Howard Gardner quotes - page 3

Howard Gardner is an American psychologist best known for his theory of multiple intelligences. This theory challenged traditional views of intelligence and profoundly influenced education worldwide. He continues to work as a professor and author, shaping the field of cognitive psychology. Here are 83 of his quotes:

Most people (by the time they have become adults ) can't change their minds because their neural pathways have become set... the longer neural pathways have been running one way the harder it is to rewire them.

Howard Gardner

Fundamentalism is a kind of decision not to change your mind about something...Many of us are fundamentalists...because it worked pretty well for us.

Howard Gardner

I need to add that my work on multiple intelligences received a huge boost in 1995 when Daniel Goleman published his book on emotional intelligence. I am often confused with Dan. Initially, though Dan and I are longtime friends, this confusion irritated me.

Howard Gardner

I think that I am strongest in linguistic and musical intelligence, and I continue to work on my interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence.

Howard Gardner

Part of the maturity of the sciences is an appreciation of which questions are best left to other disciplinary approaches.

Howard Gardner

Education is at a turning point.

Howard Gardner

I reject the notion that human beings have a single intelligence, which can be drawn on for the full range of problem solving.

Howard Gardner

We are natural mind changing entities until we are 10 or so. But as we get older...then it is very hard to change our minds.

Howard Gardner

Beauty reveals itself in the course of an experience with an object.

Howard Gardner

I want to understand how best to create and preserve a form of higher education that we value but that is in jeopardy for many reasons.

Howard Gardner

In the United States, if you ask teachers, "Are there children whom we should call 'gifted?'", many if not most will say 'No.' That's the politically correct answer. But if you then ask the teacher to rank order students in terms of how well they paint or write or dance, they'll have little difficulty in doing so.

Howard Gardner

I am knowledgeable enough about the world of prizes to realize that there is a large degree of luck - both for the recognitions that you receive and those that you did not.

Howard Gardner

To ask "Where in your brain is intelligence?" is like asking "Where is the voice in the radio?"

Howard Gardner

While I've worked on many topics and written many books, I have not abandoned my interest in multiple intelligences.

Howard Gardner

An a priori decision to eliminate spiritual intelligence from consideration is no more justifiable than a decision to admit it by fiat or on faith. After all, once one includes the understanding of the personal realm within a study of intelligence, such human proclivities as the spiritual must legitimately be considered. There certainly are no easy grounds for a decision, but several other intelligences deal with phenomena other than sheer physical matter. If the abstract realm of mathematics constitutes a reasonable area of intelligence (and few would challenge that judgment), why not the abstract realm of the spiritual?

Howard Gardner

There is very little dispute about the principal constituent elements of music, though experts will differ on the precise definitions of each aspect. Most central are 'pitch' (or melody) and 'rhythm'... next in importance only to pitch and rhythm is 'timbre', the characteristic qualities of tone.

Howard Gardner

Both science and history are moving targets. Scholars in the twenty-first century are much more aware than those of earlier generations that scientists operate under the influence of powerful metaphors (science as exploration, discovery, documentation, thrust and counterthrust), and that both the scope and the tools of history undergo continual changes. Still, most scientists and most historians would concur that the broad strokes I've sketched, when viewed from sufficient distance, are accurately rendered-that is, that science and history are each in pursuit of statements that represent the truths ascertained by their respective disciplines.

Howard Gardner

Since we all have different cognitive profiles, educators should take those individual differences very seriously.

Howard Gardner

When we teach in pluralistic ways, there are two wonderful dividends. First of all, we reach more students, because some learn best through stories, some through works of art, some through role play etc. Second of all, we show what it is like really to understand something.

Howard Gardner

I favor a system where students in publicly funded institutions make a commitment: if they do well in the private sector, they will revert a certain percentage of their income to the education sector; and if they devote some years to public service, their debt will be forgiven.

Howard Gardner

In a large country like the United States or India, families differ significantly on their own education values, and I don't believe it is necessary to put everyone through the same curricula and assessments.

Howard Gardner

The accumulation and cross-generational transmission of wealth in the United States has gone way too far. When a young hedge-fund manager can take home a sum reminiscent of the gross national product of a small country, something is askew.

Howard Gardner