What Boredom Does

When I was taking up my undergraduate studies, I had a Social Science class focused on the life of Dr. Jose Rizal. I was young then -- very young -- and I had no interest whatsoever on the subject. I was taking up Mathematics so why in the world would I need to take this subject seriously? Like I said, I was young and so were my thoughts and emotions.

Lately, after taking my Ph. D. in Mathematics in another country (Japan) and got employed, I found myself surfing the internet more and more (due to boredom). Guess what? I looked for an online version of Noli Me Tangere and have been reading it since yesterday. This book was written (originally in archaic Spanish) by no other than Rizal himself. I'd rather say I got touched with these lines and I nearly wept:

Do not forget that if knowledge is the heritage of mankind, it is only the courageous who inherit it. I have tried to pass on to you what I got from my teachers, the sum of which I have endeavored to increase and transmit to the coming generation as far
as in me lay. You will now do the same for those who come after you, and you can treble it, since you are going to rich countries. They come here seeking wealth, go you to their country to seek also that other wealth which we lack! But remember that all that glitters is not gold.

I'm going to finish reading this novel...