Curiosity is not a trait. It is not something you are. It is something you do.
So if we want our kids to be curious, which of course, we do, we are going to have to equip them with the skill. That is to say, not simply having the interest but understanding how to explore it. Not just asking the question, but having the confidence and commitment to find the answer.
As a kid, the future outdoorsman Steven Rinella asked a lot of questions. But instead of stifling or shutting down that curiosity (even if it was occasionally annoying), his parents facilitated it, pushed him to follow through on it. As Rinella said, “I was taught that questions deserved answers. At times, questions demanded answers. If I wondered about a particular bird, I was tasked with finding it in one of the guidebooks that were kept on a shelf above the piano…Trees weren’t just trees. They had names and attributes.”
We have to do this with our kids and not stop…whatever their age…or ours. When our kids express an interest, when they have a question, we have to fan that spark. When Anne Frank needed help with a school report on the Roman Empire, her father simply said, “Well, let’s see what we can find,” and took her to the library and helped her learn.
What a wonderful gift to give a child! That idea that, as we’ve said before, everything is figure-out-able—that the knowledge you seek is out there, you just have to go look for it. Children are naturally curious, but we must show them how to sustain that curiosity, how to keep that fire burning, how to stay curious throughout life.
The sad reality is that if we don’t cultivate and practice curiosity, it withers away. We see this with those adults who have long abandoned their childhood curiosities in favor of routine and comfort. They stop asking questions. They stop exploring. They stop learning.
But while we can’t go back and redo our own childhood education, we have a precious opportunity with our children. We can give them what we might have missed—the tools to cultivate wisdom from an early age.
This is exactly what Ryan Holiday explores in the first third of his new book, Wisdom Takes Work, the fourth and final book in the Stoic Virtues Series.
In it, he shows that wisdom isn’t something that just happens to us as we age. It’s something we must actively cultivate through curiosity, reading, reflection, and always remaining a student—no matter how old or accomplished we are. This lifelong habit begins in childhood but continues throughout our entire lives.
If you want to build a life filled with wisdom and understanding, if you want to model true curiosity for your children or anyone else in your life, Wisdom Takes Work provides the blueprint.
It’s a practical guide to becoming the kind of person who doesn’t just age, but grows wiser with each passing year.
You can preorder Wisdom Takes Work here now. We’ve also put together some exciting bonuses to thank you for preordering, including a signed and numbered page from the original manuscript, two full bonus chapters, and an invitation to a dinner with Ryan in Bastrop, Texas.
Learn more about those and claim your copy of Wisdom Takes Work at dailystoic.com/wisdom today!
