Required Reading: Letter 6: On Sharing Knowledge
“Nothing will ever please me, no matter how excellent or beneficial, if I must retain the knowledge of it to myself.”
The beauty of Seneca’s sixth letter is without question immensely important; for in it, he espouses the view of how to learn; how to acquire knowledge—the important steps needed to first hear, then have it be impactful. He wastes no time in telling Lucilius the quickest way to achieve knowledge; that is, in getting the information any one needs.
Seneca propels the view that one must not only read the works of great men; but, one must go to hear them LIVE; be in their presence; spend some time with them; see how they live etc. This is extremely important for it relates to that Master—Aprentice methodology; that Mentor—Mentee structure which is highly valuable; it is the means by which most, if not all, of those who have affected thousands or millions of lives around the world; operate and must continue to, if they aspire to anything above mediocrity.
Seneca lists a plethora of examples which embody this effective relationship from Zeno to Cleanthes, Socrates to Plato and Aristotle; Epicurus to Metrodorus, Hermarches and Polyaenus. Well, you may say they are men of ancient; agree; yet let’s make it a bit contemporary; Jim Rohn to Tony Robins; Napoleon Hill to Earl Nightingale, Cus D’Amato to Mike Tyson; Coach Dean Smith to Michael Jordan; Benjamin Graham to Warren Buffet; the list is endless; even on a local scale, without such a relationship;Teacher—Student, we would not have heard of these winners in their respective fields.
So, here we have it; it was fully due to reading and listening to the voices of such great men in my case Napoleon Hill, Neville Goddard, and Seneca; that I am able to bring forth such philosophy as curated here on Self Help University. Qute frankly, I wish I could have had the opportunity to see them live! Spend a weekend perhaps; gleaning such wisdom!
Nonetheless, I have something a close second; their books, essays, lectures, audios and videos; what more can a student of philosophy asks for? As Seneca states “I shall therefore send to you the actual books….I shall mark certain passages…” My hope is that I did that in The Greatest Ten Self Help Books In The World and now here with Self Help University; you can not begin too early to read these books; find lectures, videos of the actual Authors, Speakers and LIVE with them! Farewell.
Word of the day:
Prominence (noun): celebrity, eminence, fame, distinction, notability, reputation (The Oxford American Desk Dictionary and Thesaurus 2nd Edition).
Quotations:
“No good thing is pleasant to possess, without friends to share it.”
“…the living voice (of a teacher) and the intimacy of a common life will help you more than the written word…”
“What progress you ask, have I made? I have begun to be a friend to myself.” -Hecato.
“…That was indeed a great benefit; such a person can never be alone. You may be sure that such a man is a friend to all mankind.”
Questions:
1) Are you eager to share knowledge when you have received it?
2) Who do you currently listen to? Do you see them live or via audio/video?
3) Besides a rabbi, priest, pastor etc, do you listen to anyone else for wisdom?
4) Would you feel comfortable asking said someone personally for mentorship? This relates to spiritual guidance, finance, business, career, health and fitness etc.
Activity:
1) List 5 Self Help Authors, and/or Speakers you listen to or read.
2) List the top 5 skills you wish to learn (Finance, Technical, Business etc).
3) Find 5 of the best in these areas from amongst your family, friends, network; out-of-network and call/email them for an exploratory meeting.
4) Plan on being apart of a Selfhelp gathering on a weekly basis; an audio-visual based meeting will also suffice.
