Teachers: Aaj Kal

This post has been published by me on the occasion of the Teachers' Day as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 2; the second edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

Being a great teacher is very challenging and rewarding work.

They have in their hands the power to influence and mould a student's mind. They have within them the capacity to instill in the child a love for learning, to keep an open mind and to keep questioning. They have the ability to promote confidence, stir thinking and awaken dreams...

And then, we know, there’s another side too!

Teachers! We all have an opinion about them - good or bad - and we all owe a great deal to that special teacher that believed in us.

Times have changed (yes, completely), we have changed (may be) and so have the teachers and their thoughts and beliefs (somewhat)!

So, sharing with you some of the aspects of the Teachers…Then and Now, through the medium of Quotes by some great men and some unknown too.

Of course, some of these quotes can be used interchangeably!!

Teachers Then	Teachers Now
Ah! There you have the worst paid and the best rewarded of vocations. Do not enter it unless you love it. For the vast majority of men and women it has no promise of wealth and fame, but they to whom it is dear for its own sake are among the nobility of mankind. Henry Von Dyke	It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference. Tom Brokaw
What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches. Karl Menninger	Teaching is not a lost art, but the regard for it is a lost tradition. Jacques Barzun
The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book. Author Unknown	We expect teachers to handle teenage pregnancy, substance abuse, and the failings of the family. Then we expect them to educate our children. John Sculley
To learn and never be filled, is wisdom; to teach and never be weary, is love. Anonymous	Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important. Bill Gates
More important than the curriculum is the question of the methods of teaching and the spirit in which the teaching is given. Bertrand Russell	The authority of those who teach is often an obstacle to those who want to learn. Cicero
The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called truth. Dan Rather	We think too much about effective methods of teaching and not enough about effective methods of learning. John Carolus S. J.
A gifted teacher is as rare as a gifted doctor, and makes far less money. Anonymous	Modern cynics and skeptics... see no harm in paying those to whom they entrust the minds of their children a smaller wage than is paid to those to whom they entrust the care of their plumbing. John F. Kennedy
Every truth has four corners: as a teacher I give you one corner, and it is for you to find the other three. Confucius	Teaching should be such that what is offered is perceived as a valuable gift and not as a hard duty. Albert Einstein
Life is no brief candle for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations. George Bernard Shaw	I've come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It's my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or de-humanized. Dr. Haim Ginott
The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind. Kahlil Gibran	If kids come to us [educators / teachers] from strong, healthy functioning families, it makes our job easier. If they do not come to us from strong, healthy, functioning families, it makes our job more important. Barbara Colorose
A hundred years from now, it will not matter what kind of car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, how much money I had in the bank...but the world may be a better place because I made a difference in the life of a child. Forest Witchcraft	A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron. Horace Mann
We think of the effective teachers we have had over the years with a sense of recognition, but those who have touched our humanity we remember with a deep sense of gratitude. Author Unknown	Much education today is monumentally ineffective. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants. John Gardner
Teachers, who educate children, deserve more honour than parents, who merely gave them birth; for the latter provided mere life, while the former ensure a good life. Aristotle.	We should not teach children the sciences but give them a taste for them. Jean Jacques Rousseau
It's blood, sweat, sometimes tears. Bob Hayes	Most people are willing to pay more to be amused than to be educated. R.C. Savage
The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book. Author Unknown	For many students, their teachers may be the only adult with whom they have a meaningful conversation all day. Vickie Gill
Teaching is not just a job. It is a human service, and it must be thought of as a mission. Dr. Ralph Tyler	It's good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good, too, to make sure you haven't lost the things that money can't buy. George Horace Lorimer
An understanding heart is everything in a teacher, and cannot be esteemed highly enough. One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feeling. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child. Carl Jung	I have been maturing as a teacher. New experiences bring new sensitivities and flexibility. Howard Lester
Your Master Teacher knows all you need to learn, the perfect timing for your learning it, and the ideal way of teaching it to you. You don't create a Master Teacher -- that's already been done. You discover your Master Teacher. Peter Mcwilliams	It is important that students bring a certain ragamuffin, barefoot irreverence to their studies; they are not here to worship what is known, but to question it. Jacob Bronowski

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton are Vipul, Rajalakshmi, Dhiman, Ranee[1], [2], [3] , Avada, Indian Pundit, Sojo, Aneet, Pramathesh, Aativas, Sid, Pra, Ajinkya, Lakshmi, Govind, Bharathi, Shankar, Mytuppence, Azad, Pawan, Pankaja, Saimanohar, Guria, Shruti, Vishnu and Nasrajan. Click on their respective names to read their posts on Teachers : Aaj Kal. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

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