“Well, hell, I don’t know how people like Charles Dickens and Abe Lincoln ever managed to get an education. Maybe they were just faking it.”
Well, let’s see, Dickens had the advantage of a private education for part of his childhood and he also had a photographic memory. Both Lincoln, who, of course, was largely self-educated, and Dickens were much brighter than the average person.
But dumb or average people need lots of school supplies! I guess that's to make up for the lack of reading skills.