That writers all over Europe had begun to draw conclusions about the power of education from the new sensationalist epistemology is clear. The late seventeenth-century English philosopher John Locke was quick to draw the educational implications from his insights about the workings of the human mind and the learning process. After formulating his famous thesis that the mind was like a blank slate—a passive absorber of facts presented by the world around, he also went on to describe the ideal educational methods. Later educational theorists drew heavily on the ideas of Locke and his followers. Perhaps the inference drawn by the notorious French materialist philosopher Helvetius—"L'éducation peut tout!" (Education can do anything!)—went farther than most people were prepared to go. But William Godwin's restatement at the end of the century—"If education cannot do everything, it can do much"—reflected a widespread opinion. Faith in the power of the proper childhood socialization fed into an educational reform movement that gradually supplanted official indifference or hostility toward education.

— Schooling in Western Europe by Mary Jo Maynes (Page 40)