Quotations and Literature Forum

What does William Butler Yeats mean about the quote "education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."

He means something along the lines of, one never truly stops learning, and that being "educated" is not the end of it. You do not just learn all there is to know and then stop, but rather, you keep seeking knowlege, you keep feeing your desire to learn.

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Every man carries a circle of hell around his head like a halo. Every man, every man has to go through hell to reach his paradise.
Robert De Niro, Cape Fear

Yes, I agree as well. We (all humans) are always, constantly learning. Never does the process of knowledge seeping into our minds cease, never, not until our last breath.

I think he means that education puts together the jigsaw puzzle in you. If you haven't got it within don't expect anything rather than a degree.

A pail is a type of bucket, so I think what he is saying is that education is not the end..Education does not teach you all you need to know. It merely starts your quest for knowledge, and it is your job to keep that fire burning by learning from the world around you.