--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our task as we grow older in a rapidly…" description: "\"Our task as we grow older in a rapidly advancing science, is to retain the capacity of joy in discoveries which correct older ideas, and to learn from ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7dc/hans-zinsser-34557_advancing_our-task-as-we-grow-older-in-a-rapidly-a_1205972.jpg" --- # Our task as we grow older in a rapidly advancing science… ![“Our task as we grow older in a rapidly advancing science, is to retain the capacity of joy in discoveries which correct older ideas, and to learn from our pupils as we teach them.” quote by Hans Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7dc/hans-zinsser-34557_advancing_our-task-as-we-grow-older-in-a-rapidly-a_1205972.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7dc/hans-zinsser-34557_advancing_our-task-as-we-grow-older-in-a-rapidly-a_1205972.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7dc/hans-zinsser-34557_advancing_our-task-as-we-grow-older-in-a-rapidly-a_1205972.jpg) > “Our task as we grow older in a rapidly advancing science, is to retain the capacity of joy in discoveries which correct older ideas, and to learn from our pupils as we teach them.” [Hans Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-zinsser/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote urges maintaining joy in new discoveries that overturn old ideas and learning from students while teaching them. **In simple terms:** Stay joyful in new findings and learn from students. Key Takeaway Embrace curiosity and mutual learning. Themes education science joy learning mentorship Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - Teaching - research - career development - personal growth Key Concepts Epistemology intergenerational learning humility Questions to Reflect On - How can you cultivate joy in routine work? - What can you learn from younger colleagues? A Different Perspective Joy may fade without effort to stay open-minded. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Discovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovery/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) ## Related quotes > [The credit of advancing science has always been due to individuals and never to the age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/the-credit-of-advancing-science-has-always-been-due-to-individuals/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [A teacher is never too smart to learn from his pupils.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bowerman/a-teacher-is-never-too-smart-to-learn-from-his-pupils/) [Bill Bowerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bowerman/) > [A teacher is never too smart to learn from his pupils. But while runners differ, basic principles never change. So it's a matter of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bowerman/a-teacher-is-never-too-smart-to-learn-from-his-pupils-but-while/) [Bill Bowerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bowerman/) > [The teacher usually learns more than the pupils. Isn't that true? "It would be hard to learn much less than my pupils," came a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/the-teacher-usually-learns-more-than-the-pupils-isn-t-that-true-it/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [I'm always willing to listen to somebody else's ideas...because we can always learn more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sailor-jerry/i-m-always-willing-to-listen-to-somebody-else-s-ideas-because-we-can/) [Sailor Jerry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sailor-jerry/) > [Unlearn your old ways/ideas to Learn and adopt new ways/ideas Leading to a new you Relearning as you progress in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/segun-o-silas/unlearn-your-old-ways-ideas-to-learn-and-adopt-new-ways-ideas-leading/) Segun O Silas > [“I think deeply about things and want others to do likewise. I work for ideas and learn from people. I don’t like excluding people.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-swartz/i-think-deeply-about-things-and-want-others-to-do-likewise-i-work-for/) [Aaron Swartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-swartz/) > [Do not follow the ideas of others, but learn to listen to the voice within yourself. Your body and mind will become clear and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dogen/do-not-follow-the-ideas-of-others-but-learn-to-listen-to-the-voice/) [Dogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dogen/) > [What we know and believe is just a program; it is nothing but words, opinions, and ideas we learn from others and from our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-angel-ruiz/what-we-know-and-believe-is-just-a-program-it-is-nothing-but-words/) [Miguel Angel Ruiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-angel-ruiz/) > [We can exchange ideas with each other. Learn from each one another and become better!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-rambharack/we-can-exchange-ideas-with-each-other-learn-from-each-one-another-and/) [Glen Rambharack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-rambharack/) > [We can exchange ideas with each other. Learn from each other and become better!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-rambharack/we-can-exchange-ideas-with-each-other-learn-from-each-other-and/) [Glen Rambharack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-rambharack/) > [“In order to create something new, to invent a new product or idea, you need to anticipate where things are headed. That requires a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-rogers/in-order-to-create-something-new-to-invent-a-new-product-or-idea-you/) [Joshua Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-rogers/) > [The seeds of greatness are ideas you learn from people who've been great in their service to others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-waitley/the-seeds-of-greatness-are-ideas-you-learn-from-people-who-ve-been/) [Denis Waitley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-waitley/) > [The most important lesson is to never get comfortable; always come up with new ideas; learn something new; try something new.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carmella/the-most-important-lesson-is-to-never-get-comfortable-always-come-up/) [Carmella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carmella/) > [“Some people they grow wiser as they grow older. Unfortunately, most people just grow older.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-hoover/some-people-they-grow-wiser-as-they-grow-older-unfortunately-most/) [Colleen Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-hoover/) ## More by Hans Zinsser > [“Infectious disease is one of the great tragedies of living things - the struggle for existence between two different forms of life... Incessantly, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-zinsser/infectious-disease-is-one-of-the-great-tragedies-of-living-things-the/) [Hans Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-zinsser/) > [Infectious Disease is one of the few genuine adventures left in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-zinsser/infectious-disease-is-one-of-the-few-genuine-adventures-left-in-the/) [Hans Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-zinsser/) > [Infectious disease is one of the few genuine adventures left in the world. The dragons are all dead and the lance grows rusty in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-zinsser/infectious-disease-is-one-of-the-few-genuine-adventures-left-in-the-2/) [Hans Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-zinsser/) > [ “It is with the \[head louse and body louse\] that we are chiefly concerned, and they are so closely related that, even now, by… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-zinsser/it-is-with-the-head-louse-and-body-louse-that-we-are-chiefly/) [Hans Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-zinsser/) > [ ... \[I\]nfectious disease is merely a disagreeable instance of a widely prevalent tendency of all living creatures to save themselves the bother of building,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-zinsser/i-nfectious-disease-is-merely-a-disagreeable-instance-of-a-widely/) [Hans Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-zinsser/) > [Throughout the early Christian period, every great calamity - famine, earthquake, and plague - led to mass conversions, another indirect influence by which epidemic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-zinsser/throughout-the-early-christian-period-every-great-calamity-famine/) [Hans Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-zinsser/) > [“Medical historians have cited many observations which they regarded as indicating the ancient existence of syphilis; but most of these, on close scrutiny, turn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-zinsser/medical-historians-have-cited-many-observations-which-they-regarded/) [Hans Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-zinsser/) > [“Man and the rat are utterly destructive. All that nature offers is taken for their own purposes, plant or beast. Gradually these two have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-zinsser/man-and-the-rat-are-utterly-destructive-all-that-nature-offers-is/) [Hans Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-zinsser/) > [But however secure and well-regulated civilized life may become, bacteria, Protozoa, viruses, infected fleas, lice, ticks, mosquitoes, and bedbugs will always lurk in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-zinsser/but-however-secure-and-well-regulated-civilized-life-may-become/) [Hans Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-zinsser/) > [“In 1577 there was committed to prison at Oxford a certain Rowland Jencks, a Catholic bookbinder who was accused of speaking evil of ‘that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-zinsser/in-1577-there-was-committed-to-prison-at-oxford-a-certain-rowland/) [Hans Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-zinsser/) > [We have chosen to write the biography of our disease because we love it platonically - as Amy Lowell loved Keats - and have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-zinsser/we-have-chosen-to-write-the-biography-of-our-disease-because-we-love/) [Hans Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-zinsser/) > [ “The Archbishop \[Thomas Becket\] was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral on the evening of the twenty-ninth of December. The body lay in the Cathedral all… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-zinsser/the-archbishop-thomas-becket-was-murdered-in-canterbury-cathedral-on/) [Hans Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-zinsser/) > [“Swords, Lances, arrows, machine guns, and even high explosives have had far less power over the fates of nations than the typhus louse, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-zinsser/swords-lances-arrows-machine-guns-and-even-high-explosives-have-had/) [Hans Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-zinsser/) [Explore all 14 Hans Zinsser quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-zinsser/) ## More Advancing quotes > [I am not the avant-garde. I am the artist who comes after the advancing guard. 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Every next mission takes you farther out in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-believe-that-the-manned-space-program-can-engage-the-public-by/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Five qualities there are wine's praise advancing; Strong, beautiful, fragrant, cool and dancing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-harington/five-qualities-there-are-wine-s-praise-advancing-strong-beautiful/) [John Harington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-harington/) > [Ladies: Anne Hathaway is a feminist and she has amazing teeth. Let's save our bad attitudes for the ones who aren't advancing the cause.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-hathaway/ladies-anne-hathaway-is-a-feminist-and-she-has-amazing-teeth-let-s/) [Anne Hathaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-hathaway/) > [Increasingly constructive doubt is the sign of advancing civilization. We must put question marks along many of our inherited legal dogmas, since they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-frank/increasingly-constructive-doubt-is-the-sign-of-advancing-civilization/) [Jerome Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-frank/) > [What's important is how we use our time on this earth, not how conspicuously we give our money away. What's important is the energy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-pallotta/what-s-important-is-how-we-use-our-time-on-this-earth-not-how/) [Dan Pallotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-pallotta/) > [Advancing bourgeois society liquidates memory, time, recollection as irrational leftovers of the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodor-adorno/advancing-bourgeois-society-liquidates-memory-time-recollection-as/) [Theodor Adorno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodor-adorno/) > [The real debate is we've had an activist court, and the American people don't want an activist court. And the real fear from those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-coburn/the-real-debate-is-we-ve-had-an-activist-court-and-the-american/) [Tom Coburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-coburn/) > [When one has made a decision to kill a person, even if it will be very difficult to succeed by advancing straight ahead, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yamamoto-tsunetomo/when-one-has-made-a-decision-to-kill-a-person-even-if-it-will-be-very/) [Yamamoto Tsunetomo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yamamoto-tsunetomo/) > [The universe is deathless; Is deathless because, having no finite self, it stays infinite. A sound man by not advancing himself stays the further…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-universe-is-deathless-is-deathless-because-having-no-finite-self/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [I'm convinced after spending three weeks in China and Tibet, unless the United States gets its act together, our grandchildren will be living in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mort-kondracke/i-m-convinced-after-spending-three-weeks-in-china-and-tibet-unless/) [Mort Kondracke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mort-kondracke/) Browse all 266 Advancing quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Our task as we grow older in a rapidly advancing science, is to retain the capacity of joy in discoveries which correct older ideas, and to learn from our pupils as we teach them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Hans Zinsser" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-zinsser/our-task-as-we-grow-older-in-a-rapidly-advancing-science-is-to-retain/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Advancing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-zinsser/our-task-as-we-grow-older-in-a-rapidly-advancing-science-is-to-retain/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7dc/hans-zinsser-34557_advancing_our-task-as-we-grow-older-in-a-rapidly-a_1205972.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7dc/hans-zinsser-34557_advancing_our-task-as-we-grow-older-in-a-rapidly-a_1205972.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7dc/hans-zinsser-34557_advancing_our-task-as-we-grow-older-in-a-rapidly-a_1205972.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Our task as we grow older in a rapidly advancing science, is to retain the capacity of joy in discoveries…” — Hans Zinsser", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Hans Zinsser", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-zinsser/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Our task as we grow older...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-zinsser/our-task-as-we-grow-older-in-a-rapidly-advancing-science-is-to-retain/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-zinsser/our-task-as-we-grow-older-in-a-rapidly-advancing-science-is-to-retain/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```