Nikos Kazantzaki Quote

"Education is not filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."

Out of all of Kazantzaki's great statements, this one spoke to me the most. Nikos Kazantzaki was a Greek writer and philosopher and was born in 1883. He is famous for his novel Zorba the Greek and became even more famous when the novel was made into a film.

The first part of this quote "Education is not filling of a pail of water..." I think is saying, students' heads and brains can be looked at as pails that one can fill with many things. And when people attend school a lot of it has to do with just retaining information given to you by teachers or guides. And Kazantzaki is saying that people should not focus on just absorbing as much knowledge as possible, that there is more to learning than that.

The second part of this quote "...but lighting of a fire." I think is saying, that it is about giving the knowledge students need in order to spark ideas of their own and create something great. Education gives people the tools and guidelines to be brighter and more successful. If they are just constantly given information instead of being allowed to think for themselves, no one will get anywhere. To be successful one must be creative and education needs to be there for students to be able to do all of that. 

I believe that's what Nikos Kazantzaki was trying to say with this quote and I agree with it completely. I also believe school isn't about information. Some of it none of us will ever use in our lifetimes. But we do need the type of education that will help us spread out wings and think for ourselves.