Case: The value of listening

In his later years, the ancient Greek philosopher Anaximenes had a high reputation and had thousands of students.One day, this old man with gray temples staggered into the classroom, holding a thick stack of paper in his hand.He said to the students: "Don't be busy taking notes in this class. Anyone who listens carefully will receive a note after class. You must listen carefully. This class is very valuable!"

 The students heard this. If you speak, immediately put down the pen in your hand and listen attentively.But it didn’t take long for someone to start thinking they were smart—the teacher was going to hand out notes after class anyway, so why waste time listening to the lecture?So a desertion started.When the class was about to end, these students felt that they had not heard any wise words and could not help but wonder: This was just an ordinary class. Why did the teacher say it was valuable?

When the lesson was over, Anaximenes distributed the pile of papers to each student one by one.After receiving the paper, the students all exclaimed: "Why are there just a few blank papers!" Anaximenes smiled and said: "Yes, I did say that I would send notes, but I also said please Everyone must listen carefully. If you listened carefully just now, then please write down everything you heard in class on paper. Doesn’t this mean that I am giving you notes? As for those who did not listen carefully, I I didn't promise to give them notes, so I can only give them blank paper!" 

The students were speechless.Some people regretted that they were absent-minded in listening to the lecture and did not know what to write when facing the white paper; others quickly wrote down what they remembered on the white paper.Later, only one student wrote down almost everything the teacher said verbatim. He was Anaximenes's most proud student, Pythagoras, who would later become the famous ancient Greek philosopher.Anaximenes posted Pythagoras's notes on the wall with satisfaction and said loudly: "Now, do you still doubt the value of this lesson?" 

Anaximenes always maintained that the greatest lesson in life is Wealth is listening.Only those who are willing and good at listening can become rich in knowledge. Those who are unwilling to listen are actually refusing to accept wealth and will eventually become poor in knowledge.