As a mother, when my son was young, my happiest moments occurred amidst the giggles and joys of experiencing life. His delight was my delight. Now in his 20s, he still has moments of excitement he shares with me, but with each year, it grew less and less.

Nearly 10 years ago, I stumbled upon the term: Ancora Imparo, and quickly embraced it as my life motto.

But life became busy and distracting and I thought of it less and less.

When my son left for college, I remembered these set-aside words, and since then, I’ve been learning to brush them off and discover the depth of meaning and the joy of application.

WHAT IS “ANCORA IMPARO”?

When I first learned of it, it was a motto attributed to Michelangelo and it translates, “I still learn”. Interestingly, and in an ironic sense, I recently discovered that Michelangelo is mistakenly attributed to this saying. (Goes to show you how easily one person makes a mistake, repeats it, and then it’s adopted as fact!)

The term is actually spelled “Anchora Inparo”, it’s Italian, and was a culturally popular saying in the mid-1500s. The error came when Ralph Waldo Emerson in his, Poetry & Imagination essay mentioned that the below sketch belonged to Michelangelo, along with this motto. However, it seems the original use of this term in an attributable sense came from an engraving by artist Domenico Giuntalodi circa 1534.

Delighted to find this engraving, I can see how it was mistaken to be by or of Michelangelo. The time period is the same as when Michelangelo lived. Emerson writes it was allegedly found in Michelangelo’s portfolio of work.¹

The irony of this all, is the point of Ancora Imparo/Anchora Inparo: we are all still learning. We make mistakes. There’s so much to discover in life. For me, the older I get, it feels like the less I know.

As we age, we should be willing to embrace a childlike mindset, as shown by this old man clinging to a child’s walker. Even King Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes, with all his wisdom, acknowledged how meaningless knowledge can be as the more we know, the wise understand the less we know.

Paul the apostle wrote in his letter to the Corinthians, “When I was a child, I spoke about childish matters, for I saw things like a child and reasoned like a child. But the day came when I matured, and I set aside my childish ways. For now we see but a faint reflection of riddles and mysteries as though reflected in a mirror, but one day we will see face-to-face. My understanding is incomplete now, but one day I will understand everything, just as everything about me has been fully understood.“

With all of his wisdom, Solomon tells us to ENJOY THE DAY, enjoy our lives, and keep God in the center of it.

Jesus says, “Learn this well: Unless you dramatically change your way of thinking and become teachable, and learn about heaven’s kingdom realm with the wide-eyed wonder of a child, you will never be able to enter in. Whoever continually humbles himself to become like this gentle child is the greatest one in heaven’s kingdom realm.” (Matt. 18:3-4)

Artist Domenico Giuntalodi was telling us: learning is a lifetime endeavor.

…and I’d add that part of Ancara Imparo is to embrace childlike wonder and a youthful zeal for living!