The Teacher Is The Fountain Of All Knowledge Analysis

“The teacher is the fountain of all knowledge.” I think whoever publicized that quote was being ironic, was a solipsistic teacher, or spent too much time in philosophy class trying to understand existential meanings of various statements. I don’t say this because I lack respect for teachers or their profession, quite the opposite. However, it is my experience that knowledge is something that can be pursued and accrued by anyone, irrespective of whether a teacher is present. Everyone begins life as the ultimate student, knowing nothing and absorbing everything. As we grow older and gain a framework from which to view our experiences, we continue to learn through observation, trial and error and what I guess I would term a continual background osmosis. We continue to be both active and passive sponges for knowledge. …show more content…
You could stumble down the rabbit hole and say that all teachers also have a teacher, which is their fountain, and so on, but I think that leads to a circular logic that ultimately leads nowhere except, perhaps, to a nice Zen kōan and a philosophy degree. I will in no way say that it originated with martial arts, but among those who practice them, we have a bit of an unofficial saying, “After you have progressed to a certain point, the only way to learn and understand more, is to teach.” I think this statement would be in direct competition with the quote from above, and, in my mind, is more accurate as it emphasizes that students and teachers are just two complementary aspects that reflect the pursuit of knowledge