Forget School. Read Books.

Pennsylvania School Bans IDF T-Shirts

I've never liked educational institutions. Quite frankly, they're the most idiotic bureaucracies in existence. Whether they be public or private, secular or religious, schools today are absolutely useless wastes of time. My advice to any young person out there seeking an education: Drop out of school. Get your GED, move on to college, and get out as fast as you can. I tell you this only because you need a diploma in order to obtain any kind of employment in today's world-- not because I feel a college education will benefit you in any way.

If you desire to learn, which you should and you must if you intend on being intelligent or wise in any regard, read books on your own. Read great books, not trash. Immerse yourself in the classics, in the arts as well as the sciences, in fiction as well as non-fiction. Surround yourself with words and ideas that will build your lexicons of verbiage, emotion, and philosophy. Read to understand where you came from, why you're here, and where you're going, so that you may know clearly what you wish to become and become it with success.

Live life. Travel. See the world. Don't be afraid to try new things, to take on a variety of jobs, to get involved in a variety of organizations, to live in different places for extended periods of time. Surround yourself with as many different people as you can, from the blue collar to the white collar, the poor to the affluent, the liberal to the conservative. Learn about life by living it, not just reading about it out of a book or taking some teacher's word for it.

Above all, research everything for yourself-- never, ever accept someone else's opinion as truth or gospel. Never stop reading. Never stop listening. Never stop questioning or seeking out answers to those questions. Learn to trust yourself, your senses, your wisdom.

Grow close to G-d. Grow closer to G-d.

Be as independent as you can possibly be without being a loner or lonely, but don't be afraid to be alone. Do not be afraid of anything. Respect fear as a motivating force, and let it motivate you to conquer it and become a better person for it.

Rest on your convictions and be convicted never to stop learning. Be willing to take on responsibilities and meet challenges head-on with confidence in yourself and your ability to succeed.

And when you come across trouble, which you inevitably will at some point, don't pick a fight. Stay in the shadows, remain unseen. That way, when you have to attack, you can do it to your advantage. When you are ready, you will know. Don't second-guess yourself; if you're going to attack, throw the first punch and walk away clean.

Tags: Israel education public school censorship life politics travel