Abraham Flexner: Borrow Billions

Posted by admin on Monday, April 26, 2021

Abraham Flexner Money Quote saying some countries are borrowing for wars but few borrow for educational purposes. Abraham Flexner said:
 
 

 

“Nations have recently been led to borrow billions for war; no nation has ever borrowed largely for education… no nation is rich enough to pay for both war and civilization. We must make our choice; we cannot have both” — Abraham Flexner

 

 

In this quote, Abraham Flexner is drawing a comparison between the massive spending on warfare versus investment in education. His interpretation is that while countries are willing to take on enormous debts to fund wars and military campaigns, they have never shown the same commitment to borrowing vast sums long-term to develop education systems and advance civilization.

Flexner seems to be arguing that nations must consciously choose to prioritize either war spending or education/civilization spending, since devoting large resources to both simultaneously is not financially sustainable or prudent. His view is that full support cannot be given to both war and education aims given budget constraints, so societies must decide which goal deserves greater long-term backing and commitment through public funds.

The overall message conveyed is that higher education requires more robust and consistent long-term financial support relative to short-term military spending priorities.

Abraham Flexner background:

Abraham Flexner was an American educator and educational reformer in the early 20th century. He is best known for his 1910 report that criticized the standards of medical education in the United States and Canada, leading to major reforms. Flexner advocated for establishing high-quality professional education and helped advance the modern research university model.

In the quote, Flexner is drawing on his background in education reform to argue that countries prioritize funding wars over long-term investment in developing strong education systems, and that devoting massive resources to both goals simultaneously is unsustainable given budget constraints.

Birthday: November 13, 1866 – Death: September 21, 1959