On learning........................

     "After years of working with students at both ends of the achievement spectrum, I now have a distinctly different view of school reform.  The problem, I think, is not only the schools but also the students themselves.  Here's why:  learning is hard.  True, learning is fun, exhilarating, and gratifying - but it is also often daunting, exhausting, and sometimes discouraging.  By and large, students who no longer want to learn, who don't think they can learn, and who don't see any point in learning simply won't - no matter how wonderful the school or teacher...
     To help chronically low-performing but intelligent students, educators and parents must first recognize that character is at least as important as intellect."

     "Underachievement among American youth is often blamed on inadequate teachers, boring textbooks, and large class sizes.  We suggest other reasons for students falling short of their intellectual potential:  their failure to exercise self-discipline...We believe that many of America's children have trouble making choices that require them to sacrifice short-term pleasure for long-term gain, and that programs that build self-discipline may be the royal road to building academic achievement."

-Angela Lee Duckworth, as excerpted from Martin E. P. Seligman's Flourish:  A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being