August 30 2020

It was Thomas Jefferson who in 1813 compared the passing on of knowledge to one candle being lit from another.

”He who receives an idea from me receives instruction himself without lessening mine, as he who lights his taper off mine receives light without darkening me.”

It is a luminously expressed description of the way learning and ideas and experience are passed on, and of the importance of doing so, no matter how it is done: face to face, at a distance, via clever media, books or just by listening and observing.

We are all, in some small way, both teachers and learners throughout our lives. Passing it on, keeping that candle burning, that’s what matters.

Photo by Hitanshu Patel on Unsplash