“I think it s fair to say that I don t pick up languages. If anything, I roll around in them gracelessly and pray that something sticks.”
“Learn the rules. And play by the rules.”
“There so much to learn from a single book.”
“My father did not have to trade dying alone for the joys of the road. My mother did not have to give up a journey of her own to have a home. Neither do I. Neither do you.”
“Internalizing problem-solving techniques enhances the neural activity that allows you to more easily hear the whispers of your growing intuition. When you know—really know—how to solve a problem just by looking at it, you’ve created a commanding chunk that sweeps like a song through your mind.”
“Maybe it doesn’t matter how smart you are or aren’t, but how much you are willing to learn.”
“People think of education as something that they can finish. And what’s more, when they finish, it’s a rite of passage. You’re finished with school. You’re no more a child, and therefore anything that reminds you of school - reading books, having ideas, asking questions - that’s kid’s stuff. Now you’re an adult, you don’t do that sort of thing any more. You have everybody looking forward to no longer learning, and you make them ashamed afterward of going back to learning. If you have a system of education using computers, then anyone, any age, can learn by himself, can continue to be interested. If you enjoy learning, there’s no reason why you should stop at a given age. People don’t stop things they enjoy doing just because they reach a certain age. What’s exciting is the actual process of broadening yourself, of knowing there’s now a little extra facet of the universe you know about and can think about and can understand. It seems to me that when it’s time to die, there would be a certain pleasure in thinking that you had utilized your life well, learned as much as you could, gathered in as much as possible of the universe, and enjoyed it. There’s only this one universe and only this one lifetime to try to grasp it. And while it is inconceivable that anyone can grasp more than a tiny portion of it, at least you can do that much. What a tragedy just to pass through and get nothing out of it.”
“Where is the land of Luthany, Where is the tract of Elenore? I am bound therefore. Pierce thy heart to find the key; With thee take Only what none else would keep; Learn to dream when thou dost wake; Learn to wake when thou dost sleep. Learn to water joy with tears, Learn from fears to vanquish fears; To hope, for thou dar st not despair; Exult, for that thou dar st not grieve; Plough thou the rock until it bear; Know, for thou else couldst not believe; Lose, that the lost thou may st receive; Die, for none other way canst live. When earth and heave lay down their veil, And that apocalypse turns thee pale; When thy seeing blindeth thee To what thy fellow-mortals see; When their sight to thee is sightless; Their living, death; their light, most lightless; Search no more-- Pass the gates of Luthany, Tread the region Elenore! Where is the land of Luthany? And where the region Elenore? I do faint therefore. When to the new eyes of thee All things by immortal power, Near or far, Hiddenly To each other linked are, That thou canst not stir a flower Without troubling of a star; When thy song is shield and mirror To the fair snake curled pain, Where thou dar st affront her terror That on her thou may st attain Persean Conquest; seek no more, O seek no more! Pass the gates of Luthany, Tread the region Elenore!”
“The pleasure of reading is indescribable.”
“Books are my greatest treasures.”
“If you read, you will transform your life.”
“We are all daughters of God in various stages of construction.”
“Education is neither writing on a blank slate nor allowing the child s nobility to come into flower. Rather, education is a technology that tries to make up for what the human mind is innately bad at. Children don t have to go to school to learn to walk, talk, recognize objects, or remember the personalities of their friends, even though these tasks are much harder than reading, adding, or remembering dates in history. They do have to go to school to learn written language, arithmetic, and science, because those bodies of knowledge and skill were invented too recently for any species-wide knack for them to have evolved.”
“You can make time to read for 10-20 minutes daily.”
“When I read books, it is like I have met the sacred souls.”
“I get a glimpse of the mind of many souls from their sacred books.”
“Discover. Read. Learn.”