My number one goal was not getting 'A's' - and I proved it. I was

Hear the words of Brian Lamb, founder of C-SPAN and chronicler of voices, who declared with humility and candor: “My number one goal was not getting ‘A’s’ – and I proved it. I was a ‘C’ student. You have to be ready to learn. If you’re not interested in learning, it doesn’t work. As I grew older and wanted to learn and desperately wanted inside information, learning was a lot easier.” These words, though shaped by the memory of one man’s education, strike with the force of a universal truth: that the fire of knowledge is not kindled by grades, but by desire, and that true wisdom does not bow to the scoreboard of youth, but awakens when the soul itself longs for light.

He speaks first of being a ‘C’ student, a confession that in the eyes of many would seem shameful. Yet Lamb transforms this into wisdom, showing that marks upon paper are not the measure of the mind’s destiny. For grades without hunger are empty shells; they may impress in the moment, but they do not guarantee the growth of the soul. What matters, he declares, is being ready to learn—to approach knowledge not with compulsion, but with curiosity.

Consider the example of Winston Churchill, who too struggled in school, often ranked poorly among his peers. His teachers thought him slow, his marks unimpressive. Yet later, when history demanded his voice and his pen, Churchill became one of the greatest orators and writers of his age. What changed? Not his genetic inheritance, nor his raw intelligence, but his interest in learning, awakened by necessity and passion. Like Lamb, he discovered that once the heart desires wisdom, knowledge becomes not a burden but a joy.

The emotional heart of Lamb’s reflection lies in the phrase “desperately wanted inside information.” Here lies the key: true learning does not come from compulsion, but from desire. When one longs to understand the world—to know the hidden workings of history, the secrets of science, the depths of art—then the mind opens like fertile soil to the seed. Learning ceases to be a task imposed and becomes instead a feast sought after. This, Lamb declares, is why in his later years knowledge flowed more easily: because now he wanted it, not because someone demanded it.

The ancients too knew this truth. Plato wrote that education is not the filling of a vessel, but the turning of the soul toward the light. A child who studies only to please parents or teachers may achieve grades, but unless the soul itself is turned, the knowledge will not endure. Lamb’s story echoes this: in his youth he was not yet turned toward the light of knowledge, and thus the marks he earned reflected it. But in maturity, when his own desire for truth burned brightly, he found learning easier, sweeter, more enduring than any grade could capture.

The lesson, O listener, is clear: do not measure yourself or others only by marks and numbers. Rather, measure by the desire to learn, by the curiosity that drives one to seek truth. A poor student today may become a wise leader tomorrow if the hunger awakens. A great student today may falter if they learn only for praise and not for truth. The heart of education is not compulsion, but passion.

What then shall you do? First, cultivate within yourself the desire to learn—not to impress, but to grow. Second, encourage others not only to chase grades but to chase curiosity. Ask questions, seek depth, hunger for the inside information that makes the world alive. Third, remember that it is never too late to learn. Whether young or old, once desire awakens, knowledge is within reach.

And remember always: as Brian Lamb declared, learning works only when the heart is ready. Do not despair if in youth you stumbled, nor boast if in youth you excelled. The true test is whether, when the soul hungers, you open yourself to wisdom. For in that moment, the world itself becomes a book, and every page offers light.