Treat words as seeds. Seneca, Epistle 4.38.1-2

Conversation is better for learning than public lectures are. Conversation allows you to approach what is said carefully, from more than one position, so that you get a better sense for what is being discussed than you can have from a prepared speech (that cannot adjust to accommodate too many views without losing its own coherence, and so must adopt a certain rigidity in its form and presentation). Seneca advises Lucilius to remember good conversations, keeping words from them in his mind as a source of constant inspiration for deeds, which demonstrate and invigorate the reason that our minds possess, the power of our philosophy.

Merito exigis ut hoc inter nos epistularum commercium frequentemus. Plurimum proficit sermo, quia minutatim irrepit animo: disputationes praeparatae et effusae audiente populo plus habent strepitus, minus familiaritatis. Philosophia bonum consilium est: consilium nemo clare dat. Aliquando utendum est et illis, ut ita dicam, contionibus, ubi qui dubitat impellendus est; ubi vero non hoc agendum est, ut velit discere, sed ut discat, ad haec submissiora verba veniendum est. Facilius intrant et haerent; nec enim multis opus est sed efficacibus.

Seminis modo spargenda sunt, quod quamvis sit exiguum, cum occupavit idoneum locum, vires suas explicat et ex minimo in maximos auctus diffunditur. Idem facit ratio: non late patet, si aspicias; in opere crescit. Pauca sunt quae dicuntur, sed si illa animus bene excepit, convalescunt et exsurgunt. Eadem est, inquam, praeceptorum condicio quae seminum: multum efficiunt, et angusta sunt. Tantum, ut dixi, idonea mens rapiat illa et in se trahat; multa invicem et ipsa generabit et plus reddet quam acceperit. Vale.

Your request that we exchange letters more frequently is noted, and well made. Conversation is most valuable to us, because it seeps into the mind little by little, over time. Prepared discourses, poured out for an attentive audience, have more noise to offer, yes, but less intimacy. Philosophy is good counsel, and nobody gives counsel without leaving something unclear. Sometimes we must harangue and be harangued, attending meetings where the man who hesitates is nevertheless compelled to utter his piece. But if we want to learn something, this is not the way. For learning, we require milder words. These should enter our minds easily, and stick. No need then for too many words, just the ones that do the job.

These words should be scattered like seed. For though it be ever so small, nevertheless, when a seed takes root in good ground, it reveals its strength in growth that extends far beyond its original dimensions. Our reason does the same thing. It is nothing vast to contemplate, if you look at it directly; but with every deed it grows. The things we say together are few and small, but if our mind catches them well, they grow strong and carry us up. So the condition of teachings is ultimately the same as that of seeds, I maintain: they achieve much, and are themselves small. Let the wise mind take such teachings and bury them in itself, as I have said. This plantation will spawn more teaching, and eventually return a harvest of thought greater than what the mind originally received. Farewell.