Chris Crutcher on Schools

"One of the worst things schools do is give you the idea that they can take responsibility for other people. We want the best athletes and students and debaters to be role models -- to set examples for the other kids. We pressure many of you to do that all the time. We ask for perfection -- no, for a show of perfection. Then we're disappointed when you let us down, and even if we're not, you are. Well, I want to go on record as saying the sooner you learn you're your own life's accountant, the sooner you'll have tools to hammer out a decent life."

--From Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes (1993)