Tuesday, June 16, 2009

the wise Bobby Frost

Today's Light A Fire quote of the day comes from one Robert Frost, who once said:

"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self confidence."

Really? He said that? I thought he was all about bent birches and rustic stone walls, and New England roads taken and not taken. But apparently he had some insight into some other arenas. I cannot picture a straight-up, pissed off Robert Frost, nor can I envision him diffident and unsure. I didn't realize he knew these qualities. But I suppose that he was human, at one time, after all.

This quotation makes me think of my students, a bunch of young fellows who are so prone to losing the above personality traits at the drop of a hat. I half wonder whether some of them have ever known what it feels like to be confident. I know they all think they're cool, but at what point does the adolescent male trade in cool for aplomb?

I can hear it now: "Yo, what the fuck is 'aplomb?'"

I shall print and post Bobby's quote in my classroom. We'll see who notices it. Thanks again to Barbara J. Feldman for distributing her Light A Fire daily educational quotations. You give me, and my students, plenty of food for thought. Here's the link to her page, once again:

http://www.lightafire.net

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