Mostly, proverbs and sayings about learning have a positive meaning. The same is fair to say about the well-known saying “it’s never too late to learn”. We will look at the process of accumulating knowledge from different angles and analyze it in detail.
Quintilian
Sometimes a saying is the creativity of the people. This happens when time has not preserved the name of the real author. But in this case, we know to whom we owe that treasure that we do not appreciate at all.
It seems to us that the phrase yes the phrase is to praise her or admire her. And she came to us from ancient times. The question of who said: "It's never too late to learn," suggests a specific answer. There was such a sage Quintilian in ancient Rome, and we should thank him.
Not much is known about him. The data differ on the origin: some say that he was noble, others say that he was not. One thing is clear - his father was an educated man, so he sent him to study in Rome, where Nero reigned at that time.
Yes, we didn't say when andwhere the illustrious teacher of eloquence was born.
Time and place of birth
This event took place in Spain around 35 AD, and the rhetorician completed his earthly journey around 100 AD (some sources indicate 95).
His personal life was unhappy: he lost his wife when she was still young, then over time he lost his two sons. By the end of his life, he was left completely alone who said: "It's never too late to learn." Sad story. Although his public, social life was more or less successful.
Domitius Aphrus - Quintilian's mentor
Quintilian went to Rome. There he found a mentor in the person of Domitius Afra, whose manner of holding and behaving in court Quintilian followed and, probably, copied at first.
Our hero's teacher was a classic Cicero orator. Apparently, under his influence, Quintilian fell in love with the works of Cicero himself.
Further fate and fundamental work
After the death of his mentor, Quintilian came to his native province of the empire to gain experience as a court orator there. But he returned to Rome anyway in 68 as a member of the retinue of Emperor Galba. Although our hero was not particularly close to him. This saved him after the death of Caesar.
The rest is outlined in dotted lines. In the year of the four emperors, Quintilian opened his school of eloquence. The high point of his career development was his appointment as consul.
However, he remained famous for centuries due to the fact that he wrote the treatise “On Educationspeaker” is the best preserved and complete course of oratory, with numerous references to literary and historical sources. Perhaps it was there that the proverb "it's never too late to learn" lurked, which at that time, of course, had not yet become an aphorism.
But it is impossible to establish the exact source, because the wonderful work was partially translated into Russian. At the moment, it is only with pre-revolutionary spelling. It is possible that the phrase "it's never too late to learn" came into Russian from other languages in which there is a more complete translation of the ancient classic. But the author of the saying is definitely Quintilian, let the reader have no doubts on this point.
Modern saying
Either reality really is cyclical, or real wisdom doesn't really rust. But we can say that the saying is extremely modern. Now only the iron is silent about the fact that we need to constantly develop if we want to achieve something in life.
And imagine us in 30 years, will we really give up this habit of growing? It seems incredible. In general, when society no longer requires anything from a person, and he has already raised children, you can relax. That is, to get rid of all these ideas about constant development.
In modern society, this has become a fixed idea. Studying is not always a tedious, heavy, viscous and boring process. You can study with pleasure, the main thing is to answer the question: “Why?”
Knowledge as a cure for Alzheimer's
Now many have a problem withmotivation. You can well understand the meaning of the proverb "it's never too late to learn", but never follow it. If the reader has not yet understood the meaning of the object of study, then we will readily open it now.
The saying boils down to the simple truth that learning new, unknown is not shameful. It doesn't matter how old a person is. As long as he is alive, he can learn. Moreover, textbooks, scientific boring books are not always meant. Studying is actually learning new things, mastering occupations, speci alties. The motivational basis for moving forward can be different, ranging from banal idleness and boredom to an urgent need. Sometimes a person studies because he "needs it for work", and sometimes - to load his head.
Some people rarely look up from their smartphone these days. They actually live in virtual reality. But from such a life, the human brain is bored, sad, and in the end concludes that it is, in fact, not needed and, figuratively speaking, is eliminated.
In practice, "no brain" manifests itself in the form of different types of dementia, of which Alzheimer's disease is one of the most terrible cases. Recent studies have shown that electronic gadgets harm not only adults but also children. Toddlers brought up with this kind of “nannies” are less attentive, remember material worse, and are more easily distracted.
But back to adults. We're not saying that reading books is a panacea for dementia, but it certainly can delay it. Flashing pictures inInternet and on the screen drive a person crazy much faster. It is advisable to read books that are more or less informative so that there is work for the brain.
Man with multiple diplomas
An ordinary example of a person with several higher educations. In the West, he is respected and, as a rule, does not live in poverty, because higher education is a very expensive thing there.
In Russia, education is perceived either as a whim or as a necessity. That is, a person who receives several diplomas is considered either a "nerd" or a "sufferer" who needs a certain qualification for work. But in general, the attitude is such that a person who studies too long is a fugitive from responsibility, almost a life-burner. Although there is, perhaps, more difficult mental labor than learning new things. So, a student and a playboy are two different types of people. Of course, provided that the student is actually studying.
Mary Hobson Example
Thanks to the release of the news about this wonderful woman, not only translators know. Although it is they who are inspired by her example. And the story is like this. Mary Hobson, an Englishwoman, began learning Russian when she was 56 years old. She was shocked by the novel by L. N. Tolstoy's "War and Peace", but at the same time the woman thought that she did not read the original author's text, but only its translated version. And after that, M. Hobson began to learn Russian.
First "not serious", that is, unsystematic, and thenentered the University of London. Moreover, the Russian language not only became a useful hobby that helped to avoid boredom, idleness and dementia. "The Great and Mighty" turned out to be a source of second wind for the Englishwoman: she translated A. S. Griboyedov in English, defended a dissertation on the topic of his work. After all, this often happens when a person studies something, at first it seems to him that it is fun, and then the hobby turns into work and becomes the meaning of his life.
Yes, by the way, when discussing the saying “it’s never too late to learn” and examples of its application, it’s worth saying that knowledge is the only way to push the boundaries of the possible, reconsider your attitude towards yourself, get out of depression and despondency. If a person boils all the time in his own juice, then he is more prone to various negative states: depression, neuroses, doubts, regrets about the past.
Therefore, you need to constantly discover new things for yourself, but not for the sake of ephemeral internal development, but for life to be richer and fuller.
