活huó到dào老lǎo，學xué到dào老lǎo

What does 活到老，學到老 (huó dào lǎo xué dào lǎo) mean?

活到老，學到老 (huó dào lǎo xué dào lǎo) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語). Word for word it reads "live until old, learn until old." In use it means: Learning never stops; as long as you are alive, there is something new to understand. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Wood note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Monkey.

Literally: "live until old, learn until old."

The reading

The ninety-year-old who learns to use a tablet is not doing it because they need to. They are doing it because the alternative is deciding they are finished, and they are not finished. The decision to keep learning is the decision to keep being alive in the fullest sense of the word.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typeyànyǔ 諺語
• FocusPresent-minded
• Element木 Wood
• Zodiac tie猴 Year of the Monkey

Source Common folk proverb; attributed to various classical sources

Sits beside

Keep reading

Return to the Proverb Pond to draw another of the eighty-seven, or hear one read aloud. Read the rest of its chapter in Wisdom & Learning, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Monkey, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.