World Teachers Day
A teacher talks to her students on the first day back to school at the National School of Tabarre, in the commune of Tabarre, in the Haitian capital Port au Prince, on Sept. 5, 2016. Getty Images

Thursday is World Teachers Day, an occasion marked to celebrate the educators that help people learn and shape their future.

World Teachers Day, which is celebrated on Oct. 5, was created by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1994 to celebrate the educators in the world. The day is marked each year in recognition of the special intergovernmental conference convened by UNESCO in Paris that adopted the UNESCO/ILO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers on that date in 1966.

This day is celebrated by paying respects to teachers for shaping the lives of children.

On this day, UNESCO holds an annual conference in Paris where it hands out the Hamdan Prize awards.

"The 2017 edition of World Teachers’ Day will also celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 1997 UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel with a special focus on institutional autonomy and academic freedom to encompass this year's slogan 'Teaching in Freedom, Empowering Teachers'," according to the UNESCO website.

Here are some quotes to celebrate the impact of teachers and education, courtesy BrainyQuotes.

1. "It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge." — physicist Albert Einstein

2. "Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world." — Malala Yousafzai

3. "The thing I loved the most — and still love the most about teaching — is that you can connect with an individual or a group, and see that individual or group exceed their limits." — Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski

4. "Teaching is a very noble profession that shapes the character, caliber, and future of an individual. If the people remember me as a good teacher, that will be the biggest honor for me. — Former President of India A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

5. "A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." — historian Henry Adams

6. "The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called 'truth'." — journalist Dan Rather

7. "We discovered that education is not something which the teacher does, but that it is a natural process which develops spontaneously in the human being." — educational philosopher Maria Montessori

8. "I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit." — author John Steinbeck

9. "Teachers can change lives with just the right mix of chalk and challenges" — author Joyce Meyer

10. "I think the teaching profession contributes more to the future of our society than any other single profession." — former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden

11. "Teaching is a profession in which capacity building should occur at every stage of the career - novices working with accomplished colleagues, skillful teachers sharing their craft, and opportunities for teacher leadership." — attorney Randi Weingarten

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