Self-Initiated

Mary Shelley wrote the story of Frankenstein at the age of 18, nearly 200 years ago. Today, it's studied in college courses as a profound work of literature. That famous Stratford nobody, William Shakespeare, had little seat time in a classroom, and owned no books, apparently, yet four centuries after his death he remains an icon of global civilization. The list is a long one. Large accomplishments; little schooling. It's quite rare for an inventive person in any field to trace success to school training. Education must be largely self-initiated, a tapestry woven out of broad experience, constant introspection, ability to concentrate on one's purpose in spite of distractions, a combination of curiosity, patience, and intense watchfulness, and it requires substantial trial and error risk-taking, along with a considerable ability to take feedback from the environment - to learn from mistakes. I once heard someone in my own family, who I once loved very much, say,"I don't take criticism well;' as if it were a boast, and I knew at that instant there was no way at all for her to grow in mind or character with that self-destructive attitude.

--John Taylor Gatto, "Weapons Of Mass Instruction", p. 61, 62