WIST Quotations

Brecht, Bertholt -- (Attributed)

Dave — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 04:29:28 +0000

The worst illiterate is the political illiterate. He hears nothing, sees nothing, takes no part in political life. He doesn’t seem to know that the cost of living, the price of beans, of flour, of rent, of medicines all depend on political decisions. He even prides himself on his political ignorance, sticks out his chest and says he hates politics. He doesn’t know, the imbecile, that from his political non-participation comes the prostitute, the abandoned child, the robber and, worst of all, corrupt officials, the lackeys of exploitative multinational corporations.

Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) German poet, playwright, director, dramaturgist
(Attributed)

A chewy quote that is widely attributed to Brecht, but no actual citation has been found.

Toffler, Alvin -- (Paraphrase)

Dave — Thu, 16 Jan 2020 22:49:07 +0000

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."

Twain, Mark -- (Spurious)

Dave — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 13:55:37 +0000

A person who won’t read has no advantage over one who can’t read.

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
(Spurious)

First attributed to Twain in 1945, but not found in his works. Earliest appearances of the quote date back to 1910, but are unattributed. It's often attributed to Abigail Van Buren (Dear Abby), but she didn't say it until 1966.

For more research and discussion see Quote Origin: The Man Who Does Not Read Has No Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read – Quote Investigator® and Mark Twain quotations - Reading.

Variants:

"Who can see the barely perceptible line between the man who can not read at all and the man who does not read at all? The literate who can, but does not, read, and the illiterate who neither does nor can? [Joseph D. Eggleston Jr. (1910)]
"The person who does not read has no advantage over the person who cannot read." ["Dear Abby" (1966-10-19)]
"The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them."