Saturday, September 12, 2009

“He, who opens a school door, closes a prison.” –Victor Hugo


The meaning has nothing to do with a real prison, what Victor was trying to say is he who opens a school door, closes the doors to a prison of ignorance. People who are not educated or miss a great deal in life, even though nobody can know everything, there are the basic things that most people assume everyone knows. For example some people don't know simple things like reading, math problems, and solving simple challenges in everyday life. Anyone who does not know these things is forever in a prison of his own making. Those kinds of people have made their own prison because they do not know the basic knowledge you need for everyday life, and will be forever cut off from enjoying a lot of what life has to offer. That is the prison Victor was describing and wanted us to turn away from, and he was right.

9 comments:

  1. I think you are right about the prison of the mind. But I do think there is an implied dual meaning. If you have a prison of the mind, you are likely to end up in real prison in any society!

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  2. I do think that he meant both meanings, the personal prison and the conventional traditional prison.

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  3. This is the dumbest interpretation of anythint I have ever hear!

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  4. That is what it means to you. You have no right to say what the author of the quote meant. Only he knows that.

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  5. It means that education lowers the rate of delinquency. I know that bc i'm french and this quote is from Victor Hugo who's french too :) but maybe what you said it's true tho

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  6. only to realize the quote is talking about a school gateman.
    school life is challenging with lots of suffering, courseworks, SATs, sleepless nights and extrem stress. (like a prison) the first day you arrive at school, a school gate is opened for you, once you are in its closed and yo in prison now

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