# Quote — Bel Kaufman, Up the Down Staircase

> If a teacher wants to know something why doesn't she look it up herself instead of making we students do it? We benefit ourselves more by listening to her, after all she's the teacher!

- Author: [Bel Kaufman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/bel-kaufman.md)
- Book: [Up the Down Staircase](https://www.leafyquotes.com/bel-kaufman/up-the-down-staircase.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bel_Kaufman#Up_the_Down_Staircase_(1965)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/bel-kaufman/up-the-down-staircase/if-a-teacher

## More from this book

> A teacher is frequently the only adult in the pupil's environment who treats him with respect.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/bel-kaufman/up-the-down-staircase/a-teacher-is-frequently.md)

> My words never reached him; I could almost hear them drop, one by one, like so many pebbles against a closed window.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/bel-kaufman/up-the-down-staircase/my-words-never.md)

> How can I take seriously such mimeographed absurdities as "Lateness due to absence," "High under-achiever," and "Polio consent slips"?
>
> —SylDear Syl,
>
> I'll match yours any day with "Please disregard the following."
>
> —Bea

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/bel-kaufman/up-the-down-staircase/how-can-i-take.md)