Learn Something

(picture from Nov. 2008)

Tomorrow starts my next spring semester. Exciting, right? RIGHT! I am excited. There is something exhilarating about holding a pile of new books and entering a new classroom for the first time. There are amazing subjects and problems just waiting to be studied. I love learning new things! Awhile ago I came across a quote that always intrigues and inspires me. It's the perfect statement to start my new semester. It's taken from T.H. White's The Once and Future King. This particular quote comes from "The Sword in the Stone" section. Merlin is speaking to young Arthur. It reads:

"The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then-to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the thing for you."

And it's definitely the thing for me!