"I doubt whether classical education ever has been or can be successfully carried out without corporal punishment"

This quote by George Orwell suggests that he believes that classical education can not succeed without making use of corporal punishment. He is indicating that physical punishment is necessary in order to make sure that students find out and follow the mentors of classical education. This quote shows the standard view of education in the past, where physical punishment was viewed as an effective method to discipline trainees and make sure that they find out. Nevertheless, in modern-day times, this view has been mostly abandoned in favor of more favorable forms of discipline. While physical punishment might have been effective in the past, it is no longer viewed as an appropriate kind of discipline in many instructional settings.