These days, a frequent conversation topic at home is universities and college courses, among other things, because Irene is currently doing her leaving cert, the equivalent to PAU / EVAU / selectividad in Spain (hang in there Irene, you´re almost done!)

(Photo of the library at Harvard University, where I had the fortune to go for a walk when I visited Boston a few years ago.)

Coincidentally, our friends are in Dublin this week to visit universities, and we´ve been sort of comparing education systems across several countries: Spain, Ireland, the UK, the US and even France... Needless to say, they´re vastly different from each other.

But in any case, the underpinning idea is the same, at least in theory: acquiring a good education.

A few months ago, I wrote my reflections on the topic of choosing college courses in the post titled Career paths (III), and back in the day I also wrote about lifelong learning (Time to learn) and how to make the most of what we learn (Learning, re-learning, unlearning). Today, I´d like to simply take a step back and acknowledge the value of education, whether it´s through formal training or self-directed:

The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives.

Robert M. Hutchins

Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.

Will Durant

The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.

Sydney J. Harris

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.

William Butler Yeats

Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.

Edward Everett