It’s dawned on me that finally, at age 72, I’m learning how to read.
Oh, sure, I “read” books in grade school and high school and college. And even as a young man, I remember “reading” 200 books in a year. Yet, I know I really didn’t read all those books. Instead, I went through the motion. I sometimes read words, and not meaning. Maybe, in part, because I didn’t have the life experience to relate to those written words.
Now I can better relate. I find meaning when I read. Because I know how to savor the written word.
In a story by D. H. Lawrence called “Tickets, Please,” he opens with what seems like a 200-word sentence. And when I was a young man, that would have turned me off. Because I was a newspaper guy who advocated saying things in the fewest possible words. But now I see how a 200-word sentence works. It’s a piece of poetry. So descriptive.
I suppose that what has happened is that I’ve grown a heart and nurtured my soul…and not just my mind. I used to think only with my mind. And I used to write only with my mind. And read only with my mind. So I really didn’t know how to think, to write, to read.
And now that I’ve reached the down hill side of life, I’m finally learning how to live…and to appreciate life. Which means putting the emphasis on quality. Not quantity. There’s no need to read 200 books in a year. Better to read two short stories that are meaningful. And better to have one meaningful relationship than 200 acquaintances that combined produce virtually no meaningfulness. –Jim Broede
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5 comments:
Someone, early on, did you a great injustice, in not teaching you how to really read. It is quite distressing, to see how many graduates and adults don't know how to read. I have always read and absorbed whatever I read. I credit both teaching, and an inner love for the written word-entertainment, educational, et al.
Fellow Traveller
I think we teach ourselves, fellow traveler. How to live. How to read. How to love. Oh, so many, many things. If we wait for someone to teach us, we may never learn. Yes, it's nice to have teachers and mentors. But we, ourselves, have to put forth the effort and be willing to learn. To be willing to have open minds. Then one is more likely to learn. To do so many things. But mostly to relish life. --Jim Broede
Ah, but I do credit the one who initiates the learning process. They can absolutely make or break it. Perhaps I was fortunate in that my early exposures to reading and creative writing were by those who had passions for what they taught. Not as much is true, nowadays.
Fellow Traveller
Teaching
Then said a teacher, "Speak to us of Teaching."
And he said:
No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of our 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 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.
--Kahlil Gibran
If your preference is to quote others, here are some more, with regards to teachers. Personally, I prefer to voice my own views. I do not believe that we, generally speaking, are born open-minded, or "all-knowing". I do believe that at a very young age, we develop our tendencies with great influence from outside sources. Hence, the need for primary educators who are skilled in teaching to learn.
The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. ~William Arthur Ward
The best teacher is the one who suggests rather than dogmatizes, and inspires his listener with the wish to teach himself. ~Edward Bulwer-Lytton
A teacher is a compass that activates the magnets of curiosity, knowledge, and wisdom in the pupils. ~Ever Garrison
Often, when I am reading a good book, I stop and thank my teacher. That is, I used to, until she got an unlisted number. ~Author Unknown
The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery. ~Mark Van Doren
Fellow Traveller
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