Following the excellent response to my collection of inspiring quotes about learning from last month, I’ve collected another round-up of famous quotes on the topic. Read on for another round of encouragement from wise thinkers, past and present!
- Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young. – Henry Ford
As with everything in life, moving forwards and making progress is what keeps things interesting, and keeps you full of energy. Stop learning and things stop being interesting – which is especially true in language learning, where doing the same few exercises again and again will make you tired of it.
- You cannot open a book without learning something. – Confucius
A very simple but effective point – there are lessons to be found everywhere. Just as every book contains a lesson, everything you do can be used to help you learn.
- I never learned from a man who agreed with me. – Robert A. Heinlein
And an important consideration for arguments and difficulties in learning – it’s the challenges, and opposing views, that really consolidate what you know (or think you know!).
- I never learn anything talking. I only learn things when I ask questions. – Lou Holtz
Likewise it is when you challenge thinking that you learn most. Asking questions encourages you to engage with topics. You can’t get a true understanding of rules unless you ask why.
- The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn. – Gloria Steinem
Which leads onto the flipside – the basics that you learn must also be challenged. This is true of centuries of prejudices our society’s might have developed that need unlearning, it’s also true of the tricks we are all taught early on in learning which become traps later, when you see they’ve oversimplified matters.
- True, a little learning is a dangerous thing, but it still beats total ignorance. – Pauline Phillips
…that said, don’t give up on the cheap tricks if that’s all you have! Until you can gain a true understanding, a little knowledge is better than none. Just as long as you keep expanding on it and don’t blindly stick to the first ideas you have.
- Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow. – William Pollard
An important point in continuing to challenge your ideas. Learning is never a static thing, complacency is dangerous.
- Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow. – Anthony J. D’Angelo
Returning to the idea of the youth and energy learning can give you, on the flipside finding a way to engage in your education in a meaningful way will always keep you going, and growing.
- Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn’t know. – Daniel J. Boorstin
And true growth comes in this point – not just learning things you see as important, but learning about new things you need to learn!
- There are no mistakes. The events we bring upon ourselves, no matter how unpleasant, are necessary in order to learn what we need to learn; whatever steps we take, they’re necessary to reach the places we’ve chosen to go. – Richard Bach
This is such an important point to end on – never look at the things that go wrong as mistakes, they are all learning opportunities. And never be afraid to make mistakes, otherwise you will greatly limit those opportunities to learn!
Feeling inspired to keep learning? Good. You can find a wealth of more quotes here. And do let me know what other quotes you’ve heard that help inspire you.
