The beginning of every government starts
with the education of our youth.
—Pythagoras}
Learning Is a
New BeginningP
ythagoras interpreted the universe through numbers. As a busi-
nessman, that always appealed to me. It makes sense. He was
a philosopher and a mathematician, and he knew the importance
of learning. Pythagoras lived a long time ago, but a lot of things
have remained the same, like the significance of education for both
individuals and society.
Whenever I start something new, I know I have a lot to learn.
This does not discourage me—in fact it gives me energy. It is sim-
ilar to the feeling of a new beginning, a fresh start. When I started
building golf courses, I had a tremendous amount to learn, but it
was fantastic to be doing something brand new and I loved learn-
ing the details of golf course design. If someone had told me thirty
years ago I’d be developing golf courses, I would have thought they
were joking. But it’s something I’ve truly enjoyed doing.
It’s important to remain open to new ideas and new infor-
mation. Being a know-it-all is like shutting the door to great