"Obedience is the primary object of all sound education"

Elizabeth Missing Sewell asserts that genuine education begins with obedience, placing it as the foundation upon which all learning is built. Her statement captures a nineteenth-century perspective where the cultivation of discipline and adherence to authority were seen as essential to forming the character and intellect of young people. By describing obedience as the "primary object", Sewell emphasizes that before acquiring knowledge, skills, or even critical faculties, children must first learn to respect rules, heed instruction, and submit their own impulses to the guidance of their teachers and elders.

Within this framework, obedience is not mere blind conformity. Rather, it is portrayed as a discipline that enables structured growth. Structure in education creates an environment where students can focus their energies, develop concentration, and internalize values. By learning to follow directions and to trust in the knowledge of those who teach them, students gain the stability and order necessary for higher learning to take place. Obedience, therefore, becomes the channel through which curiosity, intelligence, and creativity can later be cultivated and expressed in productive ways.

Underlying Sewell's perspective is the belief that societal and moral development depends upon the early instillation of self-control and respect for authority. This perspective reflects a time when education not only transmitted facts, but also social norms and ethical principles. Without obedience, Sewell implies, education is at risk of devolving into chaos, with students unprepared to integrate their learning into a coherent and responsible adulthood. Yet, while obedience forms the groundwork, it is not meant to be the end goal of education. Instead, it serves as a necessary stage, preparing the mind and character for subsequent stages, to question, to think independently, and eventually to exercise wise and principled autonomy. Thus, Sewell’s assertion highlights obedience as the critical starting point for all well-rounded, moral, and effective education.