Dorothy Sayers, in her famous essay, “The Lost Tools of Learning,” gave several observations about what happens when education trains students to think rather than just memorize:

On real learning vs. rote learning – “For the sole true end of education is simply this: to teach men how to learn for themselves; and whatever instruction fails to do this is effort spent in vain.”

On the weakness of modern education compared to classical training – “Although we often succeed in teaching our pupils ‘subjects,’ we fail lamentably on the whole in teaching them how to think.”

On the durability of classical training – “Is it not the great defect of our education today… that although we often succeed in teaching our pupils ‘subjects,’ we fail lamentably on the whole in teaching them how to think?”

On the long-term fruit of the Trivium – “If we are to produce a society of educated people, fitted to preserve their intellectual freedom amidst the complex pressures of our modern world, we must turn back to the discipline of the Trivium.”