From a speech on the three-hundredth anniversary of higher education in the United States, October 15, 1936:

“I want to oppose the idea that the school has to teach directly that special knowledge and those accomplishments which one has to use later directly in life.  The demands of life are much too manifold to let such a specialized training in school appear possible.  Apart from that, it seems to me, moreover, objectionable to treat the individual like a dead tool.  The schools should ways have as its aim that the young man leave it as a harmonious personality, not as a specialist….The development of general ability for independent thinking and judgement should always be placed foremost, not the acquisition of special knowledge.  If a person masters the fundamentals of his subject and has learned to think and work independently, he will surely find his way and besides will better be able to adapt himself to progress and changes than the person whose training principally consists in the acquiring of detailed knowledge.”