Quote

“In a review of what a student has gained at school or in a class, he should give attention to things he may have lost. If he knew the value of some things he may have discarded, he would dig frantically through the wastebasket and trash can to rescue them before they are hauled away permanently. He came to school basically to learn an occupation, and likely he has. But as always, there was a price to pay, and occasionally students pay an exorbitant price. Not infrequently students will jettison things essential to life and end up well-occupied but unhappy. These questions are appropriate. Did they as freshmen come with idealism, and put it aside? Did they come with faith, and carry away in its place skepticism? Did they come with patriotism, and replace it with cynicism? Did they come free from any binding habits, and now leave with an addiction? Did they arrive aspiring for marriage, a home, and a family, and now have abandoned those aspirations? And critically important, did they come with virtue and moral purity, and now must admit to themselves that while they were here they have lost it? How did this happen? Was that an essential price to pay for an occupation or for broadened cultural horizons? The intangibles they carry away may not equal in value the intangibles they may be leaving behind.” (Boyd K. Packer, Teach Ye Dilligently, p. 219 - 220. 1975.)

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