Plutarch (1st century A.D.)

"The mind is not an empty vessel waiting to be filled; it is a fire waiting to be kindled."

I have always disliked the metaphor likening the mind of a child to a tabula rasa, an empty slate just waiting for life to write experiences on it, adults to pour information into it.

I prefer the imagery of the fire of curiosity and imagination, ready to be kindled into flame, illumating and being illuminated, at one with the fire of the Universe. As a drop of water is separate at one time, yet ultimately part of the great ocean.

No wonder fire imagery is so powerful.