16 Inspirational Quotes About Teaching

It's a fact that education greatly affects a child's future, and that means that a teacher can hold all the power in the world when it comes to educating his or her students. During National Teacher Appreciation Week, these 16 inspirational quotes about teaching capture the importance of what it means to be a teacher, and they do it in ways that are as poetic as they are accurate.

I grew up with a mother who is a teacher, so I can tell you from a first-hand account that teaching goes way past the classroom. It requires hours of time outside of school prepping lessons, mastering material, and going above and beyond for students when they need additional help. To be a teacher is to devote your life to the betterment of the future, and it is to do it with a selfless heart and open mind.

It's Teacher Appreciation Week, but the love shouldn't stop on Friday. This noble profession is often underpaid and undervalued despite its tremendous selflessness, and that, my friends, just isn't OK. If you know a teacher, tell them how wonderful they are and how much you appreciate what they do — not just this week, but throughout the entirety of the year.

1. "A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning." — Brad Henry

2. "Education is the key to success in life, and teachers make a lasting impact in the lives of their students." — Solomon Ortiz

3. "A teacher is a compass that activates the magnets of curiosity, knowledge, and wisdom in the pupils." — Ever Garrison

4. "I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit." — John Steinbeck

5. "A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." — Henry Adams

6. "What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to a human soul." — Joseph Addison

7. "If you become a teacher, by your pupils you'll be taught." — Oscar Hammerstein II

8. "The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts." — C.S. Lewis

9. "I think the teaching profession contributes more to the future of our society than any other single profession." — John Wooden

10. "Education is not filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire." — William Butler Yeats

11. "It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge." — Albert Einstein

12. "One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched out human feelings. 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

13. "The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery." — Mark Van Doren

14. "Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher." — Japanese Proverb

15. "Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself." — John Dewey

16. "I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework." — Lily Tomlin

Images: Joanne Johnson, Kevin Dooley, cybrarian77, Brian Wolfe, Blondinrikard Froberg, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Kevin Dooley, PaulSh, Herald Post, Chicago 2016, World Bank Photo Collection, woodleywonderworks, Schplook, Illmicrofono Oggiono, GlobalPartnership for Education, Jaine, Georgia Southern, Douglas Miller, woodleywonderworks/Flickr