A Drop in the Ocean
After forty days on one daf, the Maharil told his talmidim how much more there was beneath what they had learned.
A teaching ofRav Moshe Yehoshua Yehuda Leib Diskin of Briskהרב משה יהושע יהודה לייב בן בנימין דיסקיןProfile ›
After forty days on a single daf of Bava Basra, the talmidim felt that they had finally mastered it. The Maharil told them gently that if they thought they now understood it completely, they were mistaken. They were like small children fresh from learning the alef beis, who imagine that nothing is left to learn. What they had grasped was a single drop beside the ocean of wisdom in the words of the Tannaim and Amoraim. He added that a person cannot remain with one page forever, since then he would never complete the Torah. The lesson was both humility and forward motion: know how deep the Torah is, and still keep going. According to the talmid who retold it, any trace of pride that had crept in vanished at that moment.
Source: As related by his talmid Rav Yaakov Orenstein (printed account; full citation to be confirmed)
When you finally feel that you understand something, whether a sugya, a person or a difficult stretch of your own life, remind yourself that there are layers still beyond your view. That need not discourage you. It can make you curious. Today, return to something you believe you already know and ask one new question about it. Then move forward, as the Maharil did, grateful for what you have grasped and glad that there is always more.