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Education Quote by Robert Powell

"There is no teaching to compare with example"

About this Quote

The line lands with the quiet authority of someone whose job is literally to embody ideas, not argue them. Coming from an actor, "There is no teaching to compare with example" reads less like a classroom maxim and more like an industry truth: people don’t learn from speeches, they learn from what you dare to do in front of them. Acting is apprenticeship by osmosis. You watch how a performer holds silence, takes direction, treats a crew member, survives a bad take, then you steal what works. Example is instruction with receipts.

The intent is bluntly practical. Powell isn’t romanticizing inspiration; he’s asserting a hierarchy. Advice is cheap. Demonstration is costly. An example requires risk, consistency, and visibility - all the things that make morality, leadership, or craft impossible to fake for long. The subtext carries a warning, too: if you want to be taken seriously as a teacher (or a parent, a boss, a public figure), your behavior is already the syllabus. Your contradictions teach louder than your principles.

Context matters. Powell’s best-known work, playing Jesus in Jesus of Nazareth, sits at the crossroads of performance and moral instruction, where audiences aren’t just entertained - they’re watching for a model. That kind of role sharpens the point: belief spreads through enactment. In a culture saturated with commentary and "takes", the quote feels like a corrective. Stop explaining your values. Stage them.

Quote Details

TopicTeaching
Source
Later attribution: Bridging Learning (Mandia Mentis, Marilyn Dunn-Bernstein..., 2009) modern compilationISBN: 9781452272245 · ID: FcUEl98lfCkC
Text match: 95.00%   Provider: Google Books
Evidence:
... counselors make more informed recommendations to clients. FEUERSTEIN'S THEORY IN MEDIATING COMPARISON Feuerstein's (1980) theory focuses on. “There is no teaching to compare with example.” —Robert Powell. 14. BRIDGING LEARNING.
Other candidates (1)
Aids to Scoutmastership (Robert Powell, 1920)50.0%
There is no teaching to compare with example. If the Scoutmaster himself conspicuously carries out the Scout Law in a...
Cite

Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Powell, Robert. (2026, February 21). There is no teaching to compare with example. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/there-is-no-teaching-to-compare-with-example-122034/

Chicago Style
Powell, Robert. "There is no teaching to compare with example." FixQuotes. February 21, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/there-is-no-teaching-to-compare-with-example-122034/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"There is no teaching to compare with example." FixQuotes, 21 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/there-is-no-teaching-to-compare-with-example-122034/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2026.

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About the Author

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Robert Powell (born June 1, 1944) is a Actor from United Kingdom.

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