetts in 1796, grew up in squalor, and though he received little education. He did, however, educate himself in the Franklin public library.
He subsequently spent some time in Wrentham, Massachusetts, studying law and tutoring Latin and Greek. Mann enrolled at Brown University in Rhode Island at the age of 20, where he developed a strong interest in education, politics, and social reform.
He went on to become a well-known American educator and activist. Horace Mann was instrumental in establishing teacher training institutes in the United States, allowing women to enter the field of “teaching.” He also segregated religion from education to achieve systemic secularism. Most of his reforms were initially opposed by the public, but they were eventually accepted and welcomed by all.
From 1827 to 1833, he was a Massachusetts House of Representatives member. From 1834 to 1837, he was a member of the Massachusetts Senate. In 1848, Horace Mann was elected to the United States Congress, where he was a vocal opponent of slavery and considered it the worst evil.
Check out this collection of Horace Mann quotes.
Horace Mann Education Quotes
Horace Mann is regarded as the Father of American Education because he was one of the greatest educational reformers in history, bringing about change for the welfare of children and society. He did everything he could to ensure that all pupils received an equal education. Read these Horace Mann education quotes about the importance and value of schooling and tutoring.
“A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron.”
HORACE MANN
SOURCE: ANNUAL REPORTS ON EDUCATION
“School is the cheapest police.”
HORACE MANN
“Education is our only political safety. Outside of this ark all is deluge.”
HORACE MANN
SOURCE: THOUGHTS
“Schoolhouses are the republican line of fortifications.”
HORACE MANN
SOURCE: THE COMMON SCHOOL JOURNAL
“When you introduce into our schools a spirit of emulation, you have present the keenest spur admissible to the youthful intellect.”
HORACE MANN
“Education alone can conduct us to that enjoyment which is, at once, best in quality and infinite in quantity.”
HORACE MANN
SOURCE: LECTURE ON EDUCATION
“Public Education is the cornerstone of our community and our democracy.”
HORACE MANN
“I hold Education to be an organic necessity of a human being.”
HORACE MANN
“Every addition to true knowledge is an addition to human power.”
HORACE MANN
“Education must bring the practice as nearly as possible to the theory. As the children now are, so will the sovereigns soon be.”
HORACE MANN
“As an apple is not in any proper sense an apple until it is ripe, so a human being is not in any proper sense a human being until he is educated.”
HORACE MANN
“The education already given to the people creates the necessity of giving them more.”
HORACE MANN
Horace Mann Quotes On Children
Due to his poverty as the son of a farmer, Horace Mann did not acquire adequate education during his infancy. It was a crucial influence in his promotion of the idea that the state had a duty to ensure that children from all backgrounds receive an equitable and fair education. Here is a collection of Horace Mann quotes on children.
“Seek not greatness, but seek truth and you will find both.”
HORACE MANN
“When the panting and thirsting soul first drinks the delicious waters of truth, when the moral and intellectual tastes and desires first seize the fragrant fruits that flourish in the garden of knowledge, then does the child catch a glimpse and foretaste of heaven.”
HORACE MANN
SOURCE: SLAVERY
“In trying to teach children a great deal in a short time, they are treated not as though the race they were to run was for life, but simply a three-mile heat.”
HORACE MANN
SOURCE: THOUGHTS
“Manners easily and rapidly mature into morals.”
HORACE MANN
“Teaching young people is what they do best. It requires long hours, patience and care.”
HORACE MANN
“No man has the right to bring up children without surrounding them with books.”
HORACE MANN
“The Chinese have an excellent proverb: ‘Be modest in speech, but excel in action’.”
HORACE MANN
“There may be frugality which is not economy. A community, that withholds the means of education from its children, withholds the bread of life and starves their souls.”
HORACE MANN
“After a child has arrived at the legal age for attending school,-whether he be the child of noble or of peasant,-the only two absolute grounds of exemption from attendance are sickness and death.”
HORACE MANN
“When will society, like a mother, take care of all her children?”
HORACE MANN
Horace Mann Inspirational Quotes
Mann was a driving force behind critical educational reforms in the United States, which later expanded worldwide. His life has been truly inspiring in all sense. From being poverty-ridden to being elected to US Congress, he triumphed in life in an absolute sense. Here are a few of his most well-known Horace Mann inspirational quotes.
“Let us not be content to wait and see what will happen, but give us the determination to make the right things happen.”
HORACE MANN
“Injustice alone can shake down the pillars of the skies, and restore the reign of Chaos and Night.”
HORACE MANN
SOURCE: A FEW THOUGHTS FOR A YOUNG MAN
“Jails and prisons are the complement of schools; so many less as you have of the latter, so many more must you have of the former.”
HORACE MANN
Horace Mann Truth Quotes
It is always better, to tell the truth! Even if it isn’t always what they want to hear, people prefer honesty. To be honest, you need courage and strength. Horace Mann was a man of honesty. He was criticized for his harsh takes and honest opinions. But regardless of anything, he continued to strive for truth. Here are some Horace Mann truth quotes.
SOURCE: EXCELLENT QUOTATIONS FOR HOME AND SCHOOL
“Scientific truth is marvelous, but moral truth is divine and whoever breathes its air and walks by its light has found the lost paradise.”
HORACE MANN
“Bodies are cleansed by water; the mind is purified by truth.”
HORACE MANN
“You need not tell all the truth, unless to those who have a right to know it; but let all you tell be truth.”
HORACE MANN
“Spurn not at seeming error, but dig below its surface for the truth; And beware of seeming truths that grow on the roots of error.”
HORACE MANN
“New constellations of truth are daily discovered in the firmament of knowledge, and new stars are daily shining forth in each constellation.”
HORACE MANN
Mann earned strong support for public schools from modernizers, particularly the Whig Party, by arguing that universal public education was the best way to turn rowdy American youngsters into disciplined, judicious republican citizens. Most states in the United States adopted a variant of Mann’s Massachusetts system, particularly the program for regular schools to prepare professional teachers. Mann conducted teacher conventions, gave numerous lectures and addresses, had a significant correspondence, and implemented numerous reforms as Secretary of Education.
Which one of these Horace Mann quotes had a more profound impact on your mind?
You can also check out 25 Inspirational Shirley Chisholm Quotes On Women & More.
Curated by: Divya Singh
Nitesh Kucchal
Nitesh Kuchhal, an IIM Calcutta graduate, is more than an educator—he's a mentor. With a passion for leadership and entrepreneurship, and travel. He has explored over 20 countries. Beyond teaching, he dives into psychology and discusses social issues. Though he is not a history expert, he enjoys learning about it through books, adding a historical touch to his many interests.
