"A peasant earns his bread honestly. He has ordinary knowledge of the world. He knows fairly well how he should behave towards his parents, his wife, his children, and his fellow-villagers. He understands and observes the rules of morality. But he cannot write his own name. What do you propose to do by giving him knowledge of letters? Will you add an inch to his happiness?...whether you take elementary education or higher education, it is not required for the main thing. It does not make men of us. It does not enable us to do our duty" (Gandhi 54).

Gandhi's view on education caught me completely off-guard. Being an American, I realized that my whole life has been centered on education. I attended pre-school, elementary school, high school, and am now attending a University. What is next? Graduate school? Our society lives and breathes education. Unlike Gandhi, however, I do not see this as an evil thing. Yes, it may be true that education and wealth do not breed happiness. I personally believe that happiness is something attained from within. Happiness has to do with how secure and self-fulfilled you are and has a great deal to do with the relationships you build around you. I do believe that things such as education and wealth are aspects of life that help yield self-fulfillment and the ability to form relationships. What is the meaning of a man's life? Nietzsche struggled with this question. As a human being, I would like to think that I am in control of my own life. The meaning I find in my life has to do with attaining my individual goals and surrounding myself with people I love. Education provides me the ability to challenge myself and meet new people. Education allows humans to understand as much as they can and discuss whatever they wish with whomever they wish. Illiterate peasants may be able to find happiness, but the pool of personal goals they have to draw from is so much smaller than the pool from which a person entrenched in the Academic World has. I feel privileged to have the opportunity to learn more about anything and everything that interests me and to be able to meet people from all over the nation while furthering my education in college. Sorry Gandhi, but I think you underestimated the importance of education and the benefits education can reap.