Prayer is of first importance, nothing can substitute for it

I am glad you come a little nearer the good old Emperor's advice: 'Throw away that thirst for books.' That thirst is the symptom of an evil disease; and 'his own indulgence makes the dreadful dropsy grow.' What is the real value of a thing but the price it will bear in eternity! Let no study swallow up or entrench upon the hours of private prayer. Northing is of so much importance. Simplify both religion and every part of learning as much as possible. Be all alive to God, and you will be useful to men.

Rev. John Wesley letter to Joseph Benson, 1770

--> Note, Wesley did not disapprove of education. The first quote above is from Marcus Aurelius, the second from Horace. The product of education was to be a fruit offered to God rather than an idol to be substituted for the pursuit of true religion.<--