Graphene Oxide (GO) as Antimicrobial Property

Graphene Oxide (GO) as Antimicrobial Property Over the past several years scientists have studied graphene materials (graphene, graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide) for its antimicrobial properties and its future application in the biomedical field. To date, the exact mechanism for why graphene and its derivatives have antibacterial properties has not been fully understood due to experimental design variables. Scientists have agreed that oxidative stress, phospholipid extraction, and nanoknives all play an important role in the antibacterial properties of graphene materials. There are several techniques such as scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron spectroscopy, and mass spectroscopy that have been used to monitor change in morphology and cell death after exposure to graphene and its derivatives. Through these techniques scientist have been able to confirm that graphene materials are able to promote cellular death in both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, leading to its promising future also in pharma ceuticals. Graphene is a two-dimensional hexagonal structure, consisting of a basal plane (along the surface) and lateral edges, that are made up of sp2 hybridized carbons which form a conjugated à Ã¢â€š ¬ system. This à Ã¢â€š ¬-conjugated system makes graphene very hydrophobic and able to interact with the hydrophobic cell membranes of bacteria. Graphene oxide (GO) is most commonly prepared using the Hummers method, which consists of a multi-step synthesis. First the graphite material is oxidized to form graphite oxide and then this is exfoliated via sonication to form a single layer of material called GO. Through the oxidation process oxygenated functional groups are introduced into the basal surfaces and lateral edges of GO. On the basal surface of GO, the functional groups of epoxides and hydroxyl groups are present, whereas, the larger groups such as carboxyl and carbonyl groups form along the lateral edges. It is important to note that with the introduction of the oxygenat ed functional groups, the basal plane and lateral edges will need to adopt sp3 hybridized carbons, which results in the formation of defect regions where the à Ã¢â€š ¬-conjugated system is broken. The presence of these defects will be explored in more detail below as these areas are critical in the antibacterial properties of GO. In the literature, GO and other graphene materials have demonstrated through both physical and chemical mechanisms they have the ability to reduce bacterial cell count of both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria1. Several pivotal studies have been conducted in order to determine the key mechanism behind the antibacterial properties of GO. Nada et.al studied the antibacterial mechanisms using Raman spectroscopy2, Zhang et.al studied the antibacterial activity using mass spectroscopy3, and Yusong et.al examined the effects of extraction of phospholipids from E-coli by graphene nanosheets4.These studies have led to the development of several mechanisms including the cutting of the membrane wall by the sharp edges of the defect sites (nanoknives), phospholipid extraction and oxidative stress. The various experiments to date regardless of experimental design demonstrated that it is not a single mechanism that is responsible for the antibacterial properties of GO but rather a combinat ion of several mechanisms that can contribute to the overall antibacterial properties. Ultimately, it is the breakdown in the cell membrane that causes intracellular leakage of vital proteins, nucleic acids, and cytoplasmic material that results in the loss of reproduction and cell death. The cutting mechanism also referred to in the literature as nanoknives is one of the most important mechanisms that lead to the antibacterial properties of GO. The sharp lateral edges of GO are able to penetrate into the cell membranes inner and outer layer. This leads to the loss of cell membrane integrity and leakage of intracellular materials such as the cytoplasm, nucleic acids, proteins and amino acids. Nada et al used a variety of techniques, such as Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to observe the cellular changes (deformation or loss of cell membrane integrity) of bacteria, such as E Coli when exposed to varying concentrations of GO material. Raman spectroscopy was used to determine how E.coli reacts to an increasing concentration of GO. From the research done by Nada and team the bands with the greatest change were those of adenine (a nucleic acid) (729cm-1), the S-S stretching vibrations (490cm-1) of the disulphide bonds (found on the surface of the cell) and the amide group (found in proteins) bending vibration at 610cm-1.2 The intensity of each of these bands increased with the increase in GO concentration. This positively confirms that GO had penetrated into the cell membrane, causing the loss integrity and allowing the intracellular material such as adenine and other proteins to leak from the cell. Once this material was leaked from the cell, its vib rational absorption increase the signal in the Raman spectrum intensified. The examined the effects of GO on E. coli using SEM was used to observe the morphological changes in cells after exposure to GO. Figure 1 below, shows the morphological effects on E. coli with increasing GO concentration2. Image A represents the control of E. coli cells. In image B, E. coli was treated with low concentration of GO causing morphological changes seen by the distortion (flattening or squishing) of the rod shape. As the concentration of the GO treatment increases the sharp edges of the GO material are able to penetrate into the cell membrane (as seen in the red arrow in image c) and lead to a loss of cell membrane integrity resulting in the leakage of the intracellular material. 2 This effect was not isolated to only gram-negative bacteria but also gram-positive bacteria as well, in which the thickness of the cell membrane is different however similar results were observed. Therefore, the thickne ss of the cell membrane does not play a critical role in the nano-knife cutting mechanism as GO was able to penetrate both the inner and outer cell membrane walls. The size of the GO also plays a key role in the cutting ability of GO due to the changes in the basal plane and lateral edges. A study lead by Perreault examined how altering the size of GO changed the cell viability of E. coli. GO sheets were altered by varying the sonication time and power in order to obtain GO sizes ranging from 0.65  µm2 down to 0.01  µm2.5 Using live/dead fluorescence staining it was determined that there was no change in cell viability (%living) when the bacteria was not in contact with GO as shown in the control of figure 2.5 The green dots represents the number of colony forming units (CFU) alive and the red dots are dead CFUs. The smaller sheet size of 0.01  µm2 has significantly lower cell viability (30%) when compared to the 0.65  µm2 sheet (73%).5 This phenomenon is explained by the fact that as the size of the GO material is decreased the amount of defects in the sp2 hybridized carbons of the basal plane and edges increases. T he defects are caused by either the addition of oxygen groups or shrinkage in size that destroys a portion of the basal plane. This effect creates additional sharp edges in both the lateral edges and basal plane leading to more nanoknives that are capable of cutting through the cell membrane. This allows for increase areas of interaction with the bacterial. This was also confirmed using SEM where larger sheet sizes (0.65 µm2) showed very little deformation and almost normal cell structure whereas smaller sheets (0.01  µm2) appeared to be flattened and deformed leading to a compromised cell structure5. It is interesting to note that the amount of surface defects also plays a critical role in the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that will create oxidative stress to the cell membrane and additional loss of membrane integrity. Therefore, it is impossible to determine if only the physiochemical mechanism of cutting is the single mechanism that impacts cell viabili ty or multiple mechanisms do. In reality, with smaller GO size the loss of cell membrane integrity and intracellular leakage can be attributed to both the nano-knife effect and oxidative stress due to the increase in defects. This mechanism also has been shown to work in combination with other mechanisms such phospholipid extraction in which after cutting into the cell membrane the phospholipids are better able to be extracted by GO. This effect is due to hydrophobic attraction between the phospholipid tails and the à Ã¢â€š ¬-conjugated sp2 carbons of the basal plane. This will be discussed in further details in the later sections. GO is highly hydrophobic due to the à Ã¢â€š ¬-conjugation of the basal surface which allows it to interact with the phospholipid layer of the bacterial cell membrane. The oxygenated groups on GO provides a hydrophilic portion of the compound that is able to interact with the polar heads of the phospholipids. Yusong et al performed a detailed experiment on this and showed that extraction of the phospholipid molecules via hydrophobic interactions causes cell membrane deformation and collapse.5 There are two main mechanisms for the extraction of the phospholipids depending on the size of the GO material. With larger GO materials, the nanosheet will lie along the cell membrane causing a disruption of the phospholipid membrane; allow the GO material to embed itself into the lipophilic portions of the membrane1. For smaller GO materials, the sheet will lie perpendicular to the membrane and penetrate through the cell membrane (either partially or completely) via the nano-knife mechanism. This further supports the theory that it is not a single mechanism that allows for the antibacterial properties but a combination of several. The extraction of phospholipids occurs in several steps (see Figure 3). The first step involves a slight shifting of phospholipids due to the docking of the GO nanosheet as described by Yuesong (Image a).4 Next the phospholipid head will begin to break through the cell membrane and climb up the GO sheet (image b). This climbing effect is observed as result of the strong attractive forces between the hydrophobic regions of the basal plane and the hydrophobic tails of the phospholipids. This extraction process will continue until the GO material is covered completely with phospholipids with several layers of phospholipids climbing at the same time (image d). The phospholipids will evenly spread over the surface in such a way that the hydrophobic tails will align with the hydrophobic regions of the basal surface and the polar heads will align with the oxygenated functional groups of GO (images e and f).4 The loss of the phospholipids from the cell membrane causes a loss in membrane dens ity which weakens the cell membrane. Due to the loss of density and the penetration of the GO into the cell, cell membrane integrity is lost resulting in the leakage intracellular fluids. This effect can be seen with the aid of TEM as morphological changes are easily identified using this method of analysis (see figure 4)4. Image A represents the initial state in which no morphological changes have occurred when E-coli was treated with GO.4 Over time as the phospholipid extraction occurs, the cell membrane density will decrease as shown in images b and c seen by the Type B arrows. The last step in the process is when cell integrity is lost and the intracellular material begins to leak. This effect is also observed in the images d-f where the cells are transparent due to loss of the cytoplasm4. This confirms that the phospholipid extraction occurs with the aid of the nanoknives leading to loss in cell viability. Another group of scientist lead by Zhangs used mass spectroscopy to map the metabolites of E-coli before and after exposure to GO.3 A typical mass spectrum of E-coli without GO treatment is shown Figure 5a. The most important peaks are at m/z 306 which corresponds to glutathione (GHS), which is an antioxidant commonly found in E. coli, and the membrane phospholipids phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and phosphatidylglycerol (PG), at approximately m/z 600-8003. As the concentration of GO increased the overall intensities of the GSH, PE and PG all decreased (see fig 5b). This aligns with the previous studies of Yusong in which the extraction of the phospholipids leads to a decrease in cell membrane density. This was clearly observed by the decrease in signal intensities of both PE and PG. In the mass spec results obtain by Zhangs team there was also a decrease in GSH intensity. GSH is a critical antioxidant found in E. coli and will act as a scavenger for any free oxygen radicals that may be present in the bacterias environment. GSH prevents the oxidative breakdown of the phospholipid membrane that can also lead to a loss of cell membrane integrity and intracellular leakage. This finding confirms the previous hypothesis that there are many mechanisms running in parallel that ultimately attribute to the overall antibacterial properties of GO. In this very example, the nano-knives are able to cut into the phospholipid membrane and start the chain reaction of phospholipid extraction. This extraction causes a decrease in phospholipid density which in parallel with the cutting of the membrane by the nanoknives and oxidative stress leads to a loss in cell membrane integrity. This loss in cell membrane integrity leads to a loss of intracellular material such cytoplasmic mate rial, nucleic acids and proteins.. As demonstrated by the mass spectrum results obtained by Zhang et al, oxidative stress occurs when there is a decrease in antioxidant concentration (such as GSH)3. The consumption of GSH occurs in the presence of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which are typically composed of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), superoxide anions (O2*), hydroxyl radical (OH*) or singlet molecular oxygen species(1O2)1. When the antioxidants (such as GSH) are depleted the ROS compounds will then cause oxidation of key lipids in the cell membrane, proteins or even nucleic acids. The formation of the ROS compounds occurs due to the very nature of GO. When graphite is oxidized to form graphite oxide, the basal plane obtains additional defects as the result of the loss of à Ã¢â€š ¬-conjugation. This loss of à Ã¢â€š ¬-conjugation occurs due to the introduction of the oxygenated functional groups such as epoxides and hydroxyl groups which creates sp3 hybridized carbons. The introduction of the sp3 carbons alters the planer geometry of the basal plane by introducing tetrahedral carbons, creating defects in the lateral edges and basal plane. Additional defects can also be introduced as mentioned in the previous section when the size of the GO material is decreased. As the size of the sheets decreases the ability of the GO to stay as a perfect hexagonal structure also diminishes as the structure gets distorted to accommodate the smaller size. The process of oxidative stress begins with the formation of ROS compounds. Oxygen is absorbed to the surface of the basal plane or lateral edges at the defects sites to form surface oxides. These surface oxides release ROS species in the presence of antioxidants as a result of a redox reaction. In the presence of GSH (an antioxidant found in E. coli), the surface oxides found on GO are reduced by an electron transfer from GSH. Another GSH molecule will then donate a proton to the ROS species, causing its reduction and subsequent release of a water molecule.5 The deprotonated GSH molecule will then react with another GSH molecule to form glutathione disulphide. If GSH is not available, the ROS species will then oxidize the lipids in the cell membrane to form as a lipid peroxide radical causing oxidative stress to the cell membrane. This oxidative stress will continue down the cell membrane until the lipid peroxide radical encounters an antioxidant bound to the cell membrane such as V itamin E. It is important to keep in mind that with an increased amount of free oxygen radicals the extent of oxidative stress increases and the overall cell integrity decreases. As mentioned earlier, the size and shape of the GO plays a key role in determine the extent of the oxidative stress. As the size of the GO material decreases from 0.065 to 0.01 µm2 the amount of surface defects increases. Again this is due to the loss of the conjugation and destruction of the basal plane. With the smaller GO material the presence of additional defects allows for the formation of many more surface oxides that can later be reduced to form ROS compounds. These ROS compounds then will continue to deplete the antioxidants and lead to further lipid peroxidation. This effect will continue until enough oxidative stress exists to cause the membrane to collapse and bacterial death to occur. Perreault and team demonstrated this effect when they examined through Raman spectroscopy and cell viability testing that the size of the GO material plays a critical role in the ability of the material to induce oxidative stress. Figure 6 shows that as the size of the sheet decreases, the amount of disorder due to the defects (D band) increases. Therefore there is a direct correlation to number of defects and the ability of GO to form ROS species that interact with GSH. This is further confirmed with the graph in figure 6a which shows the %loss of GSH decreases with the increase in GO size. Therefore it not only the nanoknives that that are influenced by the size of GO but also oxidative stress due to the adsorbed oxygen and ROS formation. As demonstrated through the various studies conducted by Nada et al, Zhang et.al, and Yusong et al the key antibacterial mechanisms of GO are cutting via nanoknives, phospholipid extraction and oxidative stress that contribute to the overall antibacterial properties of GO. The research to date indicates it is not a single mechanism that creates the antibacterial properties of GO but a combination of all factors. How much antibacterial is dependent on the physical size of GO plays and the number of defects in the basal surface and lateral edges. As the size of GO decreases a larger degree of surface defects forms. These defects play two important roles in the antimicrobial properties of GO. First, an increase in surface defects creates an increase in the number of sharp edges that causes a loss of cellular membrane integrity. Directly, the cell membrane is compromised by the penetration of the nano-knives resulting in intracellular leakage of the cytoplasm, amino acids, proteins and n ucleic acids, Indirectly, once the nano-knives cut into the cell membrane it becomes embedded through attractive force between the hydrophobic tails of the cell membranes phospholipids and basal plane promotes phospholipid extraction. This extraction causes a decrease in cell membrane density which further breaks down the membrane causing additional intracellular leakage of key nucleic acids, cytoplasm and proteins. Lastly, the increase in surface defects of the basal plane increases the presence of reactive oxygen species. These species will react with any antioxidant present in the bacterial cell depleting their levels. Once depleted or reduced, the ROS will cause oxidation of the cell membrane lipids leading to a chain reaction of oxidative stress through the cell membrane. This also will lead to a loss of cell membrane integrity and intracellular leakage of key proteins and nucleic acids responsible for cell growth and replication. Without this material the bacteria cell will di e leading to the antibacterial properties observed in GO. With the development of drug resistant bacteria, new and inventive ways to treat bacterial infections need to be explored. GO with its unique chemical and physical properties show much promise as the next antibacterial treatment. Additional studies need to be conducted to determine the cytotoxicity of GO in animals and humans in order to development new treatment therapies. Zou,X.; Zhang, L.; Wang, Z., Luo, Y. Mechanisms of the Antimicrobial Activities of Graphene Materials. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, 138, 2064-2077 Nada, S.S; Yi, D.K; Kim, K. Study of antibacterial mechanisms of graphene oxide using Raman spectroscopy. Sci. Rep. 2016, 6, 28443; doi: 10.103,srep28443 Zhang, N.; Hou, j.; Chen, S.; Xiong, C.; Liu, H.; Jin, Y.; Wang, J.; He, Q.; Zhao, R.; Nie, Z.. Rapidly probing antibacterial activity of Graphene oxide by Mass Spectrometry-based metabolite fingerprinting Sci. Rep. 2016, 6, 28045; doi: 10.1038,srep28085 Yusong, T.; Lv, M.; Xiu; Huynh, T.; Zhang, M.; Castelli, M.; Liu, Z.; Huang, Q.; Fan, C.; Fang, H.; Zhou, R. Destructive extraction of phospholipids from Escherichia coli membranes by graphene nanosheets. Nat. Nanotechnol. 2013, 8, 594-601, doi:10.1038/nnano.2013.125 Perreault, F.; Fonseca de Faria, A.; Nejati, S.; Elimelech, M. Antimicrobial Properties of Graphene Oxide Nanosheets: Why Size Matters. ACS Nano. 2015, 7, 7226-7236

Cognitive Interventions Essay

The only thing that tells everyone apart from everyone else is each person’s genetic make-up. And there is only one exception and that would identical twins, because no two people are the same. This can be said true about the way we all think. There is no one person that thinks the same as the next person. People believe that we are all born innocent and that we are pure in thoughts and in behavior. There are many different factors that can and sometimes do influence how a person is controlled by his/her cognitive ability to think before acting. There are people who do a better than others can. There are people who have certain psychological problems that seek out help from a therapist to get a handle on their problems. One of most popular therapy would be cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). The base of this theory is that some of the behaviors are caused by a person’s inner thoughts or by mental inability to deal with problems or events in our lives. In this paper, I will summarize the article â€Å"Abuse-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Child Physical Abuse,† that describe Abuse-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (AF-CBT) and the use of AF-CBT in adolescent anger management. Article Summary Childhood anger can be tiger by many different factors, thoughts or even events during a child early life. A young child is not able to express their feels in a correct way, so they have problems in dealing with their anger. This could also be that they were never taught by his/her parents how to handle their emotions. A good example would be a friend of mine that has a child with some deep rooted problems, When Sam get angry he will not able to express how he feels so he acts out towards anyone that is near him. At Christmas time I brought him a soccer ball that he wanted and when he opened it he just threw it to one side, so he was punishment, sent to his room, when he came out the looks in his eyes just plain scared me. I have seen that look in a person who just committed a murder. Cold and dark look is what this child has. Most children with this type of problems, it could be a result of abuse in the home by one or both parents, and the type of abuse could be physical or sexual. At the time of the abuse the child may feel that they could not fight off the person who is abusing him or they are so scared to tell anyone. When this time of situation has occurred the child is not able to handle so they will out and get into trouble. They may start getting into trouble at school, start handling out with the wrong crowds and getting into serious trouble with the law. The child may become involved with sex, alcohol and drugs, sometimes the child could turn out to be an abuser also. Children will do this to get away from their home life and the pain. If the abuse was discover at an early age, and then the child can be remove from the home and has a better chance to get therapy and could turn out to normal. This way the hate and anger can be redirected to a more positive avenue. It difficult for a child to understand why things happened to them and but to be able to speak to someone that can be able to help them understand that it was no their fault and help them heal their emotional wounds. Unfortunately, the affective of the abuse may follow the person throughout their life in many different forms. It can affect their children and even their partners. They may became have problems like becoming overweight so they will not be attractive to men. They also can be very sexually active. Being in therapy as a child they can be with other children that have been threw the same as the child and could help to release their anger, it could also help them from staying away from trouble and from hanging out with the wrong people. This would help the child to focus more on school and what is important to the child. The cognitive behavior theory is known to help child that are victims of abuse cases whether it is physical or sexual and the parents that are the abusers, that may help them to reestablish a relationship between parents and children. Abuse-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy  The main usage of the Abuse-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (AF-CBT) is working with children and their families that have suffered sexual or physical abuse; the environment is very hostile, the child may be subject coercion and are aggression when the family is present. AF-CBT is also used for children with behavioral problems such as Conduct Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder. AF-CBT is right for children who are the ages of 5-15, who exhibit some level of behavioral or emotional dysfunction and for parents or caregivers who may resort to uncomfortable or unsafe levels of physical punishment. The goal of this therapy is to reduce the level of physical abuse risk factors of the caregiver or family and to reduce the consequences of these experiences for the children. The primary focus is behavior management, social skills, training, cognitive restructuring, problem-solving skills, and communications skills for the caregiver’s level of anger and promote nonaggressive discipline strategies, to enhance a child’s coping skills, and encourage problem-solving and communication. There are three stages of AF-CBT process, each of the steps consisting in multiple steps that involve the child and the parent(s) separately and jointly. This type of treatment would be taken place as outpatient or in a setting that ongoing contact with the caregiver and the child. The treatment should take place twice a week for approximately three to six months. Abuse-Focus Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in an Adolescent Anger-Management, the important part is to be able know how to control anger. Everyone can control their anger and being angry is a normal part of life. Just like everyone else, adolescent are no exception. The only exception is that adolescent can take their anger to the extreme and their action may not be called normal when angered. There is one way to help the adolescent to control their anger is by cognitive therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy can occur in many different ways, the most common is the one-to-one talk with the adolescents. Once the problem is out in the open, the therapist may give the adolescent advice and to show how to control or redirected their anger. It is a success when one discovers the problem using the cognitive behavioral therapy. Now that the adolescent is able to control their anger it more benefit for those who are around the adolescent, it does benefit both parties. With aggressive or violent behavior the AF-CBT will target in three ways in which people can deal with the situations: 1) Cognition (thinking), 2) Affect (feeling), and 3) Behavior (doing). AF-CBT use many different techniques that are used by practitioners, such as behavior and anger management, problem solving, social skills training, and cognitive restructuring. All programs require proper training in different areas, especially with psychological skills so that enhancing interpersonal effectiveness and self-control is maintained. Conclusion The article explains to us how to deal with child and adolescent in dealing with their anger due to physical or sexual abuse to them and to be able overcome their anger and to deal with feelings as well as their families. The primary goal of AF-CBT is to reduce other behavioral problems in children and adolescent when they grow-up.

The Gifted

Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love. † Mother Teresa A day of extending the service of love was once again showed by the grantees to the children of orgy. Barras, Stop. NIH. It was a day full of happiness that the grantees, though they didn't have expensive things to share, and fancy gifts to give, didn't fail the children experience the feeling of being loved through sharing with them the Joy and laughter that no amount of money could ever buy.It was a day of fun when the renters conducted several activities in cooperation with the Christ the King College- College of Teacher Education Graduating Class of 2013. The KC-CITE together with the grantees of Cassis Development Foundation had an outreach program exclusively for the students of Barras Elementary and Secondary Schools. The grantees were able to show their spirit of generosity not Just by sharing largesse to the learners of Bray. Barras but also by giving them knowledge and under standing of things that are still alien to them, giving them awareness of the scholarships offered at Christ the KingCollege, most specifically the Cassis Development Foundation, and of course sharing with them a barrel of laughs. Just looking into the eyes of those children, their eagerness and enthusiasm of pursuing their studies and the realization by themselves that cried how unfortunate they were not to do so because of financial instability made the hearts of the grantees moved†¦ And this was the highlight of their visit on that place. Subsequently, the only thing that emanated to the grantees was to open the gates for them by sharing with the learners the idea that both sides share the same sentiments specially before.The grantees disclosed with them their past stories before they became grantees, the grantees wanted the learners to understand that in every problem there will always be a solution, that there is always a chance for the unfortunate, and a hope to those who believe. The UDF grantees gave inspiration to the learners to not lose hope but fight instead to whatever circumstances they may be facing for life is sometimes cruel but it can yield the sweetest thing if one learns how to look into its positive side. The outreach program did not Just wake up the hearts and minds of the people in orgy.Barras but it also rough them enlightenment unto which path to go through and it was really an honor that the Cassis grantees were also a part of that realization in their lives. Through the grantees' initiative of uncovering their life stories for the sake of giving the students the encouragement and motivation to continue to the course of their lives through educating themselves, truly they presented their being of a teacher with Franciscan values with them. The grantees believe that they can make a difference through commencing with simple things, thus, according to Napoleon Hill, whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.

Herbert Spencer Quotations on Education

Herbert Spencer  was an English philosopher, prolific writer, and advocate of education, science over religion, and evolution. He wrote four essays on education and is known for espousing that science is the knowledge of the greatest worth. Herbert Spenser Quotations â€Å"Mother, when your children are irritable, do not make them more so by scolding and fault-finding, but correct their irritability by good nature and mirthfulness. Irritability comes from errors in food, bad air, too little sleep, a necessity for change of scene and surroundings; from confinement in close rooms, and lack of sunshine.† â€Å"The great aim of education is not knowledge, but action.† â€Å"For discipline, as well as for guidance, science is of chiefest value. In all its effects, learning the meaning of things is better than learning the meaning of words.† â€Å"Those who have never entered upon scientific pursuits know not a tithe of the poetry by which they are surrounded.† â€Å"Education has for its object the formation of character.† â€Å"Science is organized knowledge.† â€Å"People are beginning to see that the first requisite to success in life is to be a good animal.† â€Å"In science the important thing is to modify and change ones ideas as science advances.† â€Å"The behavior of men to the lower animals, and their behavior to each other, bear a constant relationship.† â€Å"It cannot but happen†¦that those will survive whose functions happen to be most nearly in equilibrium with the modified aggregate of external forces†¦This survival of the fittest implies multiplication of the fittest.† â€Å"Progress, therefore, is not an accident, but a necessity†¦It is a part of nature.† â€Å"The survival of the fittest, which I have here sought to express in mechanical terms, is that which Mr. Darwin has called natural selection, or the preservation of favored races in the struggle for life. â€Å"When a mans knowledge is not in order, the more of it he has, the greater will be his confusion.† â€Å"Never educate a child to be a gentleman or lady alone, but to be a man, a woman.† â€Å"How often misused words generate misleading thoughts.† â€Å"The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly, is to fill the world with fools.† â€Å"Every cause produces more than one effect.† â€Å"Government is essentially immoral.† â€Å"Life is the continuous adjustment of internal relations to external relations.† â€Å"Music must take rank as the highest of the fine arts - as the one which, more than any other, ministers to the human spirit.† â€Å"No one can be perfectly free till all are free; no one can be perfectly moral till all are moral; no one can be perfectly happy till all are happy. â€Å"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance - that principle is contempt prior to investigation.† â€Å"Much dearer be the things which come through hard distress.† â€Å"We too often forget that not only is there a soul of goodness in things evil, but very generally a soul of truth in things erroneous.† â€Å"Our lives are universally shortened by our ignorance.† â€Å"Be bold, be bold, and everywhere be bold.†