Proverb with a deep meaning: "The age of life - the age of learning"

The great and mighty Russian language! It perfectly combines not only complex constructions, explanations of reality, society or the existence of God in the works of Mikhailovsky, Berdyaev or Solovyov, but also the beauty and simplicity of ordinary folk sayings and proverbs. A striking example of this is the wise phrase: "Live for ever, learn." These four words contain not only a high moral sense, but also provide scope for philosophical reasoning.

Sociological approach to the proverb

The meaning of the proverb "Live for ages learn" is that, no matter how experienced a person is, he always has to learn from his mistakes. A variant of this phrase is also another proverb "Life will teach". From the sociological point of view, these phrases indicate that the processes of socialization or adaptation of a person to society never end in childhood. They continue, even when we are sitting in the old house on a bench near the entrance and watch life flying somewhere. This goes against the philosophy of a well-known Austrian psychoanalyst who flashes in anecdotes and amusing stories as often as Lieutenant Rzhevsky. It's about Sigmund Freud.

How would Sigmund Freud react?

Surely, a famous scientist would have fallen into a stupor if we had tried to prove to him that the meaning "crept into the phrase" The age of life is a century, learn "is not ordinary. It does not smell of truisms and triviality. The fact is that Freud, like many behaviorists, believed that the consciousness of any person is formed only in childhood. No wonder the famous Austrian himself said that "Everything from childhood", and adult life is a struggle with children's complexes, fears and neuroses. Where do the Austrians understand the great Russian spirit?

Eric Erickson and the meaning of the proverb

Since the beginning of the 20th century, a lot of time has passed, and scientists such as Anthony Giddens, Jurgen Habermas, Erich Fromm and other social philosophers have discovered that a person knows the world and himself in it throughout his life. The phrase "Century Live - Age Learn" is an excellent summary of the work of Eric Erickson. The American psychoanalyst has identified eight stages of human life. At each stage, a person is in crisis. So, the first "oral stage", which lasts during the first year of the child's life, forms trust or mistrust towards the mother and the world. Already at the fifth stage, the young man (13-21 years) is formed sexual and social identity. There is a life of self-determination. At the last, the eighth stage, which is called maturity or "ego-integration-despair," a person develops attitudes toward death, youth, belonging to the generation, humanity.

The famous postscript "... but you'll die a fool"

This proverb does not always express a positive attitude toward knowledge and the desire to discover certain truths. So, one subscript cardinally changes the meaning of the whole national message: "Live for ever - learn, but you'll die a fool". None of the more or less sensible sociologist will in any case agree with such a phrase. Because, as we have already noted above, life is a process of cognition. Every day, sitting at home in front of the TV or being in the chic foyer of the theater, going to work or studying, talking to friends or hiding under a blanket, reading a book, we learn something new. It can be a cultural or social code that allows us not only to communicate, but also to occupy a certain place in the social hierarchy. It can be the knowledge of the laws of the Earth through chemistry, physics or the knowledge of epistemological categories of responsibility, honesty, truth and falsehood through philosophy. But not every communication, like any book, gives a person food for the mind. Sometimes we get stuck in monotony and tautology. We read the same thing, we say the same thing. And here the addition to the proverb already has weight. But is this a worthy life? OA Donskikh believes that conformism is the opposite of dignity.

Many writers can find the answer to the question, what does "Age live - age learn". Shukshin contrasts conservative old Yegor Kuzmich, a kind of aged Ivan the fool on a stove, to a developing schoolchild who is asked by scientific questions in his story "The Cosmos, the nervous system and the grease of fat". "It's never too late to learn" is the main idea of this story.

Vivid examples of proverbs from the world of cinema

In mass art this idea has been raised millions of times. It is enough to recall such Hollywood films as "Dallas Club of Buyers", "Social Network", "Forrest Gump" or "Cadres". In the comedy film "Cadres" the story tells about two young people who are used to selling expensive watches. But the time of the Internet came and the "sales people", as they are usually called, were not so much in demand. Here our heroes had to wriggle out, retrain, show considerable ingenuity. They decided to go as interns to the largest company in the world. And her name is Google. Hoping to get a job in the company, they began to learn new things and bring their ideas, images of thinking and lifestyle to the world of the Internet company. So the proverb "Live for ages learn" concerns not only individual individuals, but also large companies that have to adapt to modern realities.

As you know, the company "IKEA" used to sell matches, and now it's a Swedish giant, whose furniture can be found in any home. History knows a lot of such moments and at the state level. Countries borrow experience from each other and develop. So, China borrowed the capitalist way of doing business, but left its own socialist system. And now the People's Republic of China claims to be another superpower.

The main conclusion

In his book The Mechanical Piano, the famous Dutch writer and science fiction writer Kurt Vonnegut said: "Remember, there is no one who is so educated that it is impossible to find out in the six weeks 90% of everything that he knows." "Live and learn". Who said? Is it important? The main thing is that this phrase contains a great sense, which undoubtedly all great minds would support, from writers to scientists. For the ordinary little man, the proverb means constant development, the discovery of new spheres. And only then everyday life will become much more colorful and interesting, our skills are more diverse, and the very being itself will never be painted in gray and gloomy colors.