Greatest Teachers Quotes & Sayings

I regard Heart-Master Adi Da as one of the greatest teachers in the Western world today. — Irina Tweedie

My mom was a teacher - I have the greatest respect for the profession - we need great teachers - not poor or mediocre ones. — Condoleezza Rice

It was near evening when he approached the village of Tully-Veolan, with feelings and sentiments how different from those which attended his first entrance. Then life was so new to him that a dull or disagreeable day was one of the greatest misfortunes which his imagination anticipated, and it seemed to him that his time ought only to be consecrated to elegant or amusing study, and relieved by lively society or youthful frolic. Now, how changed, how saddened, yet how elevated was his character, within the course of a very few months! Danger and misfortune are rapid, though severe teachers. 'A sadder and a wiser man,' he felt, in internal confidence and mental dignity, a compensation for the gay dreams which in his case experience had so rapidly dissolved. — Walter Scott

People are attracted to teaching because they want to make a real impact. The teachers who are making the greatest difference go far beyond meeting standardised test measures. They aspire to truly level the playing field for their students, which means inspiring a love of learning, fostering the highest levels of critical thinking, building perseverance in working towards academic excellence, and so on. — Wendy Kopp

One of the greatest tragedies of growing up is the discovery that your parents- and your teachers, and your sports heroes, and your favorite actors, singers, YouTube sensations- are fallible. Adults don't know all, and what they do know, they often won't tell you- because they've got their own agendas, or because they want to shield you from the hard truths "for your own good." Adults lie, they betray, they screw up in every way possible ... — Robin Wasserman

We are fortunate to have some of the greatest and best teachers in the world, but we want to make sure that those few that try to sneak through the system are caught in advance. — Jon Porter

The library connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully extracted from Nature, of the greatest minds that ever were, with the best teachers, drawn from the entire planet and from all our history, to instruct us without tiring, and to inspire us to make our own contribution to the collective knowledge of the human species. — Carl Sagan

I have been blessed to have had many excellent teachers. The further I get away from school, though, the more I realize that the greatest teachers in my life have come from outside of academia. — Brad Thor

Healing opportunities can be disguised as people who really piss you off. Pay attention because they could be your greatest teachers. — Gabrielle Bernstein

Once we begin to question our thoughts, our partners-alive, dead or divorced-are always our greatest teachers. There's no mistake about the person you're with; he or she is the perfect teacher for you, whether or not the relationship works out, and once you enter inquiry, you come to see that clearly. — Byron Katie

There are two things that make today the greatest entrepreneurial age: 1. We have access to teachers like never before. 2. You can start a business from home while still working at your job. — Robert T. Kiyosaki

I've often called mothers the greatest spiritual teachers in the world. — Oprah Winfrey

Sometimes the most difficult, horrific things can be the greatest spiritual teachers. — Cameron Mathison

I'm convinced that some of our greatest and most influential teachers show up in our lives disguised as people we resent or even despise. — Wayne Dyer

"I always read everything when I was a kid-and I do mean everything, from Nancy Drew to Dickens to my dad's John D. MacDonald-but then I went to regular school and the English teachers started telling me to read 'real' books, so I tried. And you know, I kinda went off reading for a while. I had already been reading literary novels and the classics mixed in with whatever else, but-" She waved a hand. "So I went back to reading whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted to-reading had been my greatest pleasure in all the world. I mean I never really watched all that much television, because we were moving around, never really had solid digs until I was thirteen, so reading was everything. — Barbara O'Neal

In many ways, 'What Teachers Make: In Praise of the Greatest Job in the World' is just one big thank-you note to my teachers. The book is dedicated to my fifth and sixth grade English teacher, Dr. Joseph D'Angelo, a massive force of erudition, martial artistry, culture, and love. — Taylor Mali

Transfer must be the aim of all teaching in school - it is not an option - because when we teach, we can address only a relatively small sample of the entire subject matter. All teachers have said to themselves after a lesson "Oh, if only we had more time! This is just a drop in the bucket!" We can never have enough time. Transfer is our greatest and most difficult mission because we need to put students in a position to learn far more, on their own, than they can ever learn from us. — Jay McTighe

Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the greatest teachers of our time. He reaches from the heights of insight down to the deepest places of the absolutely ordinary. — Robert Thurman

Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors. The library connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully extracted from Nature, of the greatest minds that ever were, with the best teachers, drawn from the entire planet and from all our history, to instruct us without tiring, and to inspire us to make our own contribution to the collective knowledge of the human species. I think the health of our civilization, the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture and our concern for the future can all be tested by how well we support our libraries. — Carl Sagan

It is vital that each sister have visiting teachers,to convey a sense that she is needed, that someone loves and thinks about her. But equally important is the way the visiting teacher is able to grow in charity. By assigning our women to do visiting teaching, we give them the opportunity to develop the pure love of Christ, which can be the greatest blessing of their lives. — Barbara W. Winder

I suggest that this is a good time to think soberly about our responsibilities to our descendents - those who will ring out the Fossil Fuel Age. Our greatest responsibility, as parents and as citizens, is to give America's youngsters the best possible education. We need the best teachers and enough of them to prepare our young people for a future immeasurably more complex than the present, and calling for ever larger numbers of competent and highly trained men and women. — Hyman Rickover

I always appreciated my teachers. When I was 16, I gave them the greatest gift I could think of. I dropped out of school. — Craig Ferguson

I'm an actor. I was trained by Stella Adler, one of the greatest teachers of the world. I was 19 years old, and she frightened me to death. I was her houseboy for a while. — Mark Margolis

You don't see a positive culture, stability among teachers, or leadership. We don't focus enough in our policies on creating conditions to educating kids with the greatest needs. There is no state that does that. — Pedro Noguera

I would like to thank the people who've brought me those dark moments, when I felt most wounded, betrayed. You have been my greatest teachers. — Oprah Winfrey

Shakespeare, Dickens, Mark Twain, and so many others were my dearest friends and greatest teachers. — Lloyd Alexander

The greatest teachers are the ones that turn a B student into an A student, or a failing student into a B student. — Neil DeGrasse Tyson

The venerable teachers, philosophers & spiritual practitioners throughout history have concluded that the greatest happiness we can experience comes from the development of an open, loving heart. — Allan Lokos

Books, purchasable at low cost, permit us to interrogate the past with high accuracy; to tap the wisdom of our species; to understand the point of view of others, and not just those in power; to contemplate
with the best teachers
the insights, painfully extracted from Nature, of the greatest minds that ever were, drawn from the entire planet and from all of our history. They allow people long dead to talk inside our heads. Books can accompany us everywhere. Books are patient where we are slow to understand, allow us to go over the hard parts as many times as we wish, and are never critical of our lapses. Books are key to understanding the world and participating in a democratic society. — Carl Sagan

I had some good teachers. One of the greatest teachers I've had is bluegrass music: going back and listening to Bill Monroe's music, the Stanley Brothers, Flatt & Scruggs. When I was with Ralph Stanley I learned a lot from him. — Ricky Skaggs

Science alone of all the subjects contains within itself the lesson of the danger of belief in the infallibility of the greatest teachers of the preceding generation. — Richard P. Feynman

I believe that the greatest teachers create thinking students. — David F. Swensen

Fix that hair! Close that mind! Repeat after me! Page me the second the old man croaks it! Now, are you boys ready? A Seabrook boy is always ready. Ready to work. Ready to play. Ready to listen to his teachers, especially the greatest educator of them all, Jesus. as Jesus said to me once, Greg, what's your secret? And I said, Jesus
study your notes! Get to class! Shave that beard! You show up to your first day on the job dressed like a hippie, of course they're going to crucify you, I don't care whose son you are ... — Paul Murray

Our enemies are our greatest teachers. — Dalai Lama

The greatest generals were once soldiers.
The greatest priests were once laymen.
The greatest teachers were once students.
The greatest artists were once amateurs.
The greatest masters were once apprentices.
The greatest prophets were once disciples.
The greatest champions were once underdogs. — Matshona Dhliwayo

Emmet Fox was one of the world's greatest metaphysical teachers. His works have contributed profoundly to the spiritual understanding of millions of people, including myself. — Marianne Williamson

Many forget that most of the greatest theologians God has given to the church were also pastors and teachers in the local church. — Joel R. Beeke

Plato and Aristotle are my teachers. Even Kant is my teacher, but my greatest teacher is my failures. — Debasish Mridha

the quality of classroom practice that a child encounters has unmatched potential with respect to influencing student learning and achievement. What teachers are doing in classes with students on a daily basis has the greatest potential to influence the academic outcome for students, — Steven Katz

What libraries give you is all three tenses - the past tense - the present tense in which we live and the future that we can only imagine. These places have teachers who are living and dead and we are lucky to have them. If I sit here and read Aristotle, he is speaking to me across a thousand years - more than a thousand years. That sense that I am in the company of the great greatest people who ever lived is a humbling experience but a liberating experience. — Pete Hamill

Osho is one of India's greatest mystics ... I see him as one of the world's great teachers, thinkers, philosophers and guides of our times. I have enormous respect for his world vision and the kind of International Communities he is building. I have always felt his influence in my life. — Kabir Bedi

Today i am feeling proud that i have a greatest teacher. My encouragement my motivation and my leader is only one that is my teacher. From silent to talkative from dread to cheer all credit goes to teacher for their such a encouragement. — Avinash Advani

Books tap the wisdom of our species
the greatest minds, the best teachers
from all over the world and from all our history. And they're patient. — Carl Sagan

Difficult people are the greatest teachers. — Pema Chodron

I believe with all my heart that the American classroom teachers are one of our greatest and most heroic treasures. — Patricia Polacco

As a matter of fact, I constantly tell audiences all over the world that the single greatest icon of American culture from the publication of "To Kill A Mockingbird" was that novel so that if we say, what conversation can we have that would lead us on a road of tolerance, and teachers have decided that if you're going to teach values in a school in America, the answer that American teachers at all kinds of schools have come up with, just let Harper Lee teach "To Kill A Mockingbird." And then all the teacher has to do is stand back and guide the discussion. — Wayne Flynt

I believe the choice to become a mother is the choice to become one of the greatest spiritual teachers there is. — Oprah Winfrey

Teachers are the greatest freaks on earth, ... — Anne Frank

Leisure is one of the three greatest rewards of being a teacher. It is, unfortunately, the privilege which teachers most often misuse. — Gilbert Highet

Our mothers are our first teachers, and we teach others the same lessons we learn from them. As a child, when your mother believes in you, you believe in yourself, and when that happens, there is nothing you can't do. As a mother, that is the greatest gift we can give to a child. — Caroline Kennedy

Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three [great teachers] did not tell - they catalyzed a burning desire to know. Under their influence, the horizons sprung wide and fear went away and the unknown became knowable. But most important of all, the truth, that dangerous stuff, became beautiful and very precious. — John Steinbeck

Why do the greatest miracle stories seem to come from mission fields, either overseas or among the destitute here at home (the Teen Challenge outreach to drug addicts, for example)? Because the need is there. Christians are taking their sound doctrine and extending it to lives in chaos, which is what God has called us all to do. Without this extension of compassion it is all too easy for Bible teachers and authors to grow haughty. We become proud of what we know. We are so impressed with our doctrinal orderliness that we become intellectually arrogant. We have the rules and theories all figured out while the rest of the world is befuddled and confused about God's truth ... poor souls. — Jim Cymbala

Suffering is one of the greatest spiritual teachers of humanity. Even though none of us really ever welcomes it ... having had enough of it in your life, will cause you to surrender and control your thoughts. It will usually lead you through the doors of spiritual journey in your life. Once you go through these doors of enlightenment ... you will never be the same. — Timothy Pina

The Neo-Pagan Ten "Commandments"

1. Thou art God/dess.
2. As above, so below; as within so without.
3. Spirit abides in all things; words & names have power.
4. Maintain an attitude of gratitude (walk the talk).
5. Honor the ancestors, teachers, elders, and leaders.
6. All life is sacred.
7. All acts of love and pleasure are sacred.
8. Whatever you send out returns threefold.
9. Love is the law, love under will.
10. For the greatest good, an' it harm none. — Marian Singer

I'm very grateful to have my kids in my life; they're my greatest teachers. But to pretend it's always easy is just not really true. — Patricia Arquette

God knew we would make mistakes. Life is all about mistakes. It is constant change and growth. Our greatest challenges in life will one day be known to us as our greatest teachers. — Betty Eadie

Teachers are our greatest public servants; they spend their lives educating our young people and shaping our Nation for tomorrow. — Solomon Ortiz

For all its ups and downs and challenges, I love writing. We only grow through adversity, so I welcome the difficulties, knowing bumps in the road are my greatest teachers. — Lori Wilde

The greatest wisdom is in simplicity. Love, respect, tolerance, sharing, gratitude, forgiveness. It's not complex or elaborate. The real knowledge is free. It's encoded in your DNA. All you need is within you. Great teachers have said that from the beginning. Find your heart, and you will find your way. — Carlos Barrios

A "snapshot" feature in USA Today listed the five greatest concerns parents and teachers had about children in the '50s: talking out of turn, chewing gum in class, doing homework, stepping out of line, cleaning their rooms. Then it listed the five top concerns of parents today: drug addiction, teenage pregnancy, suicide and homicide, gang violence, anorexia and bulimia. We can also add AIDS, poverty, and homelessness ... Between my own childhood and the advent of my motherhood
one short generation
the culture had gone completely mad. — Mary Blakely

Children who die young are some of our greatest teachers. We are allowed to die when we have taught what we came to teach and when we have learned what we came to learn. — Elisabeth Kubler-Ross