And what is a good citizen? Simply one who never says, does or thinks anything that is unusual. Schools are maintained in order to bring this uniformity up to the highest possible point. A school is a hopper into which children are heaved while they are still young and tender; therein they are pressed into certain standard shapes and covered from head to heels with official rubber-stamps.

Summary

This quote by H.L. Mencken criticizes the notion of a good citizen being someone who conforms and avoids anything considered unusual. Mencken suggests that schools exist to mold children into conformity, enforcing uniformity through a system that transforms them into standardized individuals with approved thoughts and actions. He metaphorically portrays schools as machines, endorsing homogeneity and squashing individuality by stamping official ideologies onto the students. Mencken's quote challenges the idea of a good citizen, implying that true citizenship requires critical thinking and free expression rather than adhering to societal norms without question.

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