“When you find a writer who really is saying something to you, read everything that writer has written and you will get more education and depth of understanding out of that than reading a scrap here and a scrap there and elsewhere. Then go to people who influenced that writer, or those who were related to him, and your world builds together in an organic way that is really marvelous.”
Joseph Campbell, The Hero’s Journey
“The best thing for being sad… is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honor trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting.”
T.H. White, The Once and Future King
“[On learning how to play the banjo] I thought, if I stay with it, then one day I will have been playing for forty years, and anyone who sticks with something for forty years will be pretty good at it.”
Steve Martin, via So Good They Can’t Ignore You (Page 98)
37 Transformative Quotes On Failure To Consider For Your Success
Excerpt: Failure isn’t losing—it’s learning. Those who live by this principle succeed more. Our 37 quotes on failure will transform your perspective.
Read More »37 Transformative Quotes On Failure To Consider For Your Success
“If you want to learn, if you want to improve your life, seeking out teachers, philosophers, and great books is a good start. But this approach will only be effective if you’re humble and ready to let go of opinions you already have.”
Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic (Page 113)
“It’s almost always better to learn from peers who are 2 years ahead of you than mentors who are 20 years ahead of you. Life evolves and most insights get outdated.”
James Clear, Blog
“When an apprentice gets hurt, or complains of being tired, the workmen and peasants have this fine expression: ‘It is the trade entering his body.’ Each time that we have some pain to go through, we can say to ourselves quite truly that it is the universe, the order and beauty of the world, and the obedience of God that are entering our body.”
Simone Weil, Waiting For God, via Sunbeams (Page 75)
“I read an article a few years ago that said when you practice a sport a lot, you literally become a broadband: the nerve pathway in your brain contains a lot more information. As soon as you stop practicing, the pathway begins shrinking back down. Reading that changed my life. I used to wonder, Why am I doing these sets, getting on a stage? Don’t I know how to do this already? The answer is no. You must keep doing it. The broadband starts to narrow the moment you stop.”
Jerrry Seinfeld, via The Happiness of Pursuit (Page 162)
“A degree on a wall means you’re educated as much as shoes on your feet mean you’re walking. It’s a start, but hardly sufficient. Just as you can walk plenty well without shoes, you don’t need to step into a classroom to understand the basic, fundamental reality of nature and of our proper role in it.”
Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic (Page 92)
“Self-deception, delusions of grandeur—these aren’t just annoying personality traits. Ego is more than just off-putting and obnoxious. Instead, it’s the sworn enemy of our ability to learn and grow.”
Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic (Page 84)
40 Astonishing Quotes on Reading To Remind You Of The Magic Of Books
Excerpt: Have you forgotten of the astonishing magic of books? Oh no! You mustn’t scroll past this list until you read our quotes on reading! Quickly!
Read More »40 Astonishing Quotes on Reading To Remind You Of The Magic Of Books
“We do not learn only from great minds; we learn from everyone, if only we observe and inquire. I received my greatest lesson in aesthetics from an old man in an Athenian taverna. Night after night he sat alone at the same table, drinking his wine with precisely the same movements. I finally asked him why he did this and he said, ‘Young man, I first look at my glass to please my eyes, then I take it in my hand to please my hand, then I bring it to my nose to please my nostrils, and I am just about to bring it to my lips when I hear a small voice in my ears, ‘How about me?’ So I tap my glass on the table before I drink from it. I thus please all five senses.'”
C. A. Doxiadis, Sunbeams (Page 29)
13 Poignant Tara Westover Quotes from Educated
Excerpt: From one of the most acclaimed books of our time, these 13 Tara Westover quotes from Educated are poignant, powerful, and well worth the read.
Read More »13 Poignant Tara Westover Quotes from Educated
Epictetus Quote on Learning and How Our Willingness To Appear Clueless Is Key To Maintaining Curiosity
“If you wish to improve, be content to appear clueless or stupid in extraneous matters—don’t wish to seem knowledgeable.”
Epictetus, The Daily Stoic (Page 38)
Beyond the Quote (Day 395)
The moment you believe yourself to be knowledgable is the moment you kill curiosity. After all, if you know, you know. What more is there to be curious about? You can only be curious about things you don’t already know. Or, maybe better said, if you think you already know, then there’s no more “know” to add. The problem with believing you know is that it implies the task is completed. It’s a statement of being done. But, acquiring knowledge/ learning is lifelong—never something that is completed. Which is precisely why you shouldn’t even wish to seem knowledgable in any area of your life.
Read More »Epictetus Quote on Learning and How Our Willingness To Appear Clueless Is Key To Maintaining CuriosityTara Westover Quote on How Education Is About More Than Making A Living
“An education is not so much about making a living as making a person.”
Tara Westover, Educated
Beyond the Quote (Day 394)
We don’t come into this world already made—we come into this world ready to be made. We are not finished when we are born, we are born so that we can start. We are not a masterpiece that is revealed once born—we are a pile of puzzle pieces which reveal a masterpiece once assembled. If we truly want to understand who we are, this is the reality of our situation. Our identity is not just given—it’s a reward that has to be earned. And the process of assembling this puzzle isn’t simple nor is it easy.
Read More »Tara Westover Quote on How Education Is About More Than Making A LivingJohn Dewey Quote on Education and How The Process and The Goal Are One And The Same
“I believe finally, that education must be conceived as a continuing reconstruction of experience; that the process and the goal of education are one and the same thing.”
John Dewey, Educated
Beyond the Quote (Day 390)
Becoming educated and getting a degree are two different goals. What most of us have been taught to aspire to isn’t education—it’s accreditation. We’re taught that what’s most important isn’t what you learn along the way, but what paper you receive at the end—the one that says you’ve been “educated” by this College or that University. Which isn’t exactly unreasonable as those educational institutions are supposed to represent a certain standard of education. But, at the end of the day, after all of the “accreditations” have been handed out, what matters most isn’t the paper in and of itself—it’s the person behind the paper.
Read More »John Dewey Quote on Education and How The Process and The Goal Are One And The SameEducated: A Memoir [Book]
Book Overview: Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home.
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Post(s) Inspired by this Book:
- 13 Poignant Tara Westover Quotes from Educated
- Tara Westover Quote on How Education Is About More Than Making A Living (Beyond the Quote Day 394)
- John Dewey Quote on Education and How The Process and The Goal Are One And The Same (Beyond the Quote Day 390)
Seth Godin Quote on Learning and How School Can Get In The Way Of Our Education
“As soon as we associate reading a book with taking a test, we’ve missed the point.”
Seth Godin, Whatcha Gonna Do With That Duck?
Beyond the Quote (Day 384)
Forcing yourself to learn is like trying to force the last of the ketchup out of the ketchup bottle. You can shake, squeeze, tap, and torture the bottle all you’d like, you simply won’t be able to get all of it out when in a rush. A lot of the ketchup will be stuck throughout the container and will only come out with time. This is why you flip the bottle upside down when you put it back away—so that gravity will move it down for the next time. Learning works the same way.
Read More »Seth Godin Quote on Learning and How School Can Get In The Way Of Our Education“A tree growing out of the ground is as wonderful today as it ever was. It does not need to adopt new and startling methods.”
Robert Henri, Sunbeams (Page 14)