(I am not trying to convert you all to being Stoics, I am trying to remind myself daily of what is important to me.)
Today the meditation is about education and the freedom it brings. I think it is particularly relevant given our current predicament with the price and quality of higher education.
What is the fruit of these teachings? Only the most beautiful and proper harvest of the truly educated - tranquility, fearlessness and freedom. We should not trust the masses who that only the free can be educated, but rather the lovers of wisdom who say that only the educated are free.
Epictetus
We often tend to view education now as a path to economic success. We tend to value education as a path to make more money and get ahead in life. But what many of us found during the pandemic is that education is freedom. It can be the freedom to learn, to make our lives better.
Self-help books, both emotional and physical, were consumed by many people during the pandemic. Sure it lasted WAY TOO long, and many of us turned to simpler things. But learning was important. And learning to created a better life for ourselves and others is not time wasted. It is time used well.
Freedom...it is exactly why the women of Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and too many other countries want to be educated and the leaders say no.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. The quote actually concerns the slaves and women of ancient Greece, who could not get educated. Epictetus believed all humans deserve it, as it was a philosophical and human need.
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