What Makes an Educated Man?

A truly educated person, first and foremost, respects other individuals. He also respects himself; because he knows that to be respected, one must respect his own self first. He respects other entities’ worth and, just because he went to some school and finished a degree, does not consider his worth as superior to other people. In the first place, the amount of knowledge that a person possesses – no matter how numerous books he have read and abundant sources of information he have come upon – is not the sole criterion for considering his worth, but more importantly, it is his character that determines his worth as a person. The fact that an educated person knows it and he strives to put his character under the good category is enough to make him a truly educated person.

Another characteristic of a truly educated person is that he does not brag about what he knows. He is humble to accept the truth that there are things he is not aware of and because of that awareness, he continues to seek and acquire knowledge. He is also unselfish. He does not keep the knowledge he possess to himself but instead, he shares it. What good will it does himself if he just continues piling information and knowledge in his gray matters and shares it not? It will do him good but if he will always apply his knowledge solely and only to his daily existence, what he knows might as well be as useless as some garbage in the trash bin.

What is inside a truly educated man’s head does not stay there. He puts them into action. He uses what he knows in dealing with certain circumstances in his life. Knowledge is meant to be used and it must be applied to one’s existence. If there is no application of the knowledge one possesses, the years he have spent in school and the knowledge and information he acquired would simply go to waste.

A truly educated individual is careful with the words he speaks and he promotes good conversation every time he is in the company of others. He does not talk rashly and he avoids foolish talks. Whenever confronted, he is slow to anger. He does not plunge into a heated argument with the confronter but instead, he faces it calmly and explains his point of view with composure.

A truly educated individual stands to what he believes in. He is not easily controlled by other people’s opinions. He fights for what he knows is right and humbly accepts it if he is deemed wrong.

A truly educated person is a responsible citizen of his country. He is obedient to its laws and he is a good example to his fellow countrymen. He does not do anything that will put his country to shame and he is proud of being a citizen of his country. He respects the authority but shuns any form of corruption that resides in the government.

A truly educated man knows the real value of time. He knows it well that he manages it properly. He spends his time in worthwhile activities and leisure. He knows that it can never be brought back and that every second of the time must be spent in doing something meaningful. As much as he values his own time, the educated man also values other people’s time. He believes that being late is stealing other people’s time because as much as time is precious to him, so it is also to other entities.

A truly educated individual is aware of his environment and surroundings. Not only is he aware of it, but actually cares for it also. He puts in mind the future generation. He knows that the resources will eventually come to depletion and thus, contributes to current ways of preserving it for the sake of the current generation and more importantly, the future generation.

A truly educated person knows the meaning of the old adage “No man is an island”. He knows that a life lived for him and him alone is not worth living. He strives to live his life, not just for himself, but also for other people. He always seeks ways to improve, not just himself, but also his family, his community, his country, his world. He constantly helps those who are in need.

A truly educated entity knows and admits that he can be helpless at times. He is aware that he needs other people to survive in this life which the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes described as “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short”. Of course, when the educated man asks for help, he asks in a nice way, not in a rude ungrateful manner.

A truly educated person does not shun trials and problems. He faces them with dignity and courage for he knows that facing those adversities mold him to be a stronger person. He is not also afraid of failure for fear of failure leads to failure itself. He knows that no one is perfect and that his mistakes are teachers just as experiences are.

A truly educated person, no matter how hard life is, is persistent to continue living. He strives to live meaningfully, for himself and for other people around him. He puts up worthwhile goals in such a way that when death comes, he knows he has lived not a futile life but otherwise.