Education Is Freedom

What, then, is the fruit of these teachings? Precisely what it ought to be—the most beautiful and most fitting result for those who are truly educated: tranquility, fearlessness, freedom. For we should not trust the crowd, which says that only the free can receive an education, but rather the philosophers, who say that only the educated are free.

Epictetus. Discourses. 2.1.21–23a

Why did you pick up this book? Why pick up any book at all? Not to seem smarter, not to pass the time on a plane, not to hear only what you want to hear—for all of that there are far easier ways.

You picked up this book because you are learning how to live. Because you want to be freer, to fear less, and to attain a state of peace. Education is not pursued for its own sake, just as reading and reflecting on the wisdom of great minds is not an activity done merely for reading and reflecting. These actions have a purpose.

Be sure to remember this on the days when you begin to get distracted, when television or endless snacking seems like a more pleasant use of time than reading or studying philosophy. Knowledge—especially self-knowledge—is freedom.