To learn a new language is, therefore, always a sort of spiritual adventure; it is like a journey of discovery in which we find a new world.
Interpretation
Learning a new language is an enriching experience that opens up new perspectives.
Ernst Cassirer suggests that acquiring a new language is not merely about vocabulary and grammar, but is a transformative journey that allows individuals to explore and understand a different culture and worldview. This process of discovery broadens one's horizons and deepens personal growth, akin to embarking on a spiritual adventure.
In practice
This quote can inspire students in a language class to see beyond just learning words.
Man is always inclined to regard the small circle in which he lives as the center of the world and to make his particular, private life the standard of the universe and to make his particular, private life the standard of the universe. But he must give up this vain pretense, this petty provincial way of thinking and judging.
Knowledge of the name gives him who knows it mastery even over the being and will of the god.
Children do live in fantasy and reality; they move back and forth very easily in a way we no longer remember how to do.
Never stand still. Only stand still enough to learn, and once you stop learning in that stance, move off. Always keep yourself engaged, in theater, in whatever job you can get. If you can't get an acting job, then go backstage. Or take tickets. But be around actors because that is where you will primarily learn.
Some people seem to think that good dancers are born, but all the good dancers I have known are taught or trained.
In Kenya, I met wonderful girls; girls who wanted to help their communities. I was with them in their school, listening to their dreams. They still have hope. They want to be doctor and teachers and engineers.
The student who uses home made apparatus, which is always going wrong, often learns more than one who has the use of carefully adjusted instruments, to which he is apt to trust and which he dares not take to pieces.
You'll learn more in a day talking to customers than a week of brainstorming, a month of watching competitors, or a year of market research.
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