The Daily Stoic

A

March   22nd

THE SIGN    OF  TRUE    EDUCATION

“What   is  it  then    to  be  properly    educated?   It  is  learning    to  apply   our natural preconceptions  to  the

right   things  according   to  Nature, and beyond  that    to  separate    the things  that    lie within  our power

from    those   that    don’t.”

—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 1.22.9–10a

degree on a wall means you’re educated as much as shoes on your feet mean you’re walking. It’s a
start, but hardly sufficient.
Otherwise, how could so many “educated” people make unreasonable decisions? Or miss so many
obvious things? Partly it’s because they forget that they ought to focus only on that which lies within their
power to control. A surviving fragment from the philosopher Heraclitus expresses that reality:

“Many   who have    learned

from    Hesiod  the countless   names

of  gods    and monsters

never   understand

that    night   and day are one.”

Just as you can walk plenty well without shoes, you don’t need to step into a classroom to understand
the basic, fundamental reality of nature and of our proper role in it. Begin with awareness and reflection.
Not just once, but every single second of every single day.