The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those that cannot read or write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.
Alvin Toffler (1928–2016) American writer and futurist
(Paraphrase)
(Source)
Sometimes given as "The illiterate of the future ..." This ubiquitous (mis)quotation of Toffler is a conflation of two sentences in ch. 18 of Toffler's Future Shock (1970).
- On p. 414, Toffler writes, "By instructing students how to learn, unlearn and relearn, a powerful new dimension can be added to education."
- In the next paragraph, he quotes psychologist Herbert Gerjuoy: "Tomorrow's illiterate will not be the man who can't read; he will be the man who has not learned how to learn."
