Today marks exactly five years since the inception of “The Progressive Professor” blog by this author!
It has been a wonderful, fascinating, and fun time expressing my views, opinions, and analyses of the political events of the years since the nomination and election of President Barack Obama as our 44th President.
It has been also an opportunity for this author to discuss and evaluate American historical events and personalities, including a detailed analysis of the Presidency and Vice Presidency, our Presidential elections, and of our Congress and Supreme Court, relating past historical events to our present times.
Along the way, it has been a pleasure to have debate and commentary with many readers, including some who are my “supporters”, and some who have been my ‘rivals” in my views and interpretations of the controversies which have been the subject of discussion on this blog.
And perfect timing, as it turns out on this 5th anniversary of “The Progressive Professor”, this posting is my entry number 4,000, a great accomplishment, considering my other professional responsibilities, as I continue, even in “retirement”, as an Adjunct Professor of History and Political Science at Florida Atlantic University, fortunate to have the opportunity to teach advanced courses on American Political History, American Diplomatic History, FDR and the New Deal Era, America in the 1960s, America Since 1945, The American Presidency, and other courses.
My intention is to continue this blog, writing on it nearly every day, and to continue teaching for many more years, as well as traveling this great country, and particularly, its Presidential sites, which included this summer a total of three visits, to the Museums and Libraries of Bill Clinton, Gerald Ford, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, as well as to the Congressional Visitor Center at the US Capitol and the Supreme Court in Washington, DC.
To this author and blogger, American History and Politics is his passion, and I look forward to many more years of contributing to the profession, and to imparting my views and interpretations to readers, and opening up the eyes and minds of students to the wonderful world of American history, government and politics!
Congratulations on another milestone Ron!
Thanks very much, Fred, and congratulations on your soon to be retirement!
Congratulations Professor!
Congratulations Professor Feinman on this very auspicious occasion. I know how much this milestone means to you.
In preparation for this day I decided to research some quotes from well known people, a few of your favorites and allow the them to speak on education.
Teachers affect eternity; no one can tell where their influence stops.
Henry Brooks Adams
Teaching is not a lost art, but the regard for it is a lost tradition.
Jacques Barzun
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The test of a good teacher is not how many questions he can ask his pupils that they will answer readily, but how many questions he inspires them to ask him which he finds it hard to answer.
Alice Rollins
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Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.
William Butler Yeats
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Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.” -Malcolm Forbes
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The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.” -Khalil Gibran
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“Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource.”
-President John F. Kennedy
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Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
Nelson Mandela
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“Teach the children so that it will not be necessary to teach the adults.” -President Abraham Lincoln
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“The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life.” -Plato
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“The very spring and root of honesty and virtue lie in good education.” -Plutarch
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Pertains to your blog:
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.â€
Benjamin Franklin
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“We cannot use a double standard for measuring our own and other people’s policies. Our demands for democratic practices in other lands will be no more effective than the guarantees of those practiced in our own country.â€
― Hubert H. Humphrey
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And finally:
Speaking for the countless students you have inspired over your career-
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“I can no other answer make, but, thanks, and thanks.”
-William Shakespeare
Wow, thanks so much, Maggie, for your good words and the wonderful quotes about the value of education!
And thanks, Rustbelt Democrat, for your support. I greatly appreciate those who follow me, and those who contribute!
Maggie I like these quotes you put in your comment to my Dad’s entry about his 4000th post on his blog. They’re really great, and you’re so sweet to say all these things.
Hello Professor Ron and Paul. I want to start off with a note to Paul of how much I have enjoyed reading and commenting on your father’s blog. My father was a teacher too.
That being said and to continue the theme of teaching quotes, back in the early 1970’s I read the books of Carlos Castaneda. Starting with “The Teachings of Don Juan.”. Castaneda wrote a series of books that describe his alleged training in shamanism. The books, narrated in the first person, relate his supposed experiences under the tutelage of a Yaqui, (“Man of Knowledge”) named Don Juan Matus.
So I give you my favorite quote from those books, “We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.â€
Carlos Castaneda
Professor keep up the good work.
I should add, note the origins of “Engineer Of Knowledge” identification. 🙂
Engineer of Knowledge, thanks for your kind words, and your note to my son Paul. He and I deeply appreciate it, and I am glad we are friends, and that you contribute so much to this blog!
Yes you are a friend and someday when our schedules can be coordinated, we could meet in a face to face conversation.
Engineer of Knowledge, that would be great!
Happy Anniversary and Congratulations, Ronald!
Congratulations to you Professor!
Congratulations, Professor! 🙂
Though I ever hardly agree with your posts, I nevertheless wish to congratulate you.
I deeply appreciate your statement, Robert, specifically because you do not agree most of the time with what I write. That shows you have “class”!