If you think you’re too old to learn, maybe it’s time to think about how children learn. Recently, a friend sent me a few paragraphs from the book, “Leonardo Da Vinci”, he thought I would find interesting. He was right; not only did I find it interesting, I found it fascinating to read about what two of the most brilliant minds thought their greatest gifts and talents were. Curiosity! In a nut shell, become a life-long learner. Here’s some of that wisdom from the book “Leonardo Da Vinci.”

1) Be Curious, Relentlessly Curious: “I have no special talents,” Einstein once wrote to a friend. “I am just passionately curious.” Da Vinci and Einstein did have special talents but what set them apart from most people is that they were both intensely curious. Da Vinci wanted to know what causes people to yawn, different ways for squaring a circle, what makes the aortic valve close, how light is processed in the eye and what that means for the perspective in a painting. He instructed himself to learn about the jaw of a crocodile, the tongue of a woodpecker, the muscles of a face, the light of the moon and the edges of shadows. Being relentlessly and randomly curious about everything around us is something that each of us can push ourselves to do, every waking hour, just as he did.

2) Seek knowledge for its own sake: Not all knowledge needs to be useful. Sometimes it should be pursued for pure pleasure. Da Vinci did not need to know how heart valves work to paint the Mona Lisa. By allowing himself to be driven by pure curiosity, he got to explore more horizons and see more connections than anyone else of his era.

3) Retain a childlike sense of wonder: At a certain point in life, most of us quit puzzling over everyday phenomena. We might savor the beauty of a blue sky, but we no longer bother to wonder why it is that color. Da Vinci did. So did Einstein, who wrote to another friend, “You and I never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born.” We should be careful to never outgrow our wonder years, or to let our children do so.

4) Observe: Da Vinci’s greatest skill was his acute ability to observe things. It was the talent that empowered his curiosity, and vice versa. It was not some magical gift but a product of his own effort. When he visited the moats surrounding Sforza Castle, he looked at the four-wing dragonflies and noticed how the wing pairs alternate in motion. When he walked around town, he observed how the facial expressions of people relate to their emotions, and he discerned how light bounces off differing surfaces. He saw which birds move their wings faster on the upswing than on the downswing, and which do the opposite. This, too, we can emulate. Water flowing into a bowl? Look, as he did, at exactly how the eddies swirl. Then wonder why.

What are you curious about today?