,every ,man ,his ,own ,university       
,by ,,russell ,h4 ,,conwell             
,every ,man's ,university               
,animals and ,the ,least ,things        
,the ,bottom ,rung                      
,thoughtfulness                         
,instincts and ,individuality           
,,volume #d      ,,national             
,,extension ,,university      #eig      
,fifth ,avenue1 ,new ,york              
,,observation--,,every ,,man ,,his ,,own
 ,,university      ,copyright1 #aiag1 by
 ,harper  ,brothers     ,printed in the 
,united ,states of ,america     ,i      
,,every ,,man',s ,,university   ,a      
distinct university walks about under   
each man's hat4 ,the only man who       
achieves success in the other           
universities of the world1 and in the   
larger university of life1 is the man   
who has first taken his graduate course 
and his post-graduate course in the     
university under his hat4 ,there        
observation furnishes a daily change in 
the curriculum4 ,books are not the      

original sources of power1 but          
observation1 which may bring to us all  
wide experience1 deep thinking1 fine    
feeling1 and the power to act for       
oneself1 is the very dynamo of power4   
,without observation1 literature and    
meditation are shower and sunshine upon 
unbroken soil4 ,only those schools and  
colleges are true schools and colleges  
which regard it as the chief business of
 all their teaching to persuade those   
under their charge to see more perfectly
 what they are looking at1 to find what 
they should have been unable to observe 
had it not been for their school        
instruction4 ,you can't make a good     
arrow from a pig's tail1 and you can    
seldom get a man worth while out of one 
who has gone through the early part of  
his life without having learned to be   
alert when things are to be seen or     
heard4 ,john ,stuart ,blackie says that 
it is astonishing how much we all go    
about with our eyes wide open and see   
nothing1 and ,doctor ,johnson says that 

some men shall see more while riding ten
 miles upon the top of an omnibus1 than 
some others shall see in riding over the
 continent4  ,how to observe should be  
the motto1 not only in the beginning of 
our life1 but throughout our career4    
,with the same intellectual gifts1      
interested in the same ideas1 two men   
walk side by side through the same      
scenery and meet the same people4 ,one  
man has had much inspiration from the   
country traversed1 and has been intent  
upon all that he has seen and heard     
among the people4 ,the other has caught 
no inspiration from beauty or bird or   
blossom1 and only the trivialities of   
the people have amused him4#a  ,a       
traveler in ,athens or ,rome1 ,paris or 
,london1 may be shown these cities by a 
professional guide1 and yet gain only a 
smattering of what these cities hold in 
store for him1 and remember little of   
what he has seen4 ,another traveler1    
unattended by a guide1 but observant of 
everything that comes to his eyes and   

ears1 will carry away stores from his   
visit to those cities1 which shall be of
 life-long interest and be serviceable  
to all who shall travel his way4 ,the   
solitary but observant stranger in a    
country almost always profits most from 
his travels4 ,he is compelled to notice 
boulevards and buildings1 parks and     
people2 and every day of his travels is 
a lesson in observation that accustoms  
him to remember all he has once seen4   
,the newspaper correspondents of other  
days had no guide-books or guides1 and  
they were entire strangers in the places
 they visited4 ,they relied entirely    
upon themselves to find their way1 and  
to discover everything that was valuable
 and interesting4 ,they found much that 
the modern guide either overlooks or    
disregards1 and wrote for the papers at 
home what would most interest and       
instruct their readers4  ,when ,henry   
,m4 ,stanley first visited ,jerusalem he
 insisted that the dragoman in charge of
 his party should keep all guides and   

guide-books out of his sight4 ,in two   
days ,stanley knew the streets and the  
location of the ,temple and the ,holy   
,sepulcher and all the notable places in
 that old city4 ,if ,stanley is to-day  
known as one of the most intelligent of 
travelers1 it is mainly because he      
excelled in daily observation1 which    
every one who thinks for himself        
recognizes as the supreme acquisition of
 a liberal education4 ,he often said    
that he knew ,rome1 ,naples1 and ,vienna
 far better than he knew ,new ,york1    
where he had lived many years of his    
life4 ,in that he resembled the rest of 
humanity1 who generally know less about 
what is notable in their home places1   
than observant visitors know who stay   
there only a short time during their    
travels4 ,what we pay for in time and   
labor seems more valuable--nothing pay1 
nothing value4  ,a great foreign        
correspondent of his day1 ,henry ,w4    
,chambers1 remained only six hours at   
,baalbek1 near ,damascus2 yet he wrote  

the clearest description that probably  
ever was written of the magnificent     
temples at ,baalbek--and he wrote these 
descriptions1 too1 at ,hong-,kong1 after
 many and varied experiences while      
visiting other places of greater        
importance4 ,many archeologists and     
literary men before him had visited the 
moat of the great fortress at ,baalbek4 
,still1 they had never observed as      
,chambers observed1 and so they missed  
seeing the arrow-heads and all the other
 warlike instruments used in those      
ancient days1 which had lain unnoticed  
among those huge pillars and great      
foundation-stones4  ,although ,general  
,lew ,wallace lived a long time at      
,jerusalem1 he only imagined that there 
might have been an inner dungeon        
underneath the great prison2 so when he 
wrote ,ben ,hur he put his leprous      
heroine into this imaginary             
prison-house4 ,a school-teacher from    
northern ,england1 with her             
tourist-candle1 afterward found the     

doorway of this prison which ,wallace   
had only imagined to be there4 ,on their
 way from ,egypt and ,palestine to the  
,euphrates1 travelers had for centuries 
passed over the same path in the desert2
 but it was reserved for a cutter of    
marble inscriptions1 after all these    
centuries1 to observe the ,rosetta      
,stone1 by the help of which            
archeologists can now read the          
inscriptions upon the tablets in the    
ancient palaces of ,babylon and         
,ninevah4  ,millions and millions had   
seen the lid of a teakettle bobbing up  
and down over the boiling water before  
that ,scotchman1 ,watt1 observed it     
while making watches4 ,but he was the   
first of all those millions whose close 
observation led him to investigate this 
force of boiling water in the teakettle4
 ,then he applied this power to the     
steam-engine1 which is still the great  
propelling force of the world4 ,from the
 time of the ,garden of ,eden apples had
 fallen in the orchards of the world1   

through all the harvest-days4 ,of all   
the billions that had seen apples       
falling1 only ,sir ,isaac ,newton       
observed the law of gravitation that was
 involved in their falling4  ,all the   
great discoverers began with nearly the 
same meager powers for observation that 
the rest of the world has1 but early in 
life came to value above all other      
mental powers this incalculable power to
 closely notice2 and each made his realm
 of observation much richer for his     
discoveries4  ,why do the majority of us
 go through life seeing nothing of the  
millions of marvelous truths and facts  
while only a few keep their eyes and    
ears wide open and every day are busy in
 piling up what they have observed6 ,the
 loss of our instincts seems to be the  
price we pay to-day for the few minor   
acquisitions we get from school and     
college2 we put out our brains to make  
room for our learning4 ,the man who     
assiduously cultivates his powers of    
observation and thus gains daily from   

his experiences what helps him to see   
farther and clearer everything in life  
that is worth seeing1 has given himself 
a discipline that is much more important
 than the discipline of all the schools 
and the colleges without it4 ,the       
greatest text-books of the greatest     
universities are only the records of the
 observations of some close observer    
whose better powers of seeing things had
 been acquired mainly while he was      
taking his courses in that university   
under his hat4  ,the intellect is both  
telescope and microscope2 if it is      
rightly used1 it shall observe thousands
 of things which are too minute and too 
distant for those who with eyes and ears
 neither see nor hear4 ,the intellect   
can be made to look far beyond the range
 of what men and women ordinarily see2  
but not all the colleges in the world   
can alone confer this power--this is the
 reward of self-culture2 each must      
acquire it for himself2 and perhaps this
 is why the power of observing deeply   

and widely is so much oftener found in  
those men and those women who have never
 crossed the threshold of any college   
but the ,university of ,hard ,knocks4   
,the quickening power of science only he
     ,can know1 from whose own soul it  
gushes free4  ,when we look back over   
our life and reflect how many things we 
might have seen and heard had we trained
 our powers of observation1 we seem to  
have climbed little and to have spent   
most of our time upon plateaus1 while   
our achievements seem little better than
 scratches upon black marble4 ,mankind  
has a greater esteem for the degrees    
conferred by the ,university of         
,observation and ,experience than for   
all the other degrees of all other      
,universities in the world4 ,the only   
thing that seems most to win the respect
 of real men and women for the degrees  
conferred by colleges is the fact that  
the graduates have first gained all that
 close observation and wide experience  
can confer4  ,the lives of the men and  

the women who have been worth while keep
 reminding us how vastly more important 
is this education from ceaseless        
observation than all the mere learning  
from school courses4 ,it takes ten      
pounds of the stuff gotten from         
observation and experience to carry one 
pound of school learning wisely4 ,the   
thinking man will never ask you what    
college you have gone through1 but what 
college has gone through you2 and the   
ability and habit of observing deeply   
and broadly is the preparation we all   
need that the college may go through us4
 ,confucius of ,china1 ,kito of ,japan1 
,goethe of ,germany1 ,arnold of         
,england1 ,lincoln and ,edison of       
,america1 stand where they stand to-day 
in thought and action solely because    
they had in a masterly way educated     
their power of minute attention4 ,in    
building up a huge business or in       
amassing enormous riches1 such men as   
,rothschild1 ,rockefeller1 and ,carnegie
 show us especially how vitally         

important to all material success is    
steadfast attendance at the school of   
attention4  ,the colleges that to-day   
are advancing most rapidly in esteem are
 those which are recognizing more and   
more the importance of observation4     
,they require their men to spend some   
portion of their college time in gaining
 experience in their various lines      
through observing the practical workings
 of their calling2 medical students are 
in hospitals2 students of law attend    
courts2 theological students engage in  
mission work2 and engineers are found in
 shops4 ,neither lectures nor           
speculations can take the place of these
 experiences2 each is helpful to the    
other4 ,when only one may be had1 the   
experience from observing actual work is
 far more important4 ,opportunities for 
observation of practical matters1 along 
with theory1 is the modern idea toward  
which all the best modern institutions  
are tending in their efforts to fit men 
for the active business of life4  ,nor  

has greatness from careful observation  
and large experience distinguished men  
of action alone4 ,shakespeare1 ,goethe1 
,bunyan1 ,burns1 ,whittier1 ,longfellow1
 ,james ,whitcomb ,riley1 and a host of 
the great men of philosophy1 science1   
and literature are where they are to-day
 in the esteem of their fellow men1 and 
in their service to humanity1 because   
they were the keenest among the men     
acute in observation4  ,footnote #a3    
,the failure to observe is strikingly   
proved by practical experiment in the   
psychological laboratory4 ,reproductions
 of a familiar or unfamiliar scene are  
placed in the observers' hands and they 
are instructed to study the             
reproductions carefully and to remember 
what they see4 ,after #e minutes careful
 study1 the reproductions are taken away
 and a series of questions concerning   
them are put to the observers4 ,the     
contradictory answers to these questions
 is strikingly eloquent of the          
all-too-human inability to observe4     

,hugo ,munsterberg1 the famous          
psychologist1 made a number of          
psychological experiments to determine  
the limits of error in observation as   
these limits affect the credibility of  
witnesses in the court room4 ,some of   
his findings are summarized in ,on the  
,witness ,stand4  ,your good newspaper  
reporter is a trained observer who      
describes exactly what he sees4 ,yet the
 manner in which even the trained       
observer fails to observe correctly is  
unfailingly demonstrated by the widely  
differing accounts of the same          
occurrence as reported in the various   
newspapers of a community4  ,one of the 
best ways to learn to observe correctly 
and in detail is to take a hasty glance 
at the display in a store window1 pass  
on and attempt to recall that which you 
have seen1 the number of objects1 what  
they were1 etc41 and then check your    
observing faculties by returning to the 
window and listing its contents4        
,continued practice of this sort will   

greatly increase your observing powers4 
,perhaps the most famous known exponent 
of this method for training the         
observing faculties was ,houdini1 the   
famous magician1 who describes the      
method in detail and his experiences in 
applying it in his memoirs4     ,,ii    
,,animals ,,and ,,the ,,least ,,things  
,the benefits brought to humanity       
through the study of lower animal life  
are incalculable1 and could not be told 
in one book4 ,with all that vivisection 
and post-mortem dissection have revealed
 to scientific examiners1 contagious and
 infectious diseases have been nearly   
removed from the human family4 ,we have 
been taught to live better from         
observing animal habits in searching for
 food1 in building their habitats1 in   
their mode of living1 in their fear of  
man1 and in the methods they adopt to   
preserve their health4 ,all this        
knowledge has been gained for us1 for   
the upbuilding of humanity1 through the 
efforts of close observers4 ,they have  

studied the cat by the hearth1 the dog  
by the door1 the horses in the pasture  
and stall1 the pigs in their pens1 and  
the sheep in their folds4 ,closely      
associated with the investigators of    
animal life are those who have observed 
the origin1 habits1 and influence of    
birds1 insects1 and creeping things4    
,but what we have learned from animals  
in the past seems only a trifle in      
comparison with what they will teach    
when we go to them with more serious    
purpose and more carefully observe them4
 ,the leaders in all these              
investigations of animal life have all  
been distinguished for their power to   
discover in animals what has escaped    
other people4  ,professor ,darwin's     
close observation of the doves he fed at
 his door opened up to him important    
suggestions and laid the foundation for 
his great treatise1 ,the ,origin of     
,species4 ,when ,professor ,niles of the
 ,boston ,school of ,technology was a   
boy he caught a minnow while returning  

from school4 ,at his father's suggestion
 he put the fish into a simple aquarium 
and studied its movements4 ,when it died
 he carefully examined its parts under a
 microscope--and this experience was the
 beginning of his vast knowledge of the 
animal realm4  ,while a ,philadelphia   
clergyman was visiting a farmer in      
northern ,new ,jersey1 the family became
 perturbed because their dog had gone   
mad4 ,they fastened it in the kitchen   
and sought somebody to kill it by       
shooting at it through the window4 ,a   
neighbor observed the dog carefully and 
told them it was poisoned4 ,he advised  
the family to loose it in order that it 
might get some antidote for itself in   
field or forest4 ,he told them that     
cats1 cattle1 and horses are often      
compelled to find an antidote for some  
poisonous herb they have eaten1 and that
 the animals know more about such things
 than any teacher in the medical        
schools4 ,as soon as the dog was        
unfastened he hastened across the field 

to a brook1 and ate a weed that was     
growing beside the water4 ,the dog soon 
returned to the house1 and ate heartily 
after a two weeks' fast4  ,the clergyman
 had followed the dog and observed the  
plant which it had eaten4 ,after the dog
 had returned to the house he uprooted  
the plant and took some of its leaves to
 a ,philadelphia firm of chemists4      
,acting upon the firm's advice1 he sent 
the leaves to the ,smithsonian          
,institution at ,washington1 and they   
were found to be a valuable antidote for
 poison4 ,not only was humanity given a 
better medicine from this discovery1 but
 the clergyman also derived a competency
 from it4 ,this remedy for poisoning is 
often used in prescriptions2 so even    
doctors sometimes go to the dogs for    
instructions4  ,like ,professor ,agassiz
 and ,sir ,oliver ,lodge1 many find     
their best instructors in domestic      
animals4 ,the fowls around the house and
 the barn may be whole universities for 
developing the sciences4 ,through her   

dependence on nature the hen is a more  
efficient instructor than the majority  
of college professors4 ,she knows by    
instinct so much of the laws of nature  
that wise men may sit at her feet or her
 bill and learn4 ,perhaps she may seem a
 little foolish in proclaiming her      
achievements in egg-laying by a cackle1 
but her knowledge of the necessities of 
life1 her careful oversight of her      
brood1 the way she uses her feet and her
 wings1 her foreknowledge of approaching
 storms1 her means of defending herself 
when attacked by hawks1 her knowledge of
 the formation of the egg and of the    
proper time to break the shell for the  
release of her chick--all these are     
worthy of the attention of even the     
greatest scientists4  ,in an address at 
a poultry-men's convention1 ,oliver     
,wendell ,holmes said that chickens seem
 to have in them much more to study than
 did ,darwin's doves4 ,while ,holmes was
 once summering at ,kennebunkport1      
,maine1 he trained five chickens to come

 at his call1 to fly upon his head1 and 
to leap with open bills to catch a      
kernel of corn4 ,before the season      
closed the chickens would come to his   
bedroom even after he had               
retired--making it necessary1 as ,doctor
 ,holmes said1 for the landlord to serve
 them up for dinner4 ,doctor ,holmes's  
parody on ,longfellow's ,a ,psalm of    
,life shows what a careful observer he  
was4 ,while some of ,longfellow's       
admirers resented the parody as a       
slight1 ,longfellow himself always      
treated it as complimentary4 ,he once   
told ,james ,t4 ,fields that1 in one    
couplet of the parody1 ,holmes had      
excelled the entire original poem3      
,not like muffled drums be beating      
,on the inside of the shell4            
,longfellow told ,fields that there are 
always millions of men standing like    
chickens in the shell1 with wings they  
know not how to use1 having calls to a  
larger life outside of which they can   
see nothing2 that some peck away until  

dead on the inside of the shell1 while  
others1 assisted by a friend on the     
outside1 step out into a life beautiful 
and complete4  ,in the egg or molecule  
we get nearer to ,god than we do through
 the telescope or by encircling the     
earth4 ,he who lived nearest the first  
cause gets the best inspiration for     
visions of all greater sights or events2
 so the cottage is a happier place than 
the palace for him who wishes to get    
better acquainted with what shall arouse
 finer thought and feeling4 ,the cottage
 is the best preparatory school for the 
mansion1 provided always that the       
cottage course has been thorough4 ,he   
who has worn his cottage life with manly
 dignity shall be the man to wear his   
mansion life with composure4 ,emerson   
said the entire system of things gets   
represented in every particle4  ,uneasy 
is the head that wears the crown1 and   
unfortunate is the man who gets a       
smattering of many things yet does not  
know even one small thing thoroughly4   

,the power of little things to give     
instruction and happiness should be the 
first lesson in life1 and it should be  
inculcated deeply4 ,the chief need of   
this discontented and sinful world is to
 comprehend that in one blade of grass  
or the shading of an evening cloud there
 is sufficient reverence to fill the    
largest heart1 and sufficient science to
 occupy the greatest passion4  ,we saw a
 delicate blue flower in the grass this 
morning which ,i had never noticed      
before4 ,it seemed a different flower   
from each angle and1 when put under a   
magnifying-glass1 had colors ,i had     
never noticed before in flower or art4  
,the field where it was growing had been
 familiar to me for threescore years and
 ten1 yet the flower was entirely new to
 me4 ,it was so dainty and attractive   
and inspiring that ,i felt ,i had lost  
something important to my spiritual     
growth all these years--something like  
the experience of ,virgil1 ,guizot1     
,carlyle1 ,grotius1 or like ,tennyson in

 the ,holy ,grail1 who declares that he 
had left a real and wonderful life      
behind to follow the unknown4 ,this     
little flower in the morning sunlight   
awakes thoughts of years long past--of  
the faces of marshaled hosts of battle1 
of eyes deep and calm with the smile of 
a loving mother's welcome1 of the great 
forgiveness in a father's affection4    
,had ,i found that flower seventy years 
before1 ,i believe my appreciation of   
the ,divine ,power would have been      
greater1 my heart would have been more  
satisfied1 my soul more fully           
illuminated and pervaded by a holier    
peace4 ,we lose ourselves in all        
attempts to grasp the cause of which    
this small flower is the result4 ,it is 
impossible to find words to convey the  
strange emotions which this newly found 
flower aroused1 and to tell of the      
distant realms my imagination visited   
while ,i meditated there4 ,if we would  
free ourselves from the perplexing cares
 which our daily duties demand2 if we   

would forget the worries of each day2 if
 the losses and disappointments and the 
wrongs of many years did not press      
themselves upon us2 if the demands of   
many duties and the demands upon our    
attention and the calls of friends did  
not interrupt--we could find in         
contemplating this wee flower of the    
field a fund of happiness which years of
 sorrow and misfortune could not        
destroy4  ,bacon and ,burke and ,niebuhr
 discovered how much of grandeur can    
come into a life from the little things 
about us1 but they all discovered it    
when it was too late to go back and live
 the ideal life of simplicity and       
individuality which was suggested to    
them by a drop of water and a           
humming-bird4 ,the smallest things are  
the largest in importance1 if they bring
 into our lives the largest thoughts and
 feelings and an incentive to largest   
actions for self and humanity4 ,why are 
we forever looking upon the horizon for 
what upon closer view lies at our feet8 

,these little beauties of the field     
rebuke the wanderer and the eminent man 
when it says to all the world1 with a   
sweet smile and a dainty pout1 ,you     
could have found more in my life than   
has ever been learned from the sages4   
,while ,zinzendorf was stranded nearly a
 year upon a tiny island1 his vigorous  
mind was forced to occupy itself in     
observing the objects upon the shore2   
his examinations of the colors in the   
clam-shell led him to say later in life1
 at a meeting of philosophers1 that a   
lifetime study of these colors should   
develop more of the beautiful than all  
the manufactured color combinations then
 known4  ,art has not yet been able to  
combine the shades shown in the shell of
 an oyster1 and the wings of the ,june  
bug have been enlarged and copied by    
colored photography1 and will greatly   
influence all art hereafter4 ,man's     
needs shall be best supplied by         
beginning at the source and following   
the ,creator in developing them into    

things of beauty and service4  ,although
 the ,agricultural ,department at       
,washington spent eight million dollars 
in the study of seeds and their growth  
by sending experts to roam over the     
world for investigations1 yet the       
observations of ,luther ,burbank and    
many like investigators in the          
agricultural colleges throughout the    
country have made many more important   
discoveries4 ,their observations have   
brought about a greater increase of     
production to the acre than all the     
results of those who roamed the earth   
for the ,government1 and no one would   
say that their work was not a fair      
investment for the nation4  ,observation
 convinces us that the sooner we get    
down to the simplicities of life1 the   
longer and healthier and nobler shall   
life become4 ,the healthiest are those  
with one loaf and a natural hunger along
 with it4 ,the noblest lives are those  
who are anxious to become as divine as  
it is possible for them to be1 are ever 

alert for little deeds of kindness4 ,how
 much richer life the poet lives who can
 sympathize with the field-mouse1 like  
,burns6 ,who is lifted heavenward by the
 fringed gentian1 like ,bryant8 ,who    
gets the messages of peace from the     
frosted pumpkin1 like ,riley8 ,like     
,shakespeare1 we too may find tongues in
 trees1 books in running brooks1 sermons
 in stones1 and good in everything1 if  
we will but use our eyes for seeing1 our
 ears for hearing1 our heads for        
understanding1 and our hearts for       
feeling4 ,the ,poor ,man's ,university  
gives its courses everywhere1 and no    
entrance examination is requisite other 
than a mind willing to concentrate upon 
the sublime objects which1 by the       
million1 lie within our vision4         
,,iii  ,,the ,,bottom ,,rung   ,almost  
every day of his life an ,american is   
reminded that necessity is the mother of
 invention4 ,it needs only a little     
reflection and observation to realize   
how much ,american youth are blessed in 

the examples of their countrymen who    
have come from the humblest stations in 
life and have risen through sheer pluck 
and perseverance to honor and           
helpfulness4  ,we are indebted mainly to
 the genius and the observation of poor 
men for the great inventions which have 
so much contributed to the comfort1 the 
convenience1 the cheerfulness1 and the  
power of life4 ,they have given us steam
 as a motive power1 the locomotive1 the 
telegraph1 the typewriter1 the          
telephone1 the automobile1 the victrola1
 the airship4 ,the great advances that  
have been made in agriculture through   
mowers1 reapers1 planters1 and special  
seeds and fruits are entirely the       
results of their steadfast perseverance4
 ,nobody ever earnestly reaches out for 
a thing until he feels that he needs it1
 consequently1 the sons and daughters of
 the rich are seldom the benefactors of 
humanity in the way so many poor men and
 women have been through the inventions 
which have lightened the drudgery of    

millions of homes1 as well as increased 
marvelously the productions of the soil 
and of the factory4 ,had the talents of 
the rich been put to the test by hunger 
or cold or the many other incentives to 
vigorous thought and action which impel 
the poor1 they also might have many     
inventions to their credit1 for the     
longing of the normal soul furnishes the
 basis of all the worthy activities of  
life4  ,the greatest drawback for rich  
men's sons and daughters is in having   
all their wants supplied from the       
bank-account of indulgent parents4 ,they
 are taught neither industry1 economy1  
nor self-control1 which often makes them
 a social menace4 ,they lack            
appreciation for so many of the things  
in life which help to brighten the path 
of the poor1 solely because they have   
never needed them4 ,a hungry boy who has
 stood on the outside of a bakery1      
clinging to a nickel and fighting a     
battle with himself whether to invest it
 in a bit of bread or to take it home to

 his mother1 who has had neither        
breakfast nor dinner1 fully understands 
the value of a dollar4  ,the            
superintendent of the ,patent ,office at
 ,washington has confirmed the official 
report of the ,french ,patent           
,office--that there has been no         
invention of especial value which has   
not been either found or improved upon  
by some poor man4 ,the best             
life-preserver was invented by a sailor 
who had fallen overboard and had been   
nearly drowned4 ,an obscure native of a 
duchy bordered on three sides by        
powerful nations invented the           
quick-firing gun1 which can fire six    
hundred shots while the ordinary gun is 
being loaded4 ,it was a poor ,cambridge 
machinist1 whose family often suffered  
from lack of food1 who invented the     
sewing-machine1 which has changed the   
condition of home life throughout the   
world1 and relieved women of one of     
their great household burdens4 ,the     
ship's chronometer was made practical   

for navigation by a man who had been    
lost at sea and despaired of ever again 
reaching the shore4 ,the locomotive1    
which has contributed more than any     
other one thing to the spread of our    
people over our vast country1 was given 
to the world by an ,englishman1         
,stephenson1 who in early life had been 
so poor that he had little schooling4   
,more than eight hundred agricultural   
inventions were patented in #aije and   
#aijf1 and every one of them is the     
invention of some poor man or woman4    
,as inventors1 women have in recent     
years become close competitors of men1  
and from kitchen utensils to floor      
covering have added much to home comfort
 and home furnishing4 ,all the household
 articles exhibited lately in a large   
shop in ,chicago were either invented or
 improved by women4 ,they have invented 
many things for agriculture1 for        
manufacturing1 and for school           
furnishings--and not a few of the great 
patents which have been issued to men   

should have been issued to their wives4 
,women have often awaked an idea which  
men have wrought out for practical      
purposes4 ,the majority of the          
benefactors of the world made their     
discoveries to relieve some necessity   
which oppressed them personally4 ,this  
is especially true of stock-breeding1   
where the improvements of observant men 
have so greatly increased the value of  
domestic animals4  ,the value of any    
study depends entirely upon what it has 
done for us and what we are doing with  
it4 ,lowell says that mere learning is  
as insignificant as the collection of   
old postage-stamps4 ,professor ,virchow 
was obliged to try various foods in his 
experiments with his own cats1 before he
 discovered what has ever since been of 
such benefit to all breeders of animals 
throughout the world4 ,from the earliest
 days the bee has offered a store of the
 most useful information1 but it would  
never have been known had it not been   
for such patient observers as ,huber1   

who1 although blind1 discovered more    
about bees than the world had ever known
 before his day1 through the patient    
service of his wife and valet4 ,the     
mouse in the field1 the squirrel in the 
tree1 the eagle in her nest1 the fish in
 the brook1 all have taught us valuable 
lessons in conduct4 ,they have doubtless
 given hints which have enabled         
observant men to give mankind many a    
useful invention4  ,when we consider the
 many thousands of useful inventions    
which have added so much to the         
convenience and the happiness of life1  
and when we bring to mind how almost all
 of these have come from the humblest of
 the sons of men with none of the       
advantages of the so-called higher      
education1 of which we hear so much     
to-day1 we are forced to agree with ,sir
 ,walter ,scott that the best part of   
every man's education is that which he  
gives himself independent of text-books 
other than the ,book of ,life4 ,every   
real man and woman attends a school or  

college1 not to learn1 but to learn how 
to learn4 ,this is the best work that   
schools of any description can do4 ,it  
lays a firm foundation upon which the   
man who has learned how to learn can    
build his own superstructure4 ,the men  
who have achieved success in the march  
of the ages are those who have been the 
architects of their own life4 ,nobody   
cares a fig where we get our educational
 tools4 ,the world is interested only in
 what we are doing with them4 ,we must  
be self-made or never-made1 whether we  
go to college or work in the fields4    
,one teacher can be serviceable to a    
thousand of the sort who intend to make 
themselves1 but a thousand teachers     
cannot help one of the other sort4      
,heredity and environment and will are  
the great deciding factors in every     
life4  ,investigations as to the food   
values of meats1 grains1 fruits1        
vegetables1 and other foods are now     
being made by the ,government1 by       
colleges1 and other investigators4 ,this

 is the movement of supreme importance  
for the uplift of humanity4 ,but the    
most of this kind of investigating has  
been done in household kitchens4 ,it is 
probable that many of the greatest      
discoveries as to food will hereafter be
 made in the same places by those who   
are inclined to observe4 ,the need of   
closer scientific knowledge of the      
chemistry of digestion and the chemistry
 of food is vital2 it should call forth 
the most self-sacrificing investigation4
  ,it is said by those who have         
carefully studied the subject that      
ninety-one per cent4 of all disease is  
attributable directly or indirectly to  
the stomach4 ,our ailments come mainly  
from our aliments4 ,nourishing food is  
an essential of a noble life4 ,the      
stomach is the master of the house1 and 
must be respected4 ,a proper diet and a 
sound head are closely allied1 and those
 who will rightly exercise their        
soul-powers must be watchful of the     
stomach4  ,those who would rule and lead

 must have chest and stomach as well as 
head and will4  ,nobody else has such   
opportunities for observing the effects 
of food1 and for studying the happy     
results of nutritious food1 as those    
have who prepare the meals in the       
kitchen4 ,proper nourishment is         
something which touches humanity on     
every side1 and deserves the closest    
attention of the greatest minds4 ,we can
 better afford to dispense with         
scientific experts in every other line  
which now engages them than to dispense 
with those who investigate the food     
question4 ,the idea among the myriads of
 ,american housekeepers1 that it is     
ignoble drudgery to spend some of their 
time in their kitchens ministering to   
the health of those who are nearest and 
dearest to them and removing diseases   
from them through well-selected and     
well-cooked food1 is being gradually    
overcome by many schools and colleges4  
,the sciences connected with food are   
now placed among the most important     

subjects in the curricula of these      
schools4 ,it takes a master mind to     
handle the chemical combinations of the 
kitchen1 which make hale and happy men  
and women1 boys and girls4  ,health is  
symmetry2 disease is deformity2 both are
 mainly the result of what we eat4      
,food has killed more than the sword in 
every age1 and is perhaps killing more  
to-day than ever before4 ,achievement in
 soul-growth and material-growth is     
involved in the question of proper food4
 ,if women forsake the throne that      
rightly belongs to the cook1 men must   
assume it or ,christian civilization    
shall cease4 ,to-day nobody can become  
so supreme a benefactor of humanity as  
the man or the woman who devotes        
intellect and all other power to the    
study of scientific eating4 ,when we    
come rightly to understand all the vital
 questions that are involved in         
nutrition1 we shall feel that the kings 
among men and the queens among women are
 to be sought in no higher place than in

 kitchens4  ,we are forever searching   
among the stars to discover kings1 when 
they are far oftener found in cottages  
in the valley4  ,if universities fail to
 make the knowledge of the right        
nutrition practical and fail to bring it
 down where humble men and women may get
 it and apply it1 the fault is their    
own4 ,some day a people grateful for the
 health they enjoy may elect a man to   
the ,presidency of our nation1 or set   
him upon some throne1 because he is the 
best scientific cook in the land4       
,doctor ,agnew of ,philadelphia said    
that he had gained his most important   
knowledge of hospital work as an adviser
 of the dietitians while feeding his dog
 and his cat4  ,in speaking of the      
discovery of radium by ,madame ,curie1  
,professor ,virchow said that he had    
often felt that our investigators had   
not taken sufficient notice of the force
 of animal electricity4 ,the few        
experiments already made in applying to 
machinery electricity generated by the  

human body has opened up a field for    
observant scientists4  ,in many ways    
both birds and beasts contribute to the 
welfare of humanity1 and the observing  
thinker will still find many more ways  
in which he can aid us4 ,all forms of   
life can be harnessed to the car of     
civilization1 and far more effective    
work shall be done than is being done   
to-day4 ,as teachers and as subjects of 
practical investigation1 animals supply 
a great university which almost every   
man and woman can attend4     ,,iv      
,,home ,,reading   ,carlyle says that a 
collection of books is a true university
 in these days4 ,it might be added that 
often the smaller the collection the    
larger shall be the university4         
,education derived from libraries is    
unsafe1 for book-dissipation1 as well as
 drunkenness1 ends in debauchery4       
,toward the end of his long and         
wide-awake life ,doctor ,holmes advised 
a young correspondent to confine his    
reading to the ,bible1 ,shakespeare1 and

 a good dictionary4 ,the list of men who
 have been lifted to higher regions of  
thought and feeling and action from     
reading any one of these three would be 
too long to be compressed within the    
covers of one book4 ,books are like     
two-edged swords--dangerous unless one  
knows how to use them2 they either lead 
up or drag down1 and we sink or rise to 
the level of the books we read4 ,every  
one reads1 but how many read to         
advantage8 ,goethe1 the greatest of all 
the very greatest ,germans1 said1 ,i    
have been learning how to read for the  
past fifty years1 but have not yet      
succeeded4  ,the majority of readers    
resemble hour-glasses--their reading    
runs in and out1 and leaves no traces2  
and some others are like housewives'    
jelly-bags--they pass all that is good1 
and retain only the refuse4 ,at best1   
only a small percentage of our life is  
spent in school2 the greater part of the
 remainder each must pass in the        
,university of ,daily ,life1 where our  

education is derived from experience    
gained through close observation in     
daily contact with our fellows1 and from
 the fellowship of books4 ,fellowship   
fits the relation perfectly1 for there  
must be intimate intercourse such as    
this word implies1 or nothing4 ,it is   
with books as with life--a man profits  
little from being merely acquainted with
 ten thousand1 and he may be            
incalculably injured from his           
intercourse with them2 but a few choice 
friends--often the fewer the            
better--bring a steady growth of higher 
spiritual power greater than can be had 
from all other influences combined4  ,so
 it is with books4 ,acquaintance with a 
thousand often renders a capable man    
impotent4 ,but a few choice friends with
 whom he frequently and earnestly       
communes lift him in strength of        
intellect and will and tenderness and   
sweetness of feeling to be the peer of  
the worthiest4  ,the beginning of ,new  
,england was the golden age of          

scholarship in ,america1 for many of the
 founders of these colonies had been    
reared in ,english universities4 ,such  
was the struggle in these bleak and     
barren colonies for existence during the
 first years1 that in a few generations 
the majority of their posterity were    
strangers to almost all the books of    
power and knowledge with which their    
forefathers were acquainted1 and were   
forced to glean all they harvested from 
the ,bible and the almanac--especially  
the almanac4 ,the almanac was eagerly   
perused by every member of the family   
from the dawn of the year to its        
setting4 ,the reputed thrift of the     
plain people in this corner of the great
 world is largely attributable to the   
lessons of the almanac--mainly ,poor    
,richard's ,almanac1 which the          
,bostonian1 ,franklin1 annually edited  
in ,philadelphia for over a quarter of a
 century4 ,his chief purpose was to     
drive home forcibly many lessons which  
might encourage the colonists to get the

 most out of their hard and isolated    
lives4  ,peabody1 the successful man of 
business and munificent philanthropist1 
said that an almanac and a jack-knife   
were the foundation of the education    
through which he ultimately did so much 
good for multitudes of his countrymen4  
,it should be interesting and           
instructive to know how many more1      
during the jack-knife epoch in ,new     
,england and the generations since that 
time1 have been indebted to one book for
 the pluck and perseverance by which    
they have carved out a place of honor   
for themselves4 ,never were books so    
eagerly1 so often1 and so carefully read
 as these poor almanacs4 ,never1        
perhaps1 has any other book except the  
,bible been so potent an influence in   
shaping the life of a nation and shaping
 it to a high place among the nations1  
whose beneficent influences have        
humanized the world4 ,many a writer has 
reminded us that the almanac was the    
text-book studied by our ancestry in    

beginning the enormous agricultural1    
commercial1 mercantile1 manufacturing1  
and financial interests which in four   
generations have placed us in front of  
the richest nations of the earth4       
,think of the many millions of dollars  
invested in library-buildings and the   
many millions more invested in the books
 they shelter6 ,think of the five       
hundred millions spent annually in      
public education1 and the hundreds of   
millions that have been put into college
 buildings and college breeding6 ,still1
 from all this stupendous investment    
there will never come men and women who 
will make any more out of their learning
 than thousands of men and women of     
colonial days who knew the contents of  
no books other than the ,bible and the  
almanac4  ,the quality of the literary  
attainment of those reared in a library 
may be higher--and perhaps not2 but     
wider and deeper self-knowledge1        
self-respect1 self-confidence1          
self-culture1 self-control1 are the     

supreme objects of all life-struggle and
 educational struggle4 ,where a man gets
 the educational tools with which to    
accomplish all this is not at all       
important4 ,if an almanac can help one  
man to get the same life-result as      
another man gets from the polishing of  
the greatest universities in the world1 
the almanac is the peer of the          
university4 ,whether materials as       
insignificant as the almanac have been  
used to attain just such results1 the   
history of our country and of several   
other countries can readily prove4      
,three books made up the library of     
,lincoln1 the rail-splitter1 of ,edison 
and ,carnegie1 the telegraph operators2 
but no three men of the nation were ever
 more successful in reaching the goals  
they set for themselves4  ,books are    
to-day the great universal means of     
knowing1 and knowing them depends upon  
reading them rightly4 ,it is not so     
important how many books we read1 but   
how we read them4 ,a well-read fool is  

one of the most pestilential of         
blockheads4 ,one book read avails more  
than a thousand skimmed4 ,little reading
 and much thinking make a wise man2 much
 reading and little thinking has bred   
the race which the plain people call    
learned fools1 and these are mainly     
responsible for any ridicule that is put
 upon the work of school and college4   
,in these days when the printing-press  
has largely superseded the pulpit and   
the platform1 it is vitally important   
that men shall be taught how to read    
rightly and shall be helped to habits of
 right reading2 and no school or college
 that is decently interested in the     
welfare of the people can disregard this
 one duty of teachers above all others4 
,much of the best in thought and feeling
 and conduct shall depend hereafter upon
 the books which we read with careful   
observation4 ,every man who has read    
himself into higher realms is under     
bonds to make the source of so much     
bliss and blessedness as admirable and  

as desirable as possible to all who are 
strangers to the most pleasant and      
profitable paths of literature4  ,it is 
not the quantity of our reading1 but the
 quality that makes it and us an        
influence for good to our fellows4 ,a   
man who has read ten pages with real    
accuracy1 says ,john ,ruskin1 is        
forevermore in some measure an educated 
person4 ,you might read all the books in
 the ,british ,museum1 yet be an utterly
 illiterate and uneducated person4 ,our 
reading without digestion and           
assimilation is as useless as our food  
without them4 ,bacon says that reading  
makes a full man2 but fullness without  
digestion is dyspepsia4 ,the books whose
 reading impels us to live nobly and do 
noble service for others1 are the books1
 and it is a wicked waste of time to    
read what is a negative quantity4       
,whoever masters one vital book can     
never become commonplace4  ,thoroughness
 is the master-passion in reading1 as in
 every other undertaking4 ,those who    

have accumulated wisdom1 culture1 power1
 riches1 are always prominent for their 
indefatigable1 painstaking thoroughness2
 nothing to them is a trifle1 for       
trifles make perfection1 and perfection 
is no trifle4 ,those who have thought   
most and felt most and done most from   
their reading have brought this master  
passion to it4  ,when we begin to become
 acquainted with all the worthy men and 
women who trace the beginning of their  
worth to the careful reading of one     
book1 it seems almost a loss to the     
world to have the libraries of the world
 so large4 ,if they were all respectable
 occupants of their shelves1 it might be
 condoned2 but the copyright of millions
 of books is the only right1 human or   
divine1 for their existing at all4 ,many
 a country boy at the fireside during   
the long winter evenings has received   
inspiration from repeatedly reading one 
or two worthy books2 these have spurred 
him on to fight his way valiantly       
through college1 and from there to the  

heights in some worthy life-work4  ,if  
we are true to all that manhood         
involves1 there is no self-deception in 
the conviction that each one of us is   
born for kingship4 ,supreme kingship    
consists in a stronger moral state and a
 truer thoughtful state than that of    
other men1 which enables us to guide and
 raise the misguided and the illiterate4
 ,every thoughtful man and woman        
ultimately discovers that all education 
and all literature are useful only so   
far as they confirm this calm and       
beneficent kingly power4 ,emerson's     
man-thinking is the supreme among human 
beings4  ,the best that can be known and
 experienced lies asleep in books1 and  
one of the chief purposes for getting an
 education is to give us the well-made  
head and the finer feeling to awake this
 best knowledge and experience in these 
sleeping princes4  ,de ,quincey reminds 
us that all the greatest books may be   
divided into the literature of knowledge
 and the literature of power4 ,they have

 all been written in utmost sincerity by
 the right-minded and the strong-minded2
 they disclose boundless fields for     
soul-refreshment and soul-expansion4 ,in
 the march of civilization1 the men and 
the nations that have forged farthest   
ahead since ,gutenberg invented printing
 are the men and the nations that have  
had most to do with the few books of    
knowledge and power of the greatest and 
the wisest4 ,there can be no better test
 of a man's thought and feelings and    
actions than the books he reads and the 
books he keeps around him2 and there is 
none so desolate as the poor rich man   
who lives in a great bookless house1 and
 has never fed upon the dainties that   
are bred in books1 as ,john ,milton     
says4  ,the very presence of books is   
refining1 and the right kind of man     
would as soon think of building his     
house without windows as of furnishing  
it without books4 ,in every             
well-regulated home of intelligent men  
and women the library is always one of  

the annual items of expenditure4 ,when  
we have learned how to consult the books
 of knowledge and power1 they let us    
mingle with the best society of all     
ages2 they make the mightiest men and   
women of words and deeds our advisers2  
they bring us the gold of learning and  
the gems of thought2 and they furnish us
 with the soul-food which brings the    
proper kind of soul-growth4 ,such books 
are the safest of companions1 for they  
protect us from vice and the inferior   
passions2 more than ever they are to-day
 indispensable for all who are striving 
to do the higher work of civilization   
and ,christianity4  ,every real book we 
really read gives us greater faith in   
the goodness and the nobility of life4  
,as ,lowell says1 ,adds another block to
 the climbing spire of a great soul4    
,the other sort which swarm from the    
cozy marshes of immoral brains1 the sort
 also who rack their brains for lucre1  
do the devil's work for him1 and are as 
baneful as the company of fools and     

vulgarians4 ,show an observant man your 
bookshelves1 and he'll tell you what you
 are4 ,the man who does not love some   
great book is not worth the time we     
spend in his company2 we are fortunate  
if we are not in some way contaminated  
by him4 ,if we knew the road they have  
traveled1 we should likely find that    
those of modern times who have merited  
the crown of kings and queens for their 
stronger moral state and their truer    
thoughtful state have had most to do    
with some literature of knowledge and   
power2 that they especially oftenest    
consulted the books of the greatest and 
wisest in their difficulties1 and had   
been spurred on by their messages to the
 thoughts and the deeds which made them 
worthy4  ,it is fortunate that to-day   
the greatest of books are the common    
property of the printers of the world1  
for they are on this account the        
cheapest1 and many of them can be had   
for the price of a poor man's dinner4   
,it needs many a page to record even the

 names of the men and women who have    
become somebody and have done something 
just from reading some one worthy book  
which had fallen into their hands4 ,many
 believe that ,franklin is the greatest 
,american that has yet appeared1 and he 
has said that ,cotton ,mather's essays  
to do good gave me a turn of thinking   
which1 perhaps1 had an influence on some
 of the principal future events of my   
life4  ,as we become better acquainted  
with some of the great books in all     
departments of literature1 we are       
surprised to find how few of them have  
been written by college men4 ,this by no
 means belittles the good that may come 
from a true college course1 but it does 
seem to emphasize that great books need 
some other environment for their growth 
than exclusive college courses4 ,perhaps
 the need is solitude1 communion with   
nature1 and frequent intercourse with   
the world's greatest and best in thought
 and feeling and action for the work4   
,college-bred men are in a marked       

minority among the authors whose great  
books have been and are a potent force  
in shaping thought and conduct in the   
world4 ,it is notable how few of these  
have anything commendatory to say about 
the influence which their college life  
had upon them and their accomplishments2
 many even of the text-books of schools 
and colleges have come from men whose   
powers were shaped by no school4 ,how   
many text-books of medicine and law were
 prepared by physicians and lawyers     
whose knowledge was gleaned mainly from 
keen observation and long experience and
 deep thought6  ,it was no mere college 
education1 but the sharpest home        
observation and strictest adherence to  
their instincts and their individuality 
that made forceful writers of ,mark     
,twain1 the ,mississippi pilot2 ,bret   
,harte and ,william ,dean ,howells1 the 
typesetters2 ,james ,whitcomb ,riley1   
the itinerant sign-painter2 ,joel       
,chandler ,harris and ,eugene ,field1   
the newspaper reporters2 and ,walt      

,whitman1 the carpenter4  ,of the four  
thousand and forty-three ,americans with
 over twenty millions of dollars to     
their credit1 only sixty-one had even a 
high-school course4 ,many among them1   
however1 had high-class mentality and   
secured a comprehensive practical       
education4 ,they have evidently been as 
alert to perceive the treasures hidden  
for them in the world of great books as 
they have been to perceive the          
treasuries hidden for them in their     
various enterprises4 ,so we find that   
they have consulted the master spirits  
of books after their daily tasks were   
done1 while myriads of those who scoff  
and sneer at them now because of their  
millions were feasting1 frolicking1 and 
dissipating4 ,among the highest types of
 ,american manhood to-day a large       
majority are the new-rich men4 ,whatever
 else may be said about them1 all the   
world acknowledges that it is the       
parvenus in every land who do the       
largest part of the greatest work4  ,the

 larger our horizon becomes1 the        
stronger is our conviction that the man 
himself is mainly the architect of his  
own fate2 others may give an occasional 
lift1 but it is almost entirely his own 
work4 ,the college can do something for 
the head-piece1 and it should also give 
something for the heart-side and the    
power to dare and to do2 but all the    
external training in the world can never
 attain for the man what he can attain  
through his own individual              
efforts--provided he has lofty aims1    
firm resolutions1 closely observes1 and 
strictly adheres to all his best inborn 
powers4 ,there was no college for       
,david1 ,homer1 ,socrates1 ,plato1      
,confucius1 ,alexander1 ,csar1 ,dante1  
,luther1 ,shakespeare1 ,napoleon1       
,washington1 ,franklin1 ,goethe1 ,jesus1
 and tens of thousands of great or      
lesser men than these4 ,they all marked 
out their own course1 planned their own 
spiritual palaces2 all the barbed-wire  
entanglements in the world did not      

retard their indomitable courage1       
self-reliance1 and self-help4  ,perhaps 
the chief use of all learning           
establishments1 except those which have 
to do with what the ,germans call bread 
studies1 is to awaken the pupil's       
self-respect1 which is the basis of all 
virtue1 and to cultivate the powers that
 shall fit the pupil to consult for     
himself the knowledge and power books of
 the greatest and the wisest4 ,they also
 can in these days do yeoman's service  
in giving the bread studies through     
which men shall be better able to do the
 world's work and thereby earn better   
wages4     ,v  ,,thoughtfulness         
,president ,wolsey1 head of a great     
university1 said that one of the chief  
purposes of the college is to cultivate 
the power to think4 ,the college man who
 neglects to cultivate this valuable    
power until he enters upon his college  
career1 instead of beginning it in the  
kindergarten and continuing it          
unremittingly throughout his entire     

preparatory course and daily living1    
will be liable to make sorry work of    
this part of his cultivation1 or any    
other part1 while he is in college4     
,the specialists who teach in colleges1 
and who are generally more interested in
 their specialties than in the science  
and art of education1 may not be        
conscious of this1 and yet the many     
educational wrecks that have come from  
colleges should long ago have brought   
this point most forcibly to their       
attention4 ,indeed1 the power to think  
and the practice of thinking until it   
has become second nature1 are so        
essential for success in any worthy     
career in life1 that it is truer to say 
that one of the chief purposes of life  
itself is to cultivate and exercise the 
power to think1 and keep right on       
thinking until close thinking shall     
become a habit4 ,the power to think     
clearly1 broadly1 and successfully is   
not necessarily the prerogative of those
 only who have lived in a college       

environment1 as the biographies of our  
own four thousand multi-millionaires in 
this country so cogently prove1 for few 
of them ever darkened the doors of a    
college4 ,some among them may have been 
bereft of all the nobler sentiments for 
which ,christianity and ,america stand1 
but they never could have piled up their
 millions in every department of        
activity without having thought so long 
and so hard that they ultimately        
acquired a habit of thinking that should
 put to shame myriads in every land who 
have had all the advantages of          
universities4 ,the power to think1 and  
to think in a masterly way1 need not be 
confined to the professor's chair4  ,any
 sphere of action which does not bring  
in to the worker an increase of thinking
 power is harmful1 from university to   
street-sweeping4 ,a machine is the only 
worker that can do its work well without
 thinking about it4 ,all the successful 
men the world has ever known have been  
men who thought incessantly2 they have  

been mainly self-educated in their      
extraordinary power to think2 their     
success in all the various tasks which  
they set for themselves oftener resulted
 from their hard thought than from their
 hard work4  ,defeat and failure have   
never overtaken the man whose head and  
hands were partners4  ,when we think    
without work or work without thought1 we
 reach only half of what belong to us4  
,a man should especially ween himself   
from this kind of halfness4 ,we should  
be ashamed to find ourselves working    
without thought1 as we should be ashamed
 to find ourselves idle in a world where
 there is always so much to be done and 
so little time allotted to each for     
accomplishing worthy work4 ,the         
employees that are most valuable to     
their employers and are most valued by  
them are those always whose heads and   
hands are yoke-mates4 ,when hands and   
head and heart are on the job1 it is    
difficult to imagine what heights of    
success and service shall be attained4  

,the farmer boy hoeing corn and digging 
potatoes will do better work in quantity
 and quality if he thinks about his work
 as hard as he hoes or digs4  ,there can
 be little danger of failure for any    
young man who begins his life-work with 
the resolution that he will always give 
his best thought to even the most       
insignificant task that he assumes2 and 
all the schools in the world cannot     
furnish him any advantage that can      
compare with this resolution steadily   
followed4 ,nor must the habit of        
thinking be exercised only upon work4   
,we all have more leisure than work1 and
 many a high-minded thinker has reminded
 us that a man is best to be judged1 not
 by his profession1 but by his leisure4 
,elihu ,burritt acquired a knowledge of 
fifty languages during the years he     
earned his livelihood as a village      
blacksmith2 he also found time for      
extensive reading as well as time for   
interest in social reforms1 in the      
advancement of which he won the         

reputation of being one of the most     
powerful and persuasive orators of his  
day4 ,all his stupendous acquirements   
were gained during the hours between his
 tasks which thousands of other village 
blacksmiths were accustomed to spend in 
gossip or in the tavern4 ,volumes could 
be filled with only brief accounts of   
the men and women throughout the ages   
who have made the world better for their
 living1 just because they wisely and   
thoughtfully employed the leisure hours 
which their contemporaries trifled away4
 ,the shortest life may be long in noble
 thought and action1 if we lose no time2
 and little of it is ever lost by those 
who thoughtfully employ their leisure4  
,thoughtful men and women are always    
doubly valuable1 no matter whether their
 work is what the world calls high-class
 or low-class4 ,the streets are better  
swept by such a man1 and the potatoes   
are better hoed2 the floor is better    
scrubbed by such a woman1 and the       
clothes are better washed4 ,if our work 

does not afford us the chance to think  
while we are employed upon it1 we owe it
 to ourselves and to humanity to toss it
 aside quickly4 ,the lawyer1 the        
physician1 or any other professional man
 is no more a man in the sight of ,god  
and his country than the stone-mason who
 lays the foundations for their houses  
and raises the superstructures2 and they
 are under no greater obligation to use 
their thinking powers than he is4 ,the  
place we occupy in life is unimportant2 
the way we fill the place is everything2
 the stone-mason1 ,ben ,jonson1 built   
stone walls and houses by day1 and at   
night built dramas and other poetry     
which have been surpassed only by his   
contemporary1 ,shakespeare4  ,many of   
the greatest achievements known to      
history have been the work of men and   
women whose life-tasks were entirely    
different from the lines in which they  
became eminent2 ,shakespeare was an     
actor and one of the most successful    
business men of ,london1 but he is known

 as the greatest poet the world has yet 
produced2 ,george ,eliot had charge for 
several years of her father's farm home1
 as well as the poultry and dairy1 and  
won prizes for these at the country     
fair1 but this did not prevent her from 
laying1 during these seven years1 the   
foundation which helped her to build    
herself into one of the greatest women  
known to history4 ,herschel's being a   
musician and ,mary ,somerville's having 
charge of her home and her children did 
not prevent both of them from doing     
marvelous work in astronomy4 ,audubon   
became a final authority on birds solely
 because while on his hunting-trips he  
thought more than the other hunters who 
accompanied him4 ,one of the greatest   
merchants and capitalists in ,boston    
began life selling handkerchiefs through
 the country4 ,he became expert in flax 
products1 and through this grew rich2 he
 so studied kindred fibrous plants that 
his partners boasted that he had        
succeeded in marketing handkerchiefs    

made of twenty different fibrous plants4
 ,the most successful piano manufacturer
 now living was originally an employee  
of a steel mill that manufactured wire  
for making piano-strings4 ,an every-day 
man gave careful thought to corn1 and   
wrote an article for a magazine upon its
 value and upon the way it should be    
prepared for food2 and this article was 
so worthy that it won for him a degree  
from a university4  ,every waking moment
 of every man contains food for thought4
 ,if some live fuller lives every       
twenty-four hours than others live in a 
year1 it is because they think faster   
and higher1 wider and deeper1 and       
because the discipline they get from    
this thought keeps them from wasting    
their time on trivial or worthless      
matter4 ,a puddler in ,youngstown1      
without education beyond the district   
school1 began to think about the iron   
that was softened in the furnace before 
him1 and asked questions of the older   
employees and the foreman2 then he read 

upon the subject and became so capable  
in mining and iron manufacturing that   
when the ,youngstown plant was sold to  
the great steel corporation he was the  
largest stockholder in forty-seven great
 companies manufacturing iron4 ,some    
men's hearts grow as hard as their gold 
while they are amassing riches2 but his 
heart seems to have softened in         
proportion to the increase of his       
riches2 his life is given to numberless 
good deeds1 chief among which has been  
his endeavor to impress upon all workmen
 the necessity of letting both their    
heads and hearts assist their hands4    
,neither man nor boy1 woman nor girl1   
need despair of doing great things and  
being great men and women1 if they will 
constantly carry out this advice4 ,he is
 really the best-educated man whose     
attention is primarily directed to his  
soul-growth1 to his power of thinking1  
for feeling1 and for noble action4      
,,vi  ,,instincts ,,and ,,individuality 
,god has given us a full kit of         

watchmaker's tools and if1 after all the
 centuries of civilization1 we are doing
 thinker's work with them1 something    
must be wrong with the educational      
methods4 ,when ,god sent us here he     
packed us with all we need for          
high-class manhood--our instincts and   
our individuality especially well done  
up2 but often in the unpacking by the   
schools we have been sadly marred2 and  
these ,god-given endowments seem to have
 been frequently thrown upon the        
rubbish-pile4 ,they seem to have dulled 
our instincts and to have despised our  
individuality1 in order to make room for
 our acquirements4  ,like all that      
emanates from ,god1 instincts and       
individuality have been bestowed for a  
wise purpose2 they are indispensable    
endowments if we shall become the kind  
of man ,god seems to have had in mind   
when he sent us here4 ,what             
justification have the teachers of      
civilization for failing to perfect     
these powers8 ,what right have the      

little men of the schools to drive them 
entirely out of their scheme of         
education8  ,john ,ruskin complains in  
,kings' ,treasuries that ,modern        
education for the most part signifies   
giving people the faculty of thinking   
wrong on every conceivable subject of   
importance to them4 ,if this is even    
partly true1 there is no pursuit to-day 
that demands from the man who is working
 in it more presence of mind and more   
self-direction1 than the business of    
getting real education4 ,those who are  
to-day conducting what we are foolish   
enough to permit them to call education 
are often both blind and deaf to all    
that efficient education implies4 ,to   
seek direction from them is like asking 
the road from a blind man4 ,many are    
also connected with the schools         
apparently as others are connected with 
hod-carrying and street-sweeping--to    
procure a livelihood4 ,often their      
highest conception of the work is       
edgeucation1 to make sharp blades of the

 intellects for what they call getting  
along in the world4 ,then many of the   
instructors in schools and colleges are 
merely specialists1 mainly interested in
 their specialties1 and using the       
class-room as a stepping-stone to their 
own purposes4 ,extreme specializing is  
narrowing--it does to the specialist    
what blinkers do to the horse's eyes4   
,excessive pursuit of single objects of 
thought atrophies many faculties1 but   
education is the complete development   
and discipline of all the faculties4    
,perhaps these are some of the causes   
why so many original and thinking men   
and women are so hostile to present-day 
schools1 and accuse them of mainly being
 places that polish pebbles and dim     
diamonds1 and say so many other harsh   
and cutting things about them4 ,learning
 seems to be the chief occupation of    
those who profess to educate4 ,learning 
for its own sake plays a very           
insignificant part in the spiritual     
equipment of ,god's children2 to a true 

education it seems at best only what the
 carpenter's kit is to the carpenter--a 
means to an end4 ,like all other lumber1
 its importance depends entirely upon   
what is built out of it4 ,these original
 and thinking men and women have often  
said hard things of mere learning and of
 those who dole it out at so much a     
unit1 because they believe that undue   
stress is laid upon it4 ,they sometimes 
say that universities are not educating 
institutions1 but merely                
seats-of-learning2 and often they are   
very narrow seats1 difficult for        
self-respecting people to stiffen their 
backs enough to sit upon4 ,but it's the 
study1 not the studies1 that educates2  
studies make learned men1 but not often 
wise men1 such as real education always 
makes2 not all learned heads are        
sense-boxes2 the very learned man may be
 a very learned fool4 ,the learned      
frequently put out their reasoning      
powers to make room for their learning2 
it requires ten pounds of sense to take 

care of one pound of learning4  ,solomon
 made a book of proverbs1 but a book of 
proverbs never made ,solomon4 ,sense    
without learning is a thousand times    
superior to learning without sense2 and 
in the stately edifice of life1 school  
and college are only the basement walls2
 wisdom and learning are not necessary  
companions4 ,the great things that have 
conduced to the betterment of the world 
have been done by men who have been     
loyal to their individuality and true to
 their instincts--never by the merely   
learned4 ,too often do we find these    
little learned men displaying themselves
 offensively and ridiculously in the    
haunts of bearded men1 and making the   
angels weep by their strutting and their
 swelling4  ,knowing is only a small    
part of life2 doing is nearly all of    
life2 and the best done is done through 
education--the education which is the   
product of what is inborn as well as of 
what is acquired2 the education which   
enables men and women to perceive and to

 cherish the beautiful in art1 in       
literature1 in morals and in nature4    
,while true education busies itself with
 acquirements1 it is even more concerned
 that the instincts and the             
individuality ,god appears to regard of 
supreme importance shall attain all that
 it is possible for them to have4 ,these
 original and thinking men and women who
 say so many things in condemnation of  
make-believe education and mere learning
 boldly and lovingly acclaim the helps  
from true education--they remind us that
 it is soul-husbandry1 spiritual        
perfection1 torch and sword and shield1 
the be-all and the end-all of life1 the 
fountain of all noble living1 and the   
only real promoter of civilization4     
,they claim that education of this sort 
simplifies life2 facilitates            
self-conquest2 intensifies              
individuality2 unfolds and uplifts      
manhood2 breeds habits of thinking1     
feeling1 and doing2 debestializes1      
emancipates1 humbles1 and civilizes2    

that it searches for truth1 loves the   
beautiful1 desires the good1 and does   
the best4  ,we have no quarrel with the 
education that accomplishes all these1  
for it fosters the instincts and the    
individuality for which we are pleading4
 ,we have always believed that just this
 kind of education is the heritage of   
every ,american1 and that the loss of   
such an education is the greatest       
calamity that can befall any one4 ,all  
our life have we yearned that all might 
have this boon1 and the best of our     
manhood years have been ceaseless labor 
and struggle to give the weak and       
friendless sons of men all of its       
advantages4  ,the test of any system of 
education is the kind of man it turns   
out4 ,it is wisdom to measure the system
 by those it fails to educate rather    
than by those it does educate--by its   
tortoises rather than by its hares4 ,the
 real educator is always vastly more    
concerned with the divinity than with   
the depravity of those intrusted to him2

 he believes firmly that the instincts  
and the individuality which ,god has    
given each of us are the priceless part 
of all our spiritual equipment--that    
anything we may acquire toward this end 
which fortifies these ,god-given        
treasures is cheap--even if bought by an
 entire life-service2 that any          
acquirement that modifies these or      
destroys them is a triple curse and a   
dire menace to humanity1 for            
individuality is the genius of          
,christianity and of ,america4  ,the    
system of education which makes light of
 the cultivation of the instincts1 which
 seems to be the sole dependence of all 
conditions of men except the            
over-civilized1 the system of education 
which is blinded to all that is implied 
in an educated individuality--these are 
the only systems with which we have any 
quarrel4 ,well-made1 rather than        
well-filled heads are what is needed and
 should be demanded1 without which it is
 impossible for any one of us to have   

the right conception of life1 or to     
attain all that we were intended to be  
or to do4 ,to guard and develop the     
instincts of the child1 to preserve and 
fortify his individuality1 is to give   
him sword and shield for the battle of  
life4  ,god intends each individual to  
be an individual1 or this should not    
have been so deep-rooted in all2 to be  
just like every one else is to be       
predestined for inferiority and failure4
 ,to do our duty consistently and       
steadfastly demands that all our        
,god-like and ,god-given qualities shall
 first of all be educated4 ,that best   
becomes a man which his individuality   
intended him to be1 and those are always
 successful in making a life and a      
living who play the game of life with   
the cards their individuality gives     
them4 ,god made a world for each        
separate man1 and within that world he  
must live1 if he will live effectually2 
we must first of all be ourselves1 must 
see to it that whatever else is         

neglected the plants ,god has put into  
the individual shall be cultivated--the 
crop may not be large1 but we are       
accountable for the cultivation1 not for
 the crop4 ,we must be ourselves1 and do
 our own work4  ,there can be no greater
 wisdom and no greater service than that
 of helping another so that he may duly 
live in that special world which ,god   
has created for him4 ,the most          
insignificant man can be complete if he 
is entirely true to his instincts and to
 his individual character4 ,if we are   
incomplete1 it is because we are living 
after some other method4 ,we have all   
been stamped with individuality1 but    
many seem to do their utmost to soak off
 the stamp4 ,how different should the   
life of all the world be if each one    
only kept in his frame1 and would not   
permit any one to try to make him part  
of1 the picture for which his           
personality never intended him6