Einstein is drawing a distinction most of us miss: the difference between information and formation. Memorizing the capitals of Europe or the quadratic formula is mere scaffolding that eventually crumbles, but the *habit of thinking rigorously* — the patience to sit with a problem, the willingness to be wrong — that sticks with you for life. A person who forgot every biology fact but learned how to observe carefully and ask better questions has gotten the real education. Watch someone troubleshoot a broken appliance: they're not recalling a manual, they're deploying a manner of mind, a kind of intellectual persistence, that was forged in classrooms long ago.