Let’s Keep Postponing Graduation Day

by Sam Harrison

A few years before his death, novelist John Updike was asked why, at his advanced age, he continued to study the books of other authors and write lengthy reviews.

“The process extends my life as a student,” he replied.

Staying a student is a key characteristic of creative, vibrant and engaged people. The day a person thinks he or she knows everything they need to know is the day life starts slipping out of that person. You can see it in their eyes, their outlook and their behavior.

On the other hand, people eager to learn have an unmistakable presence and vitality. They’re rarely bored and forever inspired by life and all its offerings. And they are full of insights and ideas.

“I don’t divide the world into the weak and the strong or the successes and the failures,” said sociologist Benjamin Barber. “I divide the world into the learners and the non-learners.”

Ask yourself: Am I still a student in my life?

“It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.” Epictetus