What are the benefits of reading and writing and school and beyond?

We are always learning, until the day we do not...

...and when the day comes, when we cease to learn,

hopefully we will have also ceased to draw breath.

Friendships grow stale when one or both cease to explore and learn, marriages become habits, rarely good ones, when one takes a vacation from learning.

The opposite of ignorance is not wisdom nor intelligence, but pride. Only the proud proclaim they have arrived and do away with their studies, close their minds, and rest on past accomplishments.

The humble continue to learn, or at least try to...They stumble forward by trial and error; inquiry and investigation. They know they lack understanding, they know their knowledge is inadequate. They thirst for wisdom and understanding, and will never be satisfied...in this lifetime.

Life is a school, so pay attention to your classes, they will help you in life's tests. Life gives the test first, then hopefully you learn the lesson the first time, or you keep repeating it. No information or ability is ever useless. Reading can save you time and effort if you learn from other people's mistakes.

P.S. If you couldn't read and write, you wouldn't have been able to ask us this question.

For me, $20k.