An old Chinese proverb says that: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish and you feed him for the rest of his life.” This proverb points out the importance of education. Education is different from teaching, so, people can be teachers, but the number of educators is severely limited. Almost everyone can train their bodies, but few people can educate their minds and feelings. The former training produces strong bodies, while the latter produces people with strong and sound character.

Humans are creatures composed not only of a body and a mind, or feelings and a spirit; rather, we are harmonious compositions of all these elements. Each of us is a body writhing in a network of needs; but this is not all, we also possess a mind that has more subtle and vital needs than the body. Good manners are a virtue and are greatly appreciated in whomever they are found. Those with good manners are liked, even if they are uneducated. It helps us understand the secret of existence and events. In schools, good manners should be considered just as important as other subjects. If they are not, how can children grow up with sound characters?

Animals come to this world as if they have gained perfection in another realm. Within two hours, two days, or two months after their birth, they learn nearly everything they need to know. The strength to live and the ability to work that takes us 20 years to acquire is attained by a sparrow or a bee in 20 days. More correctly, they are inspired with this ability and strength. This means that the essential duty of an animal is not to become perfect through learning. Rather, it is the duty of an animal to work according to its natural ability.

On the other hand, we humans must learn everything when we come into this world, for we are ignorant of the rules of life. We are sent here in a very weak and helpless form. For example, we can stand on our feet only after one year. In addition, it takes us almost our whole life to learn what things are really in our interest and what are not. Only with the help of a social life and education we turn toward our interests and avoid danger. At this point, true human progress and advancement is only possible with education. In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day's work. It is invisible and remains so, maybe for twenty years.

Ignorance is like a veil drawn over the face of things. Those unfortunate ones who cannot remove this veil will never penetrate into the truths of creation. Likewise, the knowledge of the evil is harmful. Man is captive of his knowledge to some extent. Those who know the good strives to be good, and since every knowledge has attraction, those who knows the evil also desires it. To know is to be ready for the action. After the knowledge of the evil one needs to resist to avoid that misdoing. And this is weary for man.

In short, our three greatest enemies are ignorance, poverty, and internal schism. Ignorance can be defeated through education, poverty through work and the possession of capital, and internal schism and separatism through unity, dialogue, and tolerance. As ignorance is the most serious problem, we must oppose it with education.

When trees are pruned properly, they produce fruit and their growth improves. If they are not pruned properly, they shrivel and become stunted. Given this, should not each human being, all of whom possess so many talents and abilities, be given at least as much care as a tree?