What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the soul.

The saying likens education to a sculptor’s work: just as carving reveals a form latent in raw marble, learning shapes a person’s inner life—judgment, character, taste, and moral sensibility—out of unformed potential. The metaphor implies that the soul is not merely filled with information but refined through discipline and guidance, with education acting as an art that brings order and proportion to what is otherwise rough. It also suggests an optimistic view of human perfectibility: with proper cultivation, individuals can become something nobler and more coherent than their initial state.