# Quote — Bel Kaufman, Up the Down Staircase

> With me they get a solid foundation, the disciplines of learning. In my class they don't get away with hot air discussions and exchanging their opinions and describing their experiences. What opinions can they have? What have they experienced? What do they know? That's an affront! They learn what I know.

- 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/with-me-they

## 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)