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Who really said it

There are two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live

Not John Adams — actually James Truslow Adams James Truslow Adams 1878–1949 · American historian and writer
Disputed Free to reuse

Written by the historian James Truslow Adams, not by President John Adams. It appears in his essay “To ‘Be’ or to ‘Do’: A Note on American Education” in The Forum, June 1929, which we checked in a scan of the issue. His original sentence begins “There are obviously two educations.”

Last verified 2 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Disputed credit — copy with the correction

“There are two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live” James Truslow Adams, “To ‘Be’ or to ‘Do’: A Note on American Education,” The Forum, June 1929 (often misattributed to John Adams) · Verbatim: “There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living, and the other how to live.”

The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to John Adams. Use the credit shown above instead.

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In context

Evoking the world of James Truslow Adams — American historian and writer. Theme: "There are two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

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Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "There are two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

The documented source

Essay
To “Be” or to “Do”: A Note on American Education
Author
James Truslow Adams
Published in
The Forum, vol. 81, no. 6 (June 1929), p. 325
Popular wording
Shortened: drops “obviously” and the comma after “living”

There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living, and the other how to live. Surely these should never be confused in the mind of any man who has the slightest inkling of what culture is. For most of us it is essential that we should make a living. The Forum, June 1929

Transcribed from the scan of the June 1929 Forum on the Internet Archive. The essay then argues that training for a trade or profession is “merely learning how to make a living,” while a liberal education should teach people “how to live and how to get the best out of living.”

Scanned magazine issue
The Forum, June 1929 (Vol. 81, Iss. 6) on the Internet Archive
The Forum, June 1929, full scan on the Internet Archive

How we traced it

  • Wikiquote’s sourced quotes for James Truslow Adams give the full passage and cite “To ‘Be’ or to ‘Do’,” The Forum, vol. 81, no. 6 (June 1929), p. 325. Wikiquote: James Truslow Adams ↗
  • The scan of the June 1929 Forum opens with “To ‘Be’ or to ‘Do’: A Note on American Education, by James Truslow Adams,” and the essay contains the sentence word for word, with “obviously.” Internet Archive full text ↗
  • Wikiquote’s page for President John Adams lists the line under “Misattributed” and credits James Truslow Adams. It notes the line is “sometimes rendered” without “obviously.” Wikiquote: John Adams ↗
  • Wikipedia’s article on James Truslow Adams says the quote “is widely misattributed to John Adams” and comes from his June 1929 Forum essay. Wikipedia: James Truslow Adams ↗
Public domain

The sentence was first published in James Truslow Adams’s essay in The Forum for June 1929. That is before the 1931 cutoff, so the text is in the public domain in the United States.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Fact-check

Why it gets pinned on John Adams

Two famous Americans named Adams, and a line about education that sounds like a Founding Father: the sentence has drifted from a 1920s historian to the second president. On the way it also lost a word.

John Adams (1735–1826) Wrong person

Quote sites and the press credit the president. For example, CBS News ran the shortened line as its “Quote for the Day” on October 16, 2006, attributed to John Adams. CBS News, 2006 ↗ Wikiquote lists it under “Misattributed” on his page. Wikiquote ↗

“Discourses on Davila, 1790” Unsupported

Some quote pages give John Adams’s Discourses on Davila as the source. One such page notes that the source “has not yet been checked against the original.” Example ↗ We searched the full text of the 1805 edition of Discourses on Davila and found no use of the word “educations.” 1805 edition on the Internet Archive ↗

“There are two educations…” Trimmed

The popular wording drops “obviously” and the comma after “living.” The 1929 original reads “There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living, and the other how to live.” 1929 text ↗

The author is James Truslow Adams, in “To ‘Be’ or to ‘Do’: A Note on American Education,” The Forum, June 1929. Wikiquote ↗

Context

What he was arguing

The line opens a key passage in a 1929 essay that, as Wikipedia puts it, is “very critical of American education, both in school and at the university level.” James Truslow Adams called himself an outsider who had never been a teacher. He argued that schools and colleges were confusing two different goals. Wikipedia ↗

In his view, training for a trade or profession is useful but is “merely learning how to make a living.” A liberal education should help people learn “how to live and how to get the best out of living,” and he called that a lifelong task. The Forum, June 1929 ↗

It is merely learning how to make a living.

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Filed under

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Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Wikiquote: James Truslow Adamsen.wikiquote.org

Sourced entry with the full passage and its Forum citation (vol. 81, no. 6, June 1929, p. 325)
Wikiquote: John Adams, Misattributeden.wikiquote.org

Lists the line as misattributed to the president and credits James Truslow Adams
The Forum, June 1929 (scan)archive.org

Full scan of the issue that contains the essay “To ‘Be’ or to ‘Do’”
Wikipedia: James Truslow Adamsen.wikipedia.org

Biography, with a section on the “two educations” misattribution
Discourses on Davila (1805 edition)archive.org

John Adams’s work that some sites name as the source; the line is not in it

The author

About James Truslow Adams

James Truslow Adams

1878–1949 · American historian and writer

James Truslow Adams was an American writer and historian, born in Brooklyn. He worked in investment banking before he became a freelance author. He won a Pulitzer Prize for History for The Founding of New England, and he coined the phrase “American Dream” in The Epic of America (1931). Wikipedia traces his family line to a Maryland settler, Francis Adams, and gives no link to the family of President John Adams.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source

James Truslow Adams, “To ‘Be’ or to ‘Do’: A Note on American Education,” The Forum 81, no. 6 (June 1929): 325.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘There are two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live’?” Last verified 2 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/there-are-two-educations-one-should-teach-us-how-to-make-a/

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