O

April   11th

IF  YOU WANT    TO  LEARN,  BE  HUMBLE

“Throw  out your    conceited   opinions,   for it  is  impossible  for a   person  to  begin   to  learn   what    he

thinks  he  already knows.”

—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.17.1

f all the Stoics, Epictetus is the closest one to a true teacher. He had a school. He hosted classes. In
fact, his wisdom is passed down to us through a student who took really good lecture notes. One of
the things that frustrated Epictetus about philosophy students—and has frustrated all college professors
since time began—is how students claim to want to be taught but really secretly believe they already
know everything.
The reality is that we’re all guilty of thinking we know it all, and we’d all learn more if we could set
that attitude aside. As smart or successful as we may be, there is always someone who is smarter, more
successful, and wiser than us. Emerson put it well: “Every man I meet is my master in some point, and in
that I learn of him.”
If you want to learn, if you want to improve your life, seeking out teachers, philosophers, and great
books is a good start. But this approach will only be effective if you’re humble and ready to let go of
opinions you already have.