If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.

In the sharp and enduring words of Jeff Rich, “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” These words, though simple, cut to the heart of civilization’s greatest truth — that knowledge, though costly in time, effort, and treasure, is far less costly than the ruin that comes from ignorance. For education is the investment that yields enlightenment, progress, and freedom; ignorance, by contrast, is the debt that binds the mind and destroys the future. Rich’s words stand as a warning and a challenge — to value learning not as a luxury, but as the lifeblood of human dignity and advancement.

The origin of this saying lies in the age-old struggle between those who see education as an expense and those who understand it as an inheritance. Jeff Rich, an American businessman and philanthropist, spoke from the perspective of one who had seen both — the cost of building knowledge and the destruction wrought by its absence. His words echo across generations because they reveal a universal truth: that the price of education may seem high, but the price of ignorance is always higher. It is a lesson that every nation, every generation, must learn anew — that neglecting the mind leads inevitably to the decay of both spirit and society.

Since the dawn of time, wise men and women have recognized that ignorance is not merely the absence of learning, but the root of suffering. In the days of the ancient philosophers, Socrates declared that “there is only one good — knowledge; and one evil — ignorance.” To know was to see; to be ignorant was to wander in darkness. Empires have risen upon knowledge and fallen through folly. When the Library of Alexandria burned, the world did not merely lose scrolls — it lost centuries of thought, discovery, and understanding. The cost of that ignorance echoed for generations. So it is with all people and all times: where education fails, destruction follows.

Consider the tale of the Dark Ages in Europe. When the wisdom of the ancient world was buried beneath superstition and fear, progress stalled. Science, medicine, and philosophy withered, and humanity endured centuries of stagnation. It was only when scholars — through courage and curiosity — reclaimed the treasures of learning that the Renaissance was born. The light of education returned, and with it came invention, art, exploration, and hope. The cost of ignorance had been centuries of darkness; the reward of education was the dawn of modern civilization.

Yet Rich’s words are not only a lesson for nations, but for the individual soul. Each of us stands daily at the crossroads between learning and laziness, between seeking truth and dwelling in complacency. To learn — truly learn — demands effort, humility, and sacrifice. It is, indeed, expensive in time and labor. But ignorance, left unchecked, costs far more. It costs opportunity, it costs freedom, it costs the ability to think and act wisely. The uneducated man may save his coin, but he will pay with his choices. For ignorance builds prisons where knowledge builds bridges.

Even in the modern age, the cost of ignorance remains steep. Societies that neglect education breed division, poverty, and despair. Where the mind is not nourished, fear takes root; where truth is not taught, lies flourish. In every corner of the world, ignorance is the seed of corruption and oppression. The uneducated are easily deceived, and tyrants thrive among those who cannot discern truth from falsehood. Thus, to educate is not merely to inform — it is to liberate. Education is the armor of the free man; ignorance, the chain of the slave.

The lesson, dear listener, is both urgent and eternal: invest in education, not because it is cheap, but because it is priceless. Spend your hours in learning, for they yield years of wisdom. Support the teaching of others, for in uplifting their minds, you fortify your own world. Never lament the price of a book, a teacher, or a school — lament only the waste of potential that comes when minds are left unfed. The fruits of knowledge ripen slowly, but they sustain civilizations; the weeds of ignorance grow quickly, but they choke them to death.

So let us heed the wisdom of Jeff Rich, and carry it as a torch against the darkness. If ever the cost of learning seems too great, remember the cost of ignorance — wars born of misunderstanding, poverty born of stagnation, injustice born of blind obedience. Choose instead the harder path — to study, to question, to grow. For though education demands much, it rewards infinitely more. Knowledge is the seed of freedom, and those who plant it ensure that the tree of wisdom shall never fall, even when the winds of time blow fierce against it.