I lack formal education. So I'm left with the feeling that I'm smarter than everyone around me but that if I ever got around really smart people–people who went to universities and drank wine and spoke Latin–that they’d be bored as hell by me. It’s a lonely way to go through life. Gillian Flynn
About This Quote

When I was in college, I took a statistics class. In that class, we were given a chance to speak in front of the class and say anything that came to our minds at the moment. I spoke about how, when you're out with friends, someone says something funny and you laugh because it's good-natured and everyone is chuckling together and you think: "This is the best day of my life!" But then you get home and you realize: "Oh, did I really just laugh at that joke?" And so I said: "You know, it's amazing. When I'm out with my friends, we all laugh at the same stuff. We all agree on what's funny and what's not.

And then when we get home we say 'Oh — did I really just do that?' What an interesting life! Where people don't think of things the same way." And then my friend said something that made me realize how very smart I am: "Yeah," he said — "but this is a good thing because if we all thought the same way our lives would be boring." And I was like: —"What do you mean? Isn't this the best thing in the world? Where we all agree on what's funny?" —"Well," he said — "yeah. But there'd be no more surprises." —"No more surprises? No more fun, no more . .

. ? No more joy?" —"No joy." And now I see it differently. Now I see how much fun it (lack of formal education) has given me by never having to agree with anyone else about anything.

It's made me much smarter than my friends because now everything they say sounds like every other thing they've ever said. It's like they're saying something new but it really isn't new at all because they've (lack of formal education) heard it before.

Source: The Grownup

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