A mentor spoke a proverb to me that goes:

“The more you know the less you need”

Background: The speaker is a 52 year old father who grew up in Century City, CA and currently lives with his wife and three kids in Calabasas, CA. He is an entrepreneur and currently owns and manages multiple of his own companies.

Context: After dinner, he told me this proverb reflecting on his professional career.

Analysis: He shared with me that he originally heard this proverb from his father and it stuck with him, and therefore grew up with it always at the forefront of his mind.  Proverbs are really interesting to me because, by nature, they are vague enough that each individual can apply it to whatever area in their life that the words apply to them personally. For him, these words always were always important in terms of his professional career. To me, however, when I first heard this, I did not think of my future career at all, but rather in relationship to the family and friends in my life. Learning from people in my environment and truly knowing people who I care about makes me less and less inclined to need more. I love the way that proverbs manifest in each individual’s life and can stick with you through whatever circumstance is thrown at you.