Thirty Quotations
Collected by Ken Ronkowitz

I have used these for presentations in a
variety of ways – from just letting them
play while people are getting settled to
focus attention on the front of the room,
using them as ice breakers, and using
them as part of the presentation.
For example...

In doing a presentation for a group of
thirty K-12 teachers, I simply asked
them to watch the presentation as it
looped during a break (you can time
them in PowerPoint to actually keep
track of the break time for you) and pick
the one quote that speaks to you. Write
it down.
Try that yourself
as you go through these...

“Quotes ”

The road reaches every place.
The short cut only one.
James Richardson

The statistics on sanity are
that one out of every four Americans
is suffering from some form of mental
illness. Think of your three best friends –
if they're okay, then it's you.
Rita Mae Brown

A man thinks that by mouthing hard
words he understands hard things.
Herman Melville

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I
set him free.
Michelangelo

Horse sense is the thing a horse has which
keeps it from betting on people.
W. C. Fields

We shall not cease from exploration.
And the end of all our exploring
will be to arrive where we started,
and know the place for the first time.
T. S. Eliot

We need a president who's fluent in at
least one language.
Buck Henry, 2005

Sometimes I've believed as many as six
impossible things before breakfast.
Lewis Carroll

Maybe this world is another planet's hell.
Aldous Huxley

All stones are broken stones.
James Richardson

What if you should be mistaken?
Well, if I am mistaken, I exist.
Saint Augustine

Every journalist has a novel in him,
which is an excellent place for it.
Russel Lynes

Why do writers write?
Because it isn't there.
Thomas Berger

You can't build a reputation on what
you're planning to do.
Henry Ford

There is an island of opportunity
in the middle of every difficulty.
Anonymous

Never judge a book by its movie.
J.W. Eagan

Water deepens where it has to wait.
James Richardson

Talk sense to a fool
and he calls you foolish.
Euripides

Never confuse movement with action.
Ernest Hemingway

A writer is a person for whom writing is
more difficult than it is for other people.
Thomas Mann

How a man plays the game shows
something of his character;
how he loses shows all of it.
Anonymous

The man who lets himself be bored is
even more contemptible than the bore.
Samuel Butler

You never realize what a good
memory you have until you try to
forget something.
Franklin P. Jones

Who breaks the thread,
the one who pulls,
the one who holds on?
James Richardson

Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best
friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark
to read.
Groucho Marx

Some people say that I must be
a horrible person, but that’s not true.
I have the heart of a small boy –
in a jar on my desk.
Stephen King

One of the disadvantages of wine
is that it makes a man mistake
words for thoughts.
Samuel Johnson

Leap and the net will appear.
Western Proverb

There should not be any particular
teaching. Teaching is in each moment.
Shunryu Suzuki

A reason to write is to say to others
that you are not alone.
Kurt Vonnegut

OK – did you select one?
Here’s your task:
All of these quotes are really metaphors
for teaching. Explain how your chosen
quote reflects on you as a teacher, your
philosophy or your experiences.
Now, the thing is...

That they were not chosen to be about
teaching. They were not chosen to be
about any particular subject. I just like
them.
BUT, tell a group that they were chosen
on that basis and you will be amazed at
what meaning people find in them.
You could use them with engineers or
nurses and it would work as well.
http://web.njit.edu/~ronkowit/