Learning from Everyone

It is true that money does effectively render material assistance. In that sense, it is a good helper. But it is not a good leader. A money-obsessed man is like one who has made money his leader. Money which is commensurate with needs is good, but excess money is bad. Save yourself from greed and then you will be able to save yourself from being overly money-minded.

Money gives you material comfort, but it cannot give you wisdom and learning. The best course is for you to live as a seeker of truth, wisdom, learning and ultimately a goal that is elevated.

Money is very helpful in some respects, for example, when it is used to acquire knowledge or to establish a library or a college. There are many such activities which need money. Indeed, without money it is very difficult to have a successful life on this earth.

Money has both its plus points and its minus points. One plus point of money is that it provides a good material source for worthwhile objectives, while a minus point is that its possession can be like taking an overdose of sleeping pills. And an overdose of sleeping pills sometimes kills the person who takes it.

Money for the sake of money is bad, but money for the sake of some higher purpose is good; money as a necessity is good, but the money culture per se is a disaster. The money culture reduces a man to the animal level.

Obviously, Abraham’s father, who was called Azar, was Abraham’s senior. So he could have been reluctant to take advice from someone who was very much his junior. But in the matter of learning, senior and junior have no meaning, for words of wisdom should be heeded, even if the speaker of those words is a much younger person.

This is the true spirit of learning. Without this spirit, the learning process would be a non-starter. And without the learning process, there can be no intellectual development. If you want to be an intellectually superior person, adopt the habit of acquiring knowledge from all and sundry.