“Speaking as a mother, I’m in favour of smaller class-sizes. When there’s a birthday in the family you have to make fewer cup cakes for the other children in the class.” - Martha Groves of the Los Angeles Times, in a discussion on California class-size reductions.

“Today, consumption is a reward. In my mother’s day it was a disease.” - Professor Alex Molnar, of the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee,speaking about companies’ attempts to increase their advertising in US schools.

“You guys are all too cognitive for me.” - brain researcher James Hamos, responding to comments from his audience.

“No sheeple (sic).” - Shirley Brice Heath of Stanford University, expressing her disapproval of people who follow the herd.

“Books will soon be obsolete in schools.” - 1913 comment by inventor Thomas Edison, quoted by David Rossi of the University of Houston.