Posted on January 8, 2022

"Matthew Arnold wrote, ‘All knowledge is interesting to a wise man’."

—Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project

This phrase is more a reminder to myself than anything else. Sometimes, I find myself consciously rejecting a specific topic because it doesn’t look like it aligns with my current interests. However I can see that, by thinking like that, I’m closing myself up to new opportunities to grow. I’m deliberately choosing a fixed mindset over a growth mindset, as per Carol Dweck’s Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.

I’m a firm believer that the main achievement one can make out of going to college is to learn how to learn. If I believe so, and I’m confident I did learn how to learn, then I should be open to learning what I can and not only what I want.

Side note: I’m a sucker for good quotes—at least good to me—, and, for some reason, most of the ones that got fixed in me and help me sculpt myself during my teen years have to do with wisdom:

"The wise man does not say everything he thinks, but always thinks everything he says."

—Aristotle

"The foolish yells, the intelligent talks, and the wise keeps quiet."

—Anonymous

I guess I’m adding another wise man quote to my repertoire!

PS: another great quote that shaped me:

"Everyone thinks that having talent is a matter of luck; no one thinks that luck could be a matter of talent."

—Jacinto Benavente