Learning-A Continuous Process

Education is, however, a continuing process. A college diploma is not the finish - it is not enough. Constant and rapid change, along with increasing competition for advancement in every field of endeavor, makes it imperative that you keep in touch with new ideas and developments, and constantly improve both your knowledge and your skills.

Fortunately this is possible for any ambitious person who wants to improve his or her opportunity for success and happiness - young or old, college graduate or not, rich or poor. There are free libraries in every community, with books and magazines on every subject. There are splendid correspondence schools with courses in almost every phase of human enterprise. Most colleges and universities, and many high schools too, have evening schools of high merit, at little cost to the student. With all of these many opportunities for learning, there is no reasonable excuse for stalled advancement, mediocrity, or failure, due to lack of knowledge.

I have always been especially eager to keep abreast of new developments in my occupation, as well as to broaden my general knowledge. Books and trade magazine articles pertinent to my work have always been studied with interest; trade association meetings have been a "must"; twice - once while I was general agent for the Aetna Life in Columbus, Ohio, and once while I was general agent for New England Life in Toledo, Ohio - I attended a School for Life Managers, conducted by The Life Insurance Agency Management Association, a management research organization of Hartford, Connecticut; and though I started my business career with a broad formal education - B. A. degree, Graduate of Theology, a year in the Harvard Law School and a year in the Harvard Graduate School - I later felt the need of certain special information, and I enrolled in Toledo University Evening College for a year to study advertising, business law, and statistics, and since coming to Cincinnati I spent two years and a summer in The University of Cincinnati Evening College to study federal and state taxes, accounting, typing, American history, and psychology.

These courses have not only been of inestimable help to me in my work, but they were tremendously stimulating, strengthened my ambition, and gave me a mental and spiritual lift that even made me feel better physically.

So, whether you have a college degree or not, your education should and can go on - it must never end. Take advantage of the many opportunities available for further learning and self-improvement. If it is impossible for you to arrange for further formal education, then do it on your own. Self-education will bring you dividends of inestimable value. 

Remember, just as you may starve your body by not eating, so you may starve your mind by not learning, and a starved mind will shrivel and deteriorate just as surely as a starved body.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, famous American author, is said to have likened the human mind to a bank checking account. So long as you keep putting money into the bank, you can keep drawing on your account. If you put enough money in, you can meet all your needs and desires. But, if you stop making new deposits you will soon be bankrupt, and your checks will be returned marked "No Funds."

The best and most satisfying investment you can make, when you are out of school and on the job, is in a well-planned program of continuous education - by enrollment in your company's school if any, by enrollment in the evening school of one of your local educational institutions, or through self-study. Make it your unchangeable personal policy to keep in step with developments in your occupation and in our fast changing world. Never stop learning!

The fruits of true learning are wisdom and understanding and, said King Solomon 3000 years ago, "Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gets understanding."

• The Brain
• The Power Of The Mind
• The Importance Of Formal Education
• Five Reasons For A College Education
  
  
  1. A College Education Brings A Fuller Life...
  2. A College Education Opens The Door To Distinction
  3. A College Education Brings Job Security....
  4. A College Education Enhances Earning Power
  
  
• An Educated Citizenry Is A Vital Requisite For Our Survival As A Free People
• Never Too Old To Learn
• Business And Education - 1
• Business And Education - 2
• Business And Education - 3