“A little learning, indeed, may be a dangerous thing, but the want of learning is a calamity to any people.” – Frederick Douglass
This time of year is always marked with going back to school. Summer is over and the time for learning has come. Success-Minded People know that the learning really never stopped. You do not want to get schooling confused with learning. Einstein once said “The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.” That is very true and sadly our education is where our learning stops.
LEARNING MAKES THE DIFFERENCE
I am not about to bash formal education or the school system. Truth is I believe that people should get all the education they can and I tell young people how very important it is to stay in school. What I do want you to understand is that education and learning and not always the same thing and it is learning that will change your life, not education. For the Success-Minded Person who is open and egger to grow, learning is free, constant and never ending.
WHAT WILL I BE?
My wife and I went out to dinner and a movie with friend one evening. While waiting in the gift shop of the restaurant I overheard a young college student say to her friend, “I have been in school seven years and I still don’t know what I want to be.” I found that disturbing and heart breaking. Whose fault is that, the school or the student? Other than a paper that says she went to college, when this student graduates she will be no better off than when she started. I have met many people in my time as a coach and Pastor who had educations but little in the way of learning.
EDUCATION IS NOT THE END
I have also met many bright people who had little or no formal education but were well learned and are still learning. Coach John Wooden said “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” Far too many people think that if someone is without a college education they are somehow below the one with a BA, MA or PhD. Studies show that after getting a degree 43% of the people never read a book again. I have heard college grads say they will stop learning once they get their degree. To me that is a sign of an ignorant person, not a learned one. Learners are always taking in new information from books, other people, experiences, courses and many other sources. As Abigail Adams said, “Learning is not attained by chance; it must be sought for with diligence.”
Education is important but it is not an end in itself. Always be open to learn and grow every day of your life. Never allow the lack of formal education stop you from pursuing your dreams as well. It is what you learn and are learning that will make you into the person you need to be to succeed. One of my favorite authors, David Roper said it this way, “The disciplines of character and wisdom are the product of God’s grace, taught to us through the instruction of the Word and in the school of hard knocks.”
© 2011 John Patrick Hickey
