"Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys
and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted
in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything
else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals
upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service
to them. This is the principle upon which I bring up
my own children, and this is the principle on which I
bring up these children. Stick to Facts, Sir!"
With these opening words of the novel Hard Times, Charles Dickens introduces us to the character and philosophy of Thomas Gradgrind, a prosperous retired merchant and (by his own lights, at any rate) public-spirited philanthropist, whose rigidity and narrow-mindedness make him the villain of the novel. In the passage quoted, Gradgrind is setting forth the principles he wishes followed in the school he has established.
A few pages later, we see an example of the educational program he has in mind. Girl Number Twenty (Cecilia, or Sissy, Jupe) is asked to give a definition of a horse. She is utterly flummoxed by the demand, and before she can even attempt a reply she is silenced: "'Girl number twenty unable to define a horse!' said Mr. Gradgrind.... 'Girl number twenty possessed of no facts, in reference to one of the commonest of animals'" (Dickens, 1984, p. 5). We are then treated to Mr. Gradgrind's ideal of a student well-informed about the subject of horses, a boy named Bitzer:
"Quadruped. Graminiverous. Forty teeth, namely
twenty-four grinders, for eye-teeth, and twel incisive.
Sheds coat in spring; in marshy countries, sheds hoofs,
too. Hoofs hard, but requiring to be shod with iron.
Age known by marks in mouth." Thus (and much more)
Charles Dickens was not the subtlest of writers in making his points. In order to help us fully appreciate the emptiness of Bitzer's knowledge of horses, he has already informed us that the hapless Girl Number Twenty ...