Our List – 94 of the Best Teacher Quotes

Find a Great Teacher QuoteQuotes like these are the inspiration for giveaways like our $2,500 Academic Award! If you could use some extra cash for your classroom, click here to enter!

Our job is to teach the student we have. Not the ones we would like to have. Not the ones we used to have. Those we have right now. All of them. –Dr. Kevin Maxwell

Children will not remember you for the material things you provided but for the feeling that you cherished them. – Richard L. Evans

Children must be taught how to think, not what to think. –Margaret Mead

The self taught man seldom knows anything accurately, and he does not know a tenth as much as he could have known if he had worked under teachers.  -Mark Twain

Be curious, not judgmental. -Walt Whitman

A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge. -George R.R. Martin

Children’s talent to endure stems from their ignorance of alternatives. -Maya Angelou

Your education is worth what Your are worth. -Anon

You must master a new way to think before you can master a new way to be. -Marianne Williamson

Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers. -Charles William Eliot

From kindergarten to college, certain teachers engaged my curiosity and motivated me to learn. While I was not the best student, their efforts left a lasting impact. -George Lucas

Those who educate children well are more to be honored than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well. –Aristotle

Don’t try to fix the students, fix ourselves first.  The good teacher makes the poor student good and the good student superior.  When our students fail, we as teacher,  t0o, have  failed. -Marva Collins

Children today are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble their food, and tyrannize their teachers. —attributed to Socrates

What nobler employment, or more valuable to the state, than that of the man who instructs the rising generation. -Marcus Tullius Cicero

We teachers are rather good at magic, you know. -J.K. Rowling

True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.  –Socrates

It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge. -Einstein

If you employed study, thinking, and planning time daily, you could develop and use the power that can change the course of your destiny.  -W. Clement Stone

You cant scare me. I teach.

You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother.  -Albert Einstein

Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn and you will. -Vernon Howard

Wisdom is the lesson learned, applied. –Rick Beneteau

Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important. -Bill Gates

If someone is going down the wrong road, he doesn’t need motivation to speed him up. What he needs is education to turn him around. -Jim Rohn

Learning is not compulsory but neither is survival.  -W. Edwards Deming

We are giving some lucky educators a $2,500 academic award!
If you could use some extra cash for your classroom, click here to enter!

Even More Popular Teacher Quotes Below

Imagination decides everything.   -Blaise Pascal

The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you. –BB King

Children are remarkable for their intelligence and ardour, for their curiosity and tolerance of shams, the clarity and ruthlessness of their vision. -Aldous Huxley

To nourish and raise children against odds is in any time, any place, more valuable than to fix bolts in cars or design nuclear weapons. –Marilyn French

If you would thoroughly know anything, teach it to others. –Tyron Edwards

He is to be educated not because he’s to make shoes, nails, and pins, but because he is a man. -William Ellery Channing

The scientific mind does not so much provide the right answers as ask the right questions. –Claude Levi-Strauss

Nothing will stop you being creative so effectively as the fear of making a mistake. -John Cleese

Poor is the pupil who does not surpass his master. -Leonardo da Vinci

A good teacher is like a candle-  it comsumes itself to light the way for others. -Unknown

What is done to children, they will do to society. -Karl Menninger

Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army. -Edward Everett

The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery. -Mark Van Doren

The only reason I always try to meet and know the parents better is because it helps me to forgive their children.  -Louise Johannot

Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another. -Gilbert K. Chesterton

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.  -William Butlet Yeats

My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. -Maya Angelou

The school is the last expenditure upon which America should be willing to economize. -Franklin D. Roosevelt

He who opens a school door, closes a prison. -Victor Hugo

In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day’s work. It is invisible and remains so, maybe for twenty years. -Jacques Barzun

The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called “truth.” -Dan Rather

If a doctor, lawyer, or dentist had 40 people in his office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and some of whom didn’t want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer, or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom teacher’s job. -Donald D. Quinn

Modern cynics and skeptics… see no harm in paying those to whom they entrust the minds of their children a smaller wage than is paid to those to whom they entrust the care of their plumbing. -John F. Kennedy

Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater. –Gail Godwin

Most teachers have little control over school policy or curriculum or choice of texts or special placement of students, but most have a great deal of autonomy inside the classroom. To a degree shared by only a few other occupations, such as police work, public education rests precariously on the skill and virtue of the people at the bottom of the institutional pyramid. -Tracy Kidder

A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops. -Henry Brooks Adams

If you have knowledge, let others light their candles at it. –Margaret Fuller

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. -William Arthur Ward

What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches. -Karl Menninger

Teachers who inspire know that teaching is like cultivating a garden, and those who would have nothing to do with thorns must never attempt to gather flowers. 

The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind. -Kahlil Gibran

To teach is to learn twice. -Joseph Joubert, Pensées, 1842

Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource. -John F. Kennedy

Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation. -John F. Kennedy

I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well. -Alexander the Great

We are giving some lucky educators a $2,500 academic award!
If you could use some extra cash for your classroom, click here to enter!

The very spring and root of honesty and virtue lie in good education. –Plutarch

“The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.”  -Khalil Gibran

Teachers are expected to reach unattainable goals with inadequate tools. The miracle is that at times they accomplish this impossible task. —Haim Ginott

Teachers are the only professionals who have to respond to bells every forty-five minutes and come out fighting. —Frank McCourt

Teaching is not a lost art, but the regard for it is a lost tradition. —Jacques Martin Barzun

There is no recipe to be a great teacher, that’s what is unique about them. -Robert Sternberg

I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. — John Steinbeck

I got into acting because my teachers kept nudging me into it. The power a teacher has to influence someone is so great. I can’t think of a profession I have more respect for. — Jon Hamm

In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less. -Lee Iacocc

The need to be right all the time is the biggest bar to new ideas. It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong than to be always right by having no ideas at all. –Edward de Bour

Imagination is the only limit to what we can hope to have in the future. -Charles F. Kettering

Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or self-confidence. – Robert Frost

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. –Einstein

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. -Aristotle

Children will not remember you for the material things you provided. But for the feeling that you cherished them. -Richard L Evans

Creativity is intelligence having fun. -Einstein

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. -Frederick Douglass

There is no greater gift you can give or receive than to honor your calling. It’s why you were born. And how you become most truly alive. –Oprah

If you cant explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough. –Einstein

Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself. -Rumi

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. –Aristotle

Every student can learn, just not on the same day, or in the same way. -George Evans

Take the attitude of a student, never be too big to ask questions, never know too much to learn something new. -Og Mandino

Tell if you know, ask if you don’t. -Duane Alan Hahn

Who dares to teach must never cease to learn. -John Cotton Dana

Life affords no greater responsibility, no greater privilege, than the raising of the next generation. –Everett Coop

It is only the ignorant who despise education. –Publilius Syrus

You can’t learn less. –Buckminster Fuller

Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself. -John Dewey

Education, therefore, is a process of living and not a preparation for future living. -John Dewey

I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn’t learn something from him. -Galileo Galilei

You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother. -Albert Einstein

There is only one way… to get anybody to do anything. And that is by making the other person want to do it. –Dale Carnegie

Teacher Appreciation Week

May 6-12 is…

National Teacher Appreciation Week!

To celebrate, we’re digging around for some of the best education-related stuff we’ve seen. Check here as the week goes by for some of our favorite education stories, videos, quotes and resources.

To kick things off, check out one of the best homages to teaching that I’ve ever seen. Click on the TED talk below to watch.

 

____________

‘I am a teacher. I am not extraordinary. It is my job that is extraordinary. It is my students who are extraordinary.’

Check out one Chicago teacher’s reflections on what makes her job so great: her students. Read the full article here.

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Teaching is an art.

Teacher Day_____________

Our job is to teach the student we have. Not the ones we would like to have. Not the ones we used to have. Those we have right now. All of them.

–Dr Kevin Maxwell

 

CalCas Corner: 2013 New Inductees to National Teachers Hall of Fame

“At the heart of a democracy is its educational system, and in the heart of America is The National Teachers Hall of Fame.” -President Bill Clinton, 1993

Located in Emporia, Kansas, the National Teacher Hall of Fame was founded in 1989. Its mission? To recognize and honor exceptional career teachers, encourage excellence in teaching, and preserve the rich heritage of the teaching profession in the United States. In its humble way, the Hall of Fame is about the things teachers do every single day that shape our minds from preschool all the way to higher education.

If the famous John Dewey quote is true, and “education is life itself,” then how do we appreciate the people who make up our education system? That’s what the Hall of Fame aims to do.  Every year, the Hall announces 5 New Inductees. Members of the California Casualty team were honored to be a part of ceremonies recognizing these teachers on April 9th. They will be inducted on June 14th. A big congratulations to the 2013 Inductees!

The 2013 New Inductees to the National Teachers Hall of Fame:

Deborah Cornelison 9th grade Physical Science, Byng Junior High, Ada Oklahoma

Rebecca Gault 6th grade Language Arts, Bel Air Middle School, Bel Air, Maryland

Darryl Johnson 10-12th grade English/ Language Arts, Smithville High School, Smithville, Missouri

Martha McLeod 5th grade Science Lab instructor/ Subject area coordinator, Fulton 4-5 Learning Center, Rockport, Texas

Beth Vernon 8th grade Earth and Space Science, Brittany Hill Middle School, Blue Springs, Missouri

Learn more about the Hall of Fame by clicking here.

California Casualty is a proud Gold Level Sponsor of the National Teachers Hall of Fame.

April Nominate a Hero Finalists!

Please note – we’ve changed the voting requirements this month. In order to vote, you’ll have to create an account and log in to vote. Once you register, you’ll be taken directly to the voting page.

Click here register to cast your vote for April’s Hero of the Month!

Don’t want to register? You can still see the voting results – just click here.

Name: Jeff B.
Profession: Volunteer Firefighter/EMT

Jeff BurkeIn 2012, Jeff responded to a medical emergency. As the 34-year volunteer Firefighter and EMT loaded his patient into an ambulance, a nearby fire truck popped out of gear and started to roll. As the truck came towards them both, Jeff shoved his patient out of the way- saving her life as he took the entire brunt of the impact.  The force of the hit pinned Jeff between the vehicles, breaking both femurs, two bones in one shin and his pelvis in two spots. After several surgeries and months of recovery, Jeff’s surgeon told him his injuries would prevent him from firefighting. He now continues to work full time as a director of sales.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgALcX84IpI

Name: Angela W.
Profession: EMT

Emergency Medical Technician Angela W. was diagnosed with an aggressive type of breast cancer on her birthday last year. Angela faced her diagnosis with bravery and determination, muscling through radiation and chemotherapy with resolve and an upbeat attitude. Angela even returned to work as an EMT while still undergoing treatment.  Some days, she would head to work for 12 or 24-hour shifts straight from radiation therapy. Now a breast cancer survivor, Angela thanks her immediate family and her EMS family for their support and encouragement during her recovery.

Angela Wade

Name: September S.
Profession: Registered Nurse

September is a registered nurse raising three children while her husband is deployed in Afghanistan.  As her husband puts it, “If superwoman did exist on this planet, her alter ego is September.” Watch the video below to hear directly from him what makes this Nurse such a hero:

Name: Steve H.
Profession: Educator

Steve is a Special Ed Behavioral Disorders teacher working with students of all ages. His coworkers describe Steve’s effect on his students as ‘amazing.’ Fellow teachers point out that his students are prepared and confident after his classes. They note the ‘happy changes’ that Steve helps his students make- changes that stay with them long after they have left his classroom. Steve not only teaches his students, he strives to make them feel important and needed. Outside of the classroom, Steve and his wife train guide dogs for the blind. So far, they have trained ten dogs- all of whom graduated on to the next level of training!

Name: Michael D.
Profession: Law Enforcement

In September 2012, San Diego County Sheriff’s Deputies were attempting to arrest a suspect when the suspect began shooting a high-powered rifle from a 2nd story window- hitting and wounding two officers. Off-duty SWAT Officer DeWitt, a member of the department’s Gang Suppression Team, happened to be driving by the scene in his SWAT vehicle when he noticed the disturbance. He immediately donned his vest, armed himself, and offered his service.  Upon learning that an injured officer was still in the line of fire, DeWitt assembled a team, gave assignments, and proceeded in to retrieve the officer. The team reached the wounded officer, but realizing they were moving too slow, Officer DeWitt slung his weapon over his back–foregoing his own safety– to give full physical assistance and lessen the team’s time in the line of fire. While the team used DeWitt’s first aid kit to attend to the officer’s injuries, DeWitt noticed a woman and two small children running from the apartment complex in panic. Realizing that they were running into the line of fire, DeWitt left his position of safety to run and pick up one child as the woman carried the other to safety. DeWitt then returned to the apartment complex to make sure the second wounded officer was being cared for.  He was nominated by his fellow law enforcement officers who note his extreme bravery, leadership, and judgment skills.

Officer Dewitt after the incident

Officer Dewitt after the incident

Click here register to cast your vote for April’s Hero of the Month!

Don’t want to register? You can still see the voting results – just click here.

 

 

California Casualty Scores Big for 13 California High Schools

Thirteen California high schools have received grants for their athletics programs, thanks to the California Casualty Thomas R. Brown Athletics Grant initiative. They are among 85 high schools in 38 states receiving a total of $101,500 for struggling athletics programs.

Budget cuts have affected most of these schools. Many of them – rural, urban and suburban – have populations with a majority of the students coming from low-income households, where just keeping food on the table is difficult. There’s no household budget for uniforms, transportation or participation fees. In many of their communities, high school is their only access to team athletics; there are no local club or recreational opportunities. Despite the challenges, some school athletic programs have enacted “no cut” policies so that anyone who wishes can participate, or started up a team when none had existed for decades, or simply learned to make do with substandard or non-existent facilities. Some of their teams face shut-down because their equipment doesn’t meet current day safety standards. Many have fielded state champions and all have recognized the tangible and intangible interplay between athletic participation and academic success. For the first time in its history, an alternative high school introduced sports and saw its students’ grades, behavior and attendance soar.

The Thomas R. Brown Athletics Grant will help each of these 13 schools in purchasing new equipment and uniforms, or by providing funds for transportation, or covering a variety of costs for students who could not otherwise afford to participate.

Grants were made to: Buena Park High School; Centennial High School (Compton); Chico High School; Covina High School; Donald Jamison High School (Lemoore); Galileo Academy of Science and Technology (San Francisco); Leuzinger High School (Lawndale); Livermore High School; Loara High School (Anaheim); Lone Pine High School; Mountain Empire High School (Pine Valley); San Bernardino High School; and Shandon High School.

Shrinking state education budgets, pressure on schools to focus efforts on academics, and diminishing funds for athletics inspired California Casualty Chairman and CEO Beau Brown to establish the grant program in honor of his father – Chairman Emeritus Tom Brown, a lifelong athlete and sportsman. The senior Brown experienced firsthand the complementary relationship between athletics and academics.

For more information about the Thomas R. Brown Athletics Grant program, visit www.CalCasAthleticsGrant.com.

California Casualty has been CTA’s trusted source for home and auto insurance products for more than 60 years. Headquartered in San Mateo, CA, with Service Centers in Arizona, Colorado and Kansas, California Casualty is a 99-year-old company providing auto and home insurance products to educators, law enforcement, firefighters and nurses in 44 states.  Learn more at www.calcas.com.