Wisdom... A Gift Freely Given Should Always Be Considered
On Teaching
Kahlil Gibran
No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.
The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness.
If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.
The astronomer may speak to you of his understanding of space, but he cannot give you his understanding.
The musician may sing to you of the rhythm which is in all space, but he cannot give you the ear which arrests the rhythm nor the voice that echoes it.
And he who is versed in the science of numbers can tell of the regions of weight and measure, but he cannot conduct you thither.
For the vision of one man lends not its wings to another man.
And even as each one of you stands alone in God's knowledge, so must each one of you be alone in his knowledge of God and in his understanding of the earth.
Indeed each of us is an individual, with our own unique individual mind. With this, and because of this, we must question everything, and through the process of questioning, indeed doubting we can come to know the truth.
Sounds about right. BTW, The "Ask not..." statement credit3ed to Kennedy was supposedly first quoted by Gibran from the teachings of some Greek philosopher from long ago. We'll probably hear it again soon, as the democrats like to trot Kennedy out every election year.
ReplyDeleteSounds like something I heard one time to the effect that if you truly want to learn you must ultimately be your own teacher.
ReplyDeleteYes, and ultimately thinking for oneself, the result of ones self leaning (self teaching). The best teachers lead students to this realization.
DeleteI've always been into autodidactism.
ReplyDelete