These days, I’ve been reverting a bit to my college life when I studied philosophy, and revisiting some old texts.  Not surprisingly, I’m coming across pearls of wisdom in the writings of the ancient thinkers.  This, from Seneca‘s Letters From a Stoic (Letter VI – On Sharing Knowledge), caught my eye and reminded me that there’s nothing new under the sun:

“Nothing will ever please me, no matter how excellent or beneficial, if I must retain the knowledge of it to myself.  And if wisdom were given me under the express condition that it must be kept hidden and not uttered, I should refuse it.  No good thing is pleasant to possess, without friends to share it.”

Although he studied law, I am doubtful that Seneca suspected, almost 2000 years later, that lawyers and law firms would be challenged by what came to be known as knowledge management.  I further doubt that he could imagine that some would question the value of sharing knowledge.

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