,books and ,how to ,make the            
,most of ,them                          
,,by                           ,,james  
,,hosmer ,,penniman                     
,illustration3 ,,school ,,bulletin      
,,publications  #ahgd                   
,c4 ,w4 ,,bardeen1 ,,publisher          
,,syracuse1 ,n4 ,y4                     
,copyright1 #aiaa1 by ,c4 ,w4 ,,bardeen 
,there is probably no subject on which  
there has been more advice given  than  
on that of books and reading1 but there 
are few upon which advice  is more      
necessary1 for even so wise a man as    
,goethe said1 8,i have been  fifty years
 trying to learn how to read1 and ,i    
have not learned yet40                  
,,contents           ,i4  ,the ,miracle 
of ,books                  #i      ,,ii4
  ,how to ,use ,books                   
#ah     ,,iii4  ,cultivating the ,memory
               #bf      ,,iv4  ,what to 
,read and the ,abuse of ,books  #ca     
,v4  ,the ,art of ,reading              
#dj      ,,vi4  ,classification of      

,books              #ed     ,,vii4      
,poetry                                 
#fb    ,,viii4  ,biography              
#gj      ,,ix4  ,history                
#gg       ,x4  ,fiction                 
#he      ,,xi4  ,libraries and the ,care
 of ,books      #ia          ,books and 
,how to ,make the ,most of ,them        
,,chapter ,i4    ,,the ,,miracle ,,of   
,,books4      ,a book is a miracle      
wrought by human agency4 ,what more     
wonderful than  that the thought of a   
lifetime should be made visible and     
concentrated  so as to be carried in the
 pocket2 that black lines and dots upon 
a  white page should bring before our   
minds the most beautiful images4  ,more 
remarkable than the telegraph or the    
telephone1 a book not only  annihilates 
space but time1 and carries the voice of
 ,david or ,homer  across the seas of   
the ages4    ,the miracle of the widow's
 cruse finds its literal realization in 
a  book4 ,we may take all we can from it
 but there is just as much left for     

others with the sole limitation that he 
gets the most from books who  has the   
most knowledge2 to him that hath is     
given4    ,no other property is so      
peculiarly our own as our intellectual  
possessions4 ,they are always with us2  
no reversal of fortune can  deprive us  
of them4 ,if we share our knowledge with
 another we still  have it1 and perhaps 
in a more orderly and useful form as the
 result  of contact with a different    
mind1 and the belief in the immortality 
of  the soul makes us sure that our     
mental acquisitions are taken with us   
beyond the grave4 ,education and culture
 would be of small value if they  were  
to be terminated by the expiration of a 
few short years of life4  ,books are the
 only work of man that may be said to be
 omniscient4 ,they  are the stored-up   
memory of the race4 ,as all our         
experience of life  would vanish without
 memory1 so all accurate knowledge of   
mankind would  evaporate without books  
and we should have nothing to depend    

upon but  tradition4    ,without books  
we should know nothing of the workings  
of the mighty  minds of ,homer1 ,virgil1
 ,dante1 ,shakespeare or ,milton4       
,without them  ,caesar1 ,napoleon and   
,washington would be traditions4 ,we can
 get but an  imperfect idea of the      
history of our country except from      
books4 ,books  alone make books         
possible1 and nothing is more rare than 
a book which  does not depend for its   
material on other books4    ,books      
stereotype and petrify language so that 
while the spoken word is  volatile and  
changeable we find in books the very    
words in which we  took delight years   
ago4 ,we may cause to pass through our  
minds the same  thoughts in absolutely  
the same language that interested ,dr4  
,johnson  or ,milton2 we may even follow
 out the mental processes of ,plato or  
,aristotle1 and see what they enjoyed   
and note what they thought4    ,books   
intensify thought2 a book is better than
 conversation in that it  may be brooded

 over1 revised1 extended1 polished and  
continued from  time to time1 but it    
cannot answer questions except those    
anticipated  by its author4 ,a writer   
will put into a book thoughts that he   
would not  or could not express in      
conversation1 and through his books we  
may know  intimately a man who was known
 only superficially by his most familiar
  contemporaries4    ,books not only    
acquaint us with the thoughts of the    
great men of the  past but they enable  
us to make permanent our own thoughts1  
so that  if our ideas are worthy of     
being perpetuated those who live        
centuries  hence may be as familiar with
 our minds as we are with the minds of  
,milton or ,dante4 ,a book enables the  
thought of one man to reach all  other  
inquiring men in ages to come4 ,men of  
whom their world was not  worthy have   
gained late recognition through their   
books2 men whose  minds were far in     
advance of their time have handed down  
their thoughts  in books which have at  

last found appreciative readers4    ,the
 printing press has multiplied          
enormously our means of giving  currency
 to ideas1 but thought is no more       
powerful now than in the time  of ,plato
 or ,aristotle4 ,men like these wrote   
books before the time of  ,christ which 
are still consulted on the subjects of  
which they treat4  ,many of the problems
 of life and death are as mysterious to 
us as they  were to them4    ,better    
than any other relics the books of a    
nation show what it really  was4 ,the   
,dark ,ages are called so because few   
books were written in  them1 and ,africa
 is the ,dark ,continent because it has 
no literature4    ,no other works of man
 have done so much to spiritualize the  
race as  books4 ,the ,laocoon is not as 
inspiring a creation as the ,iliad1 the 
,cologne ,cathedral is not as civilizing
 as ,dante's ,divine ,comedy1 and  it   
has been said that the works of ,goethe 
have advanced the progress of  mankind  
more than all the conquests of          

,napoleon4 ,books have more soul  than  
any other human work4 ,a house without  
books is as dark as a house  without    
windows4    ,literature is the most     
enduring of the fine arts4 ,no painter1 
sculptor1  or architect has erected so  
permanent a memorial as the poets have  
done4 ,statues may be broken1 pictures  
may fade or be consumed by fire1  even  
the pyramids may crumble away1 but the  
thought contained in great  books such  
as the ,iliad and the ,aeneid is more   
nearly eternal than  marble or bronze4  
,lowell's ,commemoration ,ode forms a   
more durable  monument to ,harvard's    
dead heroes than ,memorial ,hall4 ,there
 have been  other actions as fine as the
 charge of the ,light ,brigade1 but it  
is  only those that the great poets have
 sung that are truly immortal in  our   
memories4        8,for deeds doe die1   
however noblie donne1        ,and       
thoughts doe as themselves decay2       
,but wise words1 taught in numbers for  
to runne1        ,recorded by the ,muses

 live for ay40                          
--,spenser4    ,among the most lasting  
works of men are mosaics2 they are not  
easily  broken1 their colors do not fade
 and their outlines do not grow dim     
with time4 ,in the museum of the        
,capitol at ,rome is the famous mosaic  
of  ,pliny's doves1 rendered familiar by
 so many copies3 three or four doves    
perched on a broad-brimmed cup1         
absolutely as perfect in form and tint  
as when ,pliny saw them two thousand    
years ago4 ,yet these tiny bits of      
stone joined by cement are not as       
permanent as the poems of ,homer which  
have as much human interest to-day as   
they had when ,alexander read  them in  
the intervals of his pursuit of the     
,persians4    ,the plays of ,shakespeare
 will last as long as the earth remains1
 and he  said1        8,not marble1 nor 
the gilded monuments      ,of princes1  
shall outlive this powerful rhyme40     
,the love of great books is in itself a 
mark of greatness4 ,biography  teaches  

no more practical lesson than this2 that
 the world's really  noble men have     
spent little time in reading any books  
but the best1  and that there has been a
 general agreement among them as to what
 the  best books are4 ,socrates was     
familiar with ,homer and ,aesop4        
,alexander  slept with ,homer under his 
pillow4 ,montaigne alludes constantly to
 the  ,bible and to ,cicero1 ,virgil1   
,horace1 ,seneca1 ,ovid and other       
classical  authors4 ,bacon makes        
frequent quotations from the ,bible and 
also  shows a knowledge of ,aesop1      
,cicero1 ,virgil1 ,ovid1 ,seneca1       
,montaigne  and other great writers4    
,emerson notes the fact that ,montaigne 
was in  the libraries of ,shakespeare   
and of ,ben ,jonson4 ,emerson read      
,chaucer1  ,montaigne1 ,plutarch and    
,plato while at college and knew        
,shakespeare  almost by heart4    ,when 
we realize how few books the men of     
antiquity had we understand  that they  
were obliged to read not many things but

 much4 ,homer  probably had no books at 
all4 ,socrates had very few and even    
,cicero1  the accomplished scholar1 few 
in comparison with a modern library4 ,he
  never read ,dante or ,milton or       
,shakespeare4    ,the habit of communing
 with great thoughts gives health and   
vigor to  the mind4 ,men who habitually 
read the classics have a breadth of view
  and a toughness of mental fibre which 
cannot be obtained by those whose       
highest inspiration is derived from the 
newspaper and the last novel4  ,reading 
the best books gives an elevation of    
thought which raises above  the level of
 common things1 ennobles and makes fine 
the ordinary daily  occupations1        
dignifies life and makes it worth       
living4 ,the woman who  keeps her ,bible
 open while she is sewing and refreshes 
herself with  the ,psalms or the        
,gospels is deriving mental as well as  
spiritual  nourishment2 without such    
inspiration her labor would fade into   
the  light of common day4    ,we need   

great books to take us out of ourselves1
 and to show us in true  perspective our
 relations to the past1 the present and 
the future4 ,we  may find from books if 
we have not learned from our own        
observation  the true heroism that is   
present in the pain and poverty and     
distress  of everyday life4 8,books10   
said ,emerson1 8impart sympathetic      
activity  to the moral powers4 ,go with 
mean people and you think life is mean4 
,then read ,plutarch1 and the world is a
 proud place1 peopled with men of       
positive quality1 with heroes and       
demigods standing around us1 who will   
not let us sleep40 ,michael ,angelo said
 8,when ,i read ,homer ,i look to see   
if ,i am not twenty feet tall40         
,,chapter ,,ii4    ,,the ,,use ,,of     
,,books4      8,he that shall make      
search after knowledge1 let him seek it 
where it  is10 said ,montaigne of books4
    ,whatever your purpose1 books will  
help you to accomplish it4 ,they make   
the knowledge of mankind our own if we  

know how to avail ourselves  of them4   
,only the wise can get the best out of  
books1 they refuse to  deliver their    
message to the ignorant4    ,next to    
knowing a thing yourself the most       
necessary thing is knowing  where to    
find it1 and the method of getting at   
the information which is  stored in     
books is an art that must be acquired4  
,it is an education to take up some     
subject and master it1 examining  all   
the books about it and weighing all the 
varying and conflicting  opinions4 ,you 
never realize the depth of human        
knowledge and the  difficulty of judging
 what the truth is1 until you have found
 out from  your own experience the      
infinite labor of mastering one small   
division  of one subject4    ,from      
catalogues and bibliographies you may   
make a list of the best  works on the   
subject that you are investigating and  
you must then  quarry from these books  
what is of use to you and arrange it in 
a  logical and orderly way4    ,you need

 not read all the books2 some contain   
what you already  know1 and in many of  
them there is repetition of what you    
have seen  elsewhere4 ,you glance       
through one and find little to the      
purpose1 the  table of contents of      
another shows that here and there is    
matter that  should be looked over1 at  
last you come to a work by a great man1 
a  master of the subject1 every word of 
which must be read and pondered on4     
,from these books you obtain references 
to others that you did not  know of2    
judgment must be shown in concentrating 
yourself on what is  of real value1 and 
in not going out of your way to explore 
alluring  but useless by-paths4 ,when   
you take many notes in blank books it is
  difficult to refer to them unless you 
have an index1 the making and  use of   
which requires time1 but notes taken on 
one side of sheets of  loose paper may  
easily be sorted into large envelopes   
according to  the divisions of the      
subject1 and as your investigations     

proceed and  your knowledge widens new  
divisions may readily be made4 ,there is
 a  decided advantage in having all the 
notes of a kind together and when  they 
are on separate pieces of paper they may
 be pasted or pinned in  strips and     
their order changed at will4 ,you may   
not have your note book  with you but a 
bit of blank paper can always be        
obtained4 ,these notes  may be a word or
 two here to remind you of an idea1 a   
quotation there1  accurately copied1    
and1 most important of all1 such        
original thoughts  as have occurred to  
you4 ,you will strengthen your mind and 
also improve  your diction1 by writing  
out fully the ideas that occur to you   
while  reading4 ,when you do this1 you  
will not read so many books1 but you    
will derive infinitely more good from   
those you do read4 ,you will pay  more  
attention and will be careful that what 
you read is worth noting4    ,take notes
 freely and as much as possible in your 
own language4  8,writing maketh an exact

 man40 ,according to ,dr4 ,watts1 more  
is gained  by writing out once than by  
reading five times4 ,what you have taken
  notes of is thereby fixed in your mind
 and when you have classified  your     
subject according to its natural        
divisions you have1 in so doing1  formed
 new associations which will help you to
 remember it4    ,when your materials   
are collected and arranged1 your work is
 half done4  ,what remains requires a   
mental faculty of a higher order3--the  
power of  cordination4    ,just here the
 difference appears between a           
penny-a-liner and the author  of a book 
of permanent value4 ,both men may be    
industrious1 both may  have good ideas1 
but the author has a breadth of mind    
which enables him  to cordinate his     
knowledge2 he pursues a connected chain 
of thought  leading to definite         
conclusions1 he has assimilated what he 
has found  in books1 reinforced it by   
his own observation and study1 and the  
result is a compact and organic whole1 a

 material addition to the  knowledge of 
the world4    ,in the ,fable for        
,critics1 ,lowell thus describes the    
unorderly worker  among books3--        
8,twould be endless to tell you the     
things that he knew1      ,all separate 
facts1 undeniably true1      ,but with  
him or each other they'd nothing to do1 
,no power of combining1 arranging1      
discerning1      ,digested the masses he
 learned into learning40    ,try to see 
clearly the important divisions of a    
subject1 to be fair  minded1 to draw    
your own conclusions1 to distinguish    
between the  probable and the           
improbable1 to recognize the good points
 in each side  of conflicting theories4 
,especially learn to classify and       
arrange the  ideas you get from books   
and to unite them to what you already   
know4    ,if you can enjoy the study of 
some special subject connected with your
  occupation and keep at it long enough 
to make yourself master of it1  you may 
by so doing educate yourself4 ,you      

should not only study the  actual       
operations1 but you should also         
familiarize yourself with what  has been
 written about them1 and should make an 
effort to record a  permanent advance   
made by your own exertions4             
8,knowledge of books in a man of        
business1 is as a torch in the hands of 
one who is willing and able to show     
those who are bewildered the way  which 
leads to prosperity and welfare10 says  
the ,spectator4 ,how much1  for example1
 has been lost in treasure and energy   
because politicians  who have not read  
history and political economy1          
ignorantly persist in  methods that have
 failed ever since the world began4 8,a 
prince without  letters10 said ,ben     
,jonson1 8is a pilot without eyes4 ,all 
his government  is groping40 8,it is    
manifest that all government of action  
is to be  gotten by knowledge1 and      
knowledge1 best1 by gathering many      
knowledges1  which is reading10 wrote   
,sir ,philip ,sidney4    ,when you read 

a number of books on the same topic each
 throws light  on the other and you get 
deeper1 clearer ideas4 ,you think more4 
,one  subject studied thoroughly has    
more educational value than many looked 
at superficially4 ,but while there is   
the greatest culture value in  taking up
 one line of thought and pursuing it as 
far as possible1 the  importance of the 
broad foundation to build on must always
 be kept  before you4 8,what science and
 practical life alike need is not narrow
  men1 but broad men sharpened to a     
point10 says ,dr4 ,nicholas ,murray     
,butler4    ,there is no occupation     
where a fund of general information is  
not  valuable1 provided it be accurate4 
,the knowledge of a little law is as    
useful to the doctor as that of a little
 medicine is to the lawyer4    ,how much
 more useful a man is in all branches of
 his calling if he  knows thoroughly at 
least one part of it4 ,you cannot do    
anything that  will add more to your    
value to yourself and to the world in   

general  than to study your occupation  
all your life4 ,if your work as a       
student  ends with school or college1   
your usefulness will be limited and you 
will always occupy a subordinate        
position4    ,education is a life work1 
we have no time to waste1 but we should 
take  time enough to do it well4 ,be    
satisfied with a slow advance if you are
  getting ahead all the time1 but do not
 be turned aside from the track4    ,do 
not make the mistake of supposing that  
converse with the thoughts of  men as   
preserved in books can take the place of
 communion with living  men4 ,you will  
get warped and unreal ideas of life if  
you do4 ,talk about  what you read with 
intellectual people4 ,we are educated by
 association  with men1 by pictures1 by 
music1 by nature as well as by the study
  of books4 ,commune with other men but 
do not omit to commune with  yourself1  
only by so doing can you gain 8that     
final and higher product  of knowledge  
which we call wisdom40 8,read to weigh  

and consider10 said  ,bacon1 that means 
to think4 ,wordsworth speaks of         
8knowledge purchased  with the loss of  
power10 and ,huxley says1 8the great end
 of life is not  knowledge but action4  
,what men need is1 as much knowledge as 
they can  assimilate and organize into a
 basis for action2 give them more and it
  may become injurious40                
,,chapter ,,iii4    ,,cultivating ,,the 
,,memory4      ,most of us forget1 as   
,andrew ,lang says1 8with an ease and   
readiness  only to be acquired by       
practice10 and would agree with         
,montaigne that  8if ,i be a man of some
 reading1 yet ,i am a man of no         
remembering40    ,to recall what we read
 we must first of all pay attention to  
it4  ,attention has been styled the     
mother of memory4 ,it is naturally      
united  to interest1 we attend best to  
what we care most about1 but we may     
watch over our minds and force them to  
return when they wander and  attention  
may be made habitual by repeated and    

vigorous efforts of the  will4          
8,there must be continuity of work10    
says ,thomas ,a4 ,edison1 the  inventor1
 8when you set out to do a certain thing
 never let anything  disturb you from   
doing that4 ,this power of putting the  
thought on one  particular thing1 and   
keeping it there for hours at time1     
comes from  practice1 and it takes a    
long while to get in the habit4 ,i      
remember1  a long while ago1 ,i could   
only think ten minutes on a given       
subject  before something else would    
come to my mind4 ,but after long        
practice ,i  can now keep my mind for   
hours on one topic without being        
distracted  with thoughts of other      
matters40    ,on the other hand those   
who find difficulty in focusing the mind
 for  long periods of time may be       
comforted by the following opinion of   
,professor ,william ,james than whom    
there is no better authority on  matters
 of this kind3 8,the total mental       
efficiency of a man is the  resultant of

 the working together of all his        
faculties4 ,he is too  complex a being  
for any one of them to have the casting 
vote4 ,if any  one of them do have the  
casting vote1 it is more likely to be   
the  strength of his desire and passion1
 the strength of the interest he  takes 
in what is proposed2 concentration1     
memory1 reasoning power1  inventiveness1
 excellence of the senses1--all are     
subsidiary to this4  ,no matter how     
scatter-brained the type of a man's     
successive fields  of consciousness may 
be1 if he really care for a subject1 he 
will  return to it incessantly from his 
incessant wanderings1 and first and     
last do more with it1 and get more      
result from it1 than another person     
whose attention may be more continuous  
during a given interval1 but  whose     
passion for the subject is of a more    
languid and less permanent  sort40      
,we must have a clear idea of what we   
read if we wish to retain it4 ,we       
cannot remember perfectly what we do not

 understand4 ,we must think  about what 
we read1 assimilate it and unite it to  
the knowledge that  we already possess4 
,every time we go over it in our minds  
we make the  impression clearer4        
,professor ,james lays special stress on
 the aid to memory that is  derived by  
this association of ideas4 8,when we    
wish to fix a new thing  in either our  
own mind or a pupil's1 our conscious    
effort should not be  so much to impress
 and retain it as to connect it with    
something  else already there4 ,the     
#8secret of a good memory' is thus the  
secret  of forming diverse and multiple 
associations with every fact we care  to
 retain4 ,but this forming of           
associations with a fact--what is it    
but thinking about the fact as much as  
possible8 ,briefly1 then1 of  two men   
with the same outward experiences1 the  
one who thinks over his  experiences    
most1 and weaves them into the most     
systematic relations  with each other1  
will be the one with the best memory40  

,when we read a number of books on the  
same subject the memory is  helped by   
the association of ideas1 and on the    
other hand we have high  authority for  
the statement that the memory is        
weakened by aimless  reading4 ,there is 
perhaps no one pursuit in which so much 
precious  time is wasted1 no one in     
which the energies of mankind are       
expended  to so little purpose1 as in   
such reading4 8,nothing1 in truth10 says
  ,dugald ,stewart1 8has such a tendency
 to weaken not only the powers  of      
invention but the intellectual powers in
 general1 as a habit of  extensive and  
various reading without reflection40    
,the habit of sharing the results of    
reading is as useful to ourselves  as it
 is to others4 ,the scholar of whom     
,chaucer wrote 8gladly wolde he  lerne  
and gladly teche10 probably had no      
difficulty in remembering what  he read4
    ,the reproduction of what you have  
read by conversation or by writing  aids
 the memory while strengthening the     

mind4    ,faraday says1 8,i hold it as a
 great point in self-education that the 
student should be continually engaged in
 forming exact ideas1 and in  expressing
 them clearly by language40 ,professor  
,james remarks1 8a  thing merely read or
 heard1 and never verbally reproduced1  
contracts  the weakest possible adhesion
 in the mind4 ,verbal recitation or     
reproduction is thus a highly important 
kind of reactive behavior on  our       
impressions40    ,moreover1 while       
cultivating the memory1 the reproduction
 of ideas  from the works of writers    
like ,addison1 ,newman1 and ,matthew    
,arnold  is valuable in the formation of
 a clear and simple style4 ,it was by   
careful reading of ,addison and by      
afterwards reproducing the thought in   
his own language that ,franklin when a  
boy formed the habit of elegant  and    
exact expression that made whatever he  
wrote interesting4          ,,chapter   
,,iv4    ,,what ,,to ,,read ,,and ,,the 
,,abuse ,,of ,,books4      ,many people 

live in first-class houses1 stay at     
first-class hotels1  travel in          
first-class steamships and railway      
trains and then read third  or          
fourth-class books4 ,for them one book  
is about as good as another4    ,if one 
does not care for the world's great     
books the fault is in him1  not in them1
 but he must realize the vastness of    
human knowledge and  understand that    
some of the wisest voices of all time   
have no message  for him4    ,there are 
nomadic readers who read as the gypsies 
live1 camping  everywhere but for a     
night without purpose and without       
profit4 ,such  reading is mental        
dissipation4 ,desultory reading jumps   
from one book to  another4 ,you might as
 well try to drink the sea as to read   
all books4  ,you must divide in order to
 conquer4 ,do not read blindly1 know    
what you  are about4 ,have a definite   
aim and purpose4 ,do not read the first 
book  that comes to hand but when you   
hear of a book that you ought to read   

make a note of it4 ,by keeping a list of
 books you may shape your course  and   
make your reading a selection from a    
selection4    ,do not prefer the new to 
the meritorious2 by following ,emerson's
 advice  8read no book until it has been
 out a year10 you will avoid many       
loud-trumpeted books4 ,there is         
uncertainty in reading a new book1 but  
the value of the old books is well      
known4 ,we need make no mistake4        
,many of the oldest books are always new
 but there are books which were  once   
standards on historical and technical   
subjects that are now as out  of date as
 last year's almanac4 ,be sure that what
 you read is reliable  and the best of  
its kind4 ,prefer quality to quantity4  
,read the great  books for yourself and 
do not be content with reading other    
people's  impressions of them4 ,books   
about books are seldom useful unless one
 has  also read the works of which they 
treat4    ,let the books that you select
 be those that have the approval of men 

competent to judge1 but bear in mind    
that the wisest man cannot select  the  
books that will best suit others2 each  
must choose for himself4  ,people are   
always glad to recommend the books that 
have helped them but  they cannot tell  
whether such books will help you4 ,you  
must find out  for yourself1 no one else
 can do it for you4 ,do not be afraid to
 ask  anyone who knows more than you do4
 ,there is no information which people  
are so ready to give as about books1    
indeed when you ask them they feel      
flattered4 ,when ,franklin wished to    
make friends with a man that he         
suspected of hostile sentiments he      
borrowed a book of him and returned  it 
promptly4    ,to find out what the best 
books are is no difficult matter1 but to
  find out what are the best books for  
us requires a self-knowledge that  takes
 life-long study4 ,in reading we must   
feel our way1 we cannot tell  what is   
best for us all at once4 ,we need to get
 acquainted with our own  minds1 to     

learn what our powers and tastes are4   
,this takes time and  thought and1 more 
than all1 fair-mindedness in order that 
we may not  form too high or too low an 
estimate of our abilities4 8,if thou    
wouldst  profit by thy reading1 read    
humbly1 simply1 honestly1 and not       
desiring  to win a character for        
learning10 said ,thomas a ,kempis4      
,have a clear view of literature1 know  
what you like and why you like  it4 ,be 
honest with yourself1 do not pretend to 
like what you do not  because other     
people do4 ,do not be afraid to be      
ignorant of many  things1 it is the     
price you must pay for knowing a few    
things well4 ,it  is only the stupid who
 pretend to know what they do not4 ,an  
educated  man is not ashamed to say that
 he does not know4 8,the acknowledgment 
of  ignorance10 said ,montaigne1 8is one
 of the best and surest testimonies  of 
judgment that ,i can finde40 ,to know   
when you do know a thing and  when you  
do not1 is the first step towards the   

attainment of sound  scholarship1 and   
the next is to know where to go for     
information4  8,nothing is so prolific  
as a little known well40    ,to have a  
general idea of what is worth reading   
and to know where to  turn for the books
 which are of vital importance to one's 
development  must be the foundation of  
any plan for culture4 ,it is one of the 
most  useful results of a liberal       
education that it gives a broad view of 
the  whole range of human thought1 and  
shows what to consider and what to      
reject2 it teaches to distinguish as    
,lowell says between literature and     
printed matter4    ,follow the bent of  
your inclination but make a clear       
distinction  between the reading that   
you do with a purpose and that which you
 do  for pleasure1 8what we read with   
inclination makes a strong impression4  
,what we read as a task is of little    
use10 said ,doctor ,johnson1 and he     
added 8if we read without inclination1  
half the mind is employed in  fixing the

 attention1 so there is but one half to 
be employed on what  we read40    ,much 
energy is wasted by conscientious       
readers over classic books that  are    
beyond their capacity4 ,plato and       
,aristotle are among the greatest       
thinkers that the world has produced but
 their works are not within the         
comprehension of every mind4 ,indeed    
,emerson says that1 8,there are not  in 
the world at any one time more than a   
dozen persons who read and  understand  
,plato40    ,do not think that because a
 statement is in print it is necessarily
  true4 ,you will often find conflicting
 statements in different books  on the  
same subject4 8,some books are lies frae
 end to end10 said  ,burns4 ,fortunately
 this can be said of few books but many 
contain  inaccuracies1 mis-statements   
and exaggerations4 ,weigh and consider  
all  you read in the light of your own  
experience4 ,books like life of which   
they are expressions and authors who    
produce them are of all kinds1  good and

 bad1 uplifting and degrading1 true and 
false4 ,we must value  them for what    
they are1 not for what they pretend to  
be1 and1 setting  aside our own         
preconceptions and prejudices1 lay our  
minds open to  those who seriously and  
sincerely hold other views than ours4   
,the author tries to make us feel what  
he feels and see what he sees4  ,some   
can do this without effort on our part  
and others like cuttle  fish cover      
themselves with clouds of their own     
obscurity4 ,we soon  learn from the way 
a writer expresses himself whether he is
 accurate  or not and we depend upon    
those whom we find careful in making    
their  statements4    ,we get to love   
and trust authors as we get to know our 
friends by long  and familiar converse4 
,the writers we should know best1 with  
whose  lives and complete works we      
should make ourselves familiar are those
  who have beauty of character added to 
grace of expression4 ,some men  like    
,burns and ,goldsmith endear themselves 

to us in spite of pronounced            
weaknesses4    ,books give pleasure not 
only by what they contain but also by   
the  manner in which it is expressed4   
,beauty of language as well as of       
thought make the works of ,cardinal     
,newman and ,matthew ,arnold attractive 
whether we agree with their conclusions 
or not and whether the subjects  of     
which they treat are of interest to us  
or not4    ,milton tells us that we     
should have a vigilant eye how books    
demean  themselves4 ,there is in some   
ways more danger from evil books than   
from evil companions4 ,bad companions   
cannot be with us always and  bad books 
may be4 ,schopenhauer calls 8bad books1 
those exuberant  weeds of literature    
that choke the true corn10 and even the 
gentle  ,charles ,lamb speaks with      
contempt of 8things in books' clothing40
 ,the  only use of poor books is to     
teach us by comparison the value of good
  ones4 ,rousseau thought that 8the     
abuse of reading is destructive to      

knowledge4 ,imagining ourselves to know 
everything we read1 we conceive  it     
unnecessary to learn it by other means40
    8,literature is not shut up in books
 nor art in galleries3 both are  taken  
in by unconscious absorption through the
 finer pores of mind  and character in  
the atmosphere of society10 said        
,lowell2 and ,emerson  wrote1 8books are
 for the scholar's idle times3 when he  
can read  ,god directly1 the hour is too
 precious to be wasted in other men's   
transcripts of their readings4 ,but when
 the intervals of darkness come1  as    
come they must1--when the sun is hid and
 the stars withdraw their  shining1--we 
repair to the lamps which were kindled  
by their ray1 to  guide our steps to the
 ,east again1 where the dawn is40       
8,no man should consider so highly of   
himself as to think he can receive  but 
little light from books1 nor so meanly  
as to believe he can  discover nothing  
but what is to be learned from them40   
wrote ,doctor  ,johnson1 and ,professor 

,blackie says1 8all knowledge which     
comes from  books comes indirectly1 by  
reflection1 and by echo2 true knowledge 
grows from a living root in the thinking
 soul2 and whatever it may  appropriate 
from without1 it takes by living        
assimilation into a living  organism1   
not by mere borrowing40                 
,,chapter ,v4    ,,the ,,art ,,of       
,,reading4      8,the most important    
step toward getting mental power is the 
acquisition  of a right method in work  
and a just standard of attainment10 says
  ,president ,elliot4 ,the secret of    
success in reading is concentration4    
,the mind must be focused like a lens on
 just those books and just those  parts 
of them that are needed to accomplish   
the desired object4 ,have a  definite   
purpose and do not allow yourself to be 
turned aside from it4  ,there are those 
who read merely to get over a certain   
number of pages  and say that they have 
read a book4 ,printed words run before  
their eyes  and make no impression on   

their minds4 ,in this age of hurry many 
rush  through books as trains rush      
through tunnels4    ,the true reader    
makes his reading give an account of    
itself4 ,after you  have read a few     
pages stop and think it over and arrange
 it in your  mind4 ,it takes time to    
ripen1 the best growth is slow4    ,we  
can no more become acquainted with a    
book on a single reading than  we can   
know a man on a single meeting4         
8,between reading and study  there is   
the same difference as between a guest  
and a friend10 said  ,st4 ,bernard4     
,ruskin thought that reading the same   
thing over and over  again aided him    
greatly in getting thoroughly to the    
bottom of matters2  and ,dr4 ,w4 ,t4    
,harris has remarked1 8it is my         
experience with great  world poets that 
the first reading yields the smallest   
harvest4 ,each  succeeding reading      
becomes more profitable in geometrical  
ratio4 ,at  first1 ,dante's ,divine     
,comedy was a dumb show written over    

with hard1  dogmatic inscriptions4 ,it  
has become to me the most eloquent      
exposition  of human freedom and divine 
grace40    ,bacon tells us that books   
are to be read in different ways4 ,some 
are to  be read here and there1 others  
to be skimmed and a few to be studied4  
,be content with gradual progress1 the  
best growth is slow1 but keep           
constantly at it4 ,milton speaks of     
8industrious and select reading10  and  
that is the only kind that gives true   
culture4    ,says ,walt ,whitman1 8the  
process of reading is not a half sleep1 
but in  the highest sense1 an exercise1 
a gymnastic struggle2 that the reader   
is to do something for himself1 must be 
on the alert1 must himself or  herself  
construct indeed the poem1 argument1    
history1 metaphysical  essay--the text  
furnishing the hints1 the clue1 the     
start or framework40    8,men give me   
some credit for genius4 ,all the genius 
,i have lies in  this3 when ,i have a   
subject in hand ,i study it profoundly2 

day and  night it is before me4 ,i      
explore it in all its bearings4 ,my mind
  becomes pervaded with it4 ,then the   
effort which ,i make the people are     
pleased to call the fruit of genius4 ,it
 is the fruit of labor and              
thought40--,daniel ,webster4    ,we must
 recognize the fact that there are many 
books of great value to  others that    
have no message for us4 ,we may waste   
time in reading good  books that we do  
not understand4 8,it is of paramount    
importance10 says  ,schopenhauer1 8to   
acquire the art not to read40    ,books 
should be ladders to lift us to a higher
 mental plane4 ,no matter  how long or  
how industriously we read1 we can never 
be elevated by  trash4 ,the more        
literature we ponder on and make our own
 the better we  are for it1 but the     
little thoughts of inferior men though  
they may  serve to occupy our minds can 
never improve them4 ,and on the other   
hand  the habit of associating with the 
thoughts of noble men gives health  and 

robustness to the mind1 which does not  
grow unless it is exerted on  something 
worthy of its strength4    ,the books   
that help us most are those which demand
 the exercise of our  highest powers1   
books which have a clear and definite   
purpose and that  appeal to the best    
that is in us4 ,such books are not to be
 understood  all at once1 but every time
 we re-read them we get new light upon  
them4  ,we should not force ourselves to
 read what we do not understand1 but    
should read the best that we can enjoy  
and if that is not the best  there is1  
it will be in time if we persevere4     
,no other occupation is so well adapted 
to the profitable employment  of moments
 of leisure as reading4 ,at any place1  
at any time1 without  preparation we may
 read4 ,books are always ready to do for
 us all  that our mental state will     
admit4 ,no man was ever so wretched that
 he  could not claim and receive the    
companionship and sympathy of the best  
thought of the best men4 ,no life is so 

cheerless that it cannot be  brightened 
by books4    ,doctor ,johnson thought   
that the most miserable man is he who   
cannot  read on a rainy day4 ,how much  
those miss who have no love of reading1 
how time must hang heavily on their     
hands in illness1 in bad weather1  in   
the long evenings4 ,emerson liked to    
read and study in a tumultuous  privacy 
of storm4    ,reading is often the only 
pleasure of the sick1 bringing to their 
rooms  the heroes of all ages and the   
scenes of all climes so that they may   
forget their sufferings in sailing the  
ocean with ,columbus1 or leaving  the   
smoke and turmoil of the city they may  
wander with ,thoreau in leafy  nooks by 
the crystal waters of ,walden4 ,sitting 
in a poor room1 ill-fed  and ragged a   
man may entertain ,sir ,walter ,scott or
 ,lord ,macaulay and  dismiss them      
without ceremony when he tires of them4 
,the fact that we  can stop the talk of 
a book at will is one of the greatest   
advantages  of reading4 ,lord ,macaulay 

might have bored one but his books never
 do4    ,reading is the great solace of 
old age and is one of the few pleasures 
which increases as the years go by4     
,life should be a happy medium between  
the practical and the ideal2  those     
successful men of business who have no  
taste for literature often  appreciate  
their deficiencies quite as much as do  
the impractical  idealists who have     
never accomplished anything of real     
value4 ,darwin  devoted his mental      
energies so entirely to the             
consideration of facts1  that he lost   
all taste for imaginative literature and
 deeply regretted  that his mind in this
 respect was warped and one sided4      
,there are1 however1 many men who have  
become so dulled by the  practicalities 
of business that they consider it a     
waste of time to  read anything but the 
newspapers or the reports of the stock  
market4  ,the pleasure to be gotten from
 ,shakespeare or ,tennyson such persons 
will never know4    ,lack of time is    

made an excuse for superficial          
accomplishment1 but  no one is so busy  
that he cannot find time to read if he  
will but  diligently make the most of   
his opportunities4 8,dost thou value    
life10  said ,franklin1 8then do not    
waste time for that is the stuff life is
  made of40 8,in studies1 whatsoever a  
man commandeth upon himself1 let him    
set hours for it10 says ,bacon1 but1 he 
adds1 8whatsoever is agreeable  to his  
nature1 let him take no care for any set
 hours1 for his thoughts  will fly to it
 of themselves40    ,a small fixed      
period devoted to study every day is far
 better than a  longer time given       
occasionally4 ,the result is not only   
greater but the  mental effect is       
better4 ,for by devoting a certain time 
every day to  the consideration of noble
 thoughts your mind which grows by what 
it  feeds on is given food for          
reflection so that it increases in power
  even when you are not reading4        
,there are books not only for all sorts 

and conditions of men but also  for all 
the varying circumstances of the life of
 each and for all the  different mental 
phases through which they may pass4 ,a  
book may have  a message for every one  
but not the same message for each2 one  
it may  encourage1 another it may       
rebuke2 one it may lead further in the  
path  he is treading1 another it may    
stop and turn into a better way4 ,habits
  of thought due to inheritance or      
occupation modify and in some measure   
determine the effect of a book and the  
nature of its message for each  reader4 
,you should adapt books to your mental  
state1 after a hard day's work  the mind
 easily wearies1 while with the strength
 of the morning you may  read the very  
best that you are capable of4 ,read the 
hardest book first  and as your mind    
tires lay it aside and take up something
 easier4 ,when  you find that you are   
not appreciating what you read stop and 
give your  mind a rest4    ,what we read
 depends upon our taste and taste       

determines character and  is determined 
by character4 ,taste may be cultivated  
and improved by  always preferring the  
higher to the lower when we have an     
opportunity  to make a choice1 by       
improving the surroundings and          
associations1 by  unconscious influence 
as well as by conscious effort4 ,there  
is only one  way in which a love for    
good literature may be gained and that  
is by  reading good literature4 ,people 
talk about the ,english classics and at 
last almost convince themselves that    
they are familiar with them but  how    
many do you know who have really read   
,shakespeare8    ,there are constant    
allusions in literature and in life to  
books with  which everyone is supposed  
to be acquainted1 such as the ,bible1   
,homer1 ,shakespeare1 ,pilgrim's        
,progress1 ,scott and ,longfellow4  ,one
 cannot always choose his business in   
life1 sometimes he is forced  to do the 
first thing that comes to hand1 but he  
need not engage in  any recreation that 

he does not choose and it is his own    
fault if his  pleasures are mean ones4  
,we often meet people whose minds seem  
flat and  stale because they derive     
their highest inspiration from nothing  
more  elevating than the daily papers4  
,a common knowledge of a good book may  
be at once the foundation of  mutual    
understanding and friendship4 ,it       
establishes a bond of sympathy  between 
minds cultivated and informed by contact
 with noble thoughts4  ,such sympathy is
 impossible for those whose minds owing 
to lack of  reading dwell ever in the   
present amid material things4    ,do not
 content yourself with reading the      
observations of others2 be an  observer 
yourself4 ,your reading should teach you
 to observe1 but some  persons stultify 
themselves so by constant reading that  
they lose the  power to perceive4 ,our  
minds grow by exertion rather than by   
passive  reception4 ,we are put in the  
world not only to accomplish a certain  
amount of work1 but also to develop our 

mental and spiritual powers to  the     
fullest extent2 to make the most of     
ourselves4    ,by taking an interest in 
what is going on around us we may add a 
new  charm to life4 ,we are surrounded  
by the wonderful and inspiring but  only
 the great man or woman has the sense to
 see it2 for all the rest  life is      
hopelessly commonplace4 ,the man who    
finds the most to admire  gets the most 
enjoyment out of life4 ,the study of    
nature teaches us  to appreciate much   
that is beautiful in literature1 and1 on
 the other  hand1 books help us to enjoy
 many things about us that otherwise we 
should not have noticed4 ,men with finer
 faculties than ourselves have  observed
 and recorded for us beauties that      
without their aid we should  have been  
unable to perceive4 8,books10 said      
,dryden1 8are spectacles to  read       
nature40    ,the power of a book to     
stimulate the mind is one of its most   
useful  qualities4 ,some books are more 
valuable for what they make us think    

than for what they actually say4 ,it is 
the reading that we make the  most of1  
whose substance incorporates itself with
 our mental equipment1  that develops   
and enlarges our faculties4 ,what we    
read and assimilate  becomes part of the
 character4 ,rousseau's ,emile1 for     
instance1 is  one of the most suggestive
 books ever written2 ,pestalozzi1       
,froebel1  ,herbert ,spencer and many   
other educational thinkers have derived 
their  inspiration from ,rousseau4      
,emerson is especially valuable for the 
new  trains of thought which he         
suggests4 ,furthermore a book is far    
from  useless when it arouses thoughtful
 dissent4 ,passages in the ,emile  have 
furnished the texts for discussions that
 have marked advances in  educational   
thought4    ,we form our characters from
 the men and books that we associate    
with4  ,we cannot always choose our     
companions but we can choose our books1 
and  it is our own fault if they are    
mean books4 ,a man may be known better  

by the books he reads than by the       
company he keeps1 we should be quite  as
 likely to find a judge making a        
companion of a pickpocket or gambler  as
 to find a low-minded man reading an    
essay by ,lowell or ,emerson4 ,tell  me 
what you read and ,i will tell you what 
you are4 ,it is what we take  an        
interest in that stamps us4    ,matthew 
,arnold gives a concise definition of   
culture when he says  that it is 8to    
know the best that has been thought and 
said in  the world10 and he makes this  
idea clearer by saying 8culture is      
reading1 but reading with a purpose to  
guide it and with system40  ,he         
elsewhere states1 8,culture is a study  
of the perfection which  consists in    
becoming something rather than in having
 something1 in  an inward condition of  
the mind and spirit1 not in an outward  
set of  circumstances40 ,self-activity  
is called by ,sir ,william ,hamilton the
  primary principle of education4 ,by   
lovingly reading the best books we  may 

go on1 year after year1 giving ourselves
 a fuller education than  can be gained 
in any university1 because it is life   
long2--eternity  long4 ,such an         
education requires time rather than     
money and any one who  has the          
determination to improve himself1 may   
like ,sir ,william ,jones  8with the    
fortune of a peasant give himself the   
education of a prince40    ,to read good
 books in a proper manner adds to life a
 charm whose  infinite variety age      
cannot wither nor custom stale4 ,it was 
,huxley1 the  man of science who said1  
8literature is the greatest of all      
sources of  refined pleasure and one of 
the great uses of a liberal education is
  to enable us to enjoy that pleasure40 
,the gain is immense when we have       
learned to like the things that are     
improving rather than those that  merely
 entertain4 ,the remark of ,samuel      
,royce that whenever intellectual       
pleasures are in the ascendant          
civilization progresses1 and whenever   

sensual pleasures predominate           
civilization is on the wane1 is as true 
of the individual as of the race4 ,the  
nations which have made an  impression  
on history have done so by intellectual 
vigor and not by  brute force4 ,it is   
ideas not arms that determine destinies 
and books  are the vehicle of ideas4    
,,chapter ,,vi4    ,,classification ,,of
 ,,books4      ,the multitude of books  
impresses on us the shortness of human  
life1  and immortality never seems more 
desirable and necessary than in the     
presence of a library4    ,the national 
library of ,france contains about three 
million books and  the ,british ,museum 
requires forty miles of shelves to      
accommodate its  two million volumes4   
,the room which contains the card       
catalogue of the  nine hundred thousand 
books of the ,boston ,public ,library is
 as large as  the entire space of many a
 village library4    ,according to the  
purposes for which they have been       
written books may  be divided broadly   

into three classes4 ,in the first place 
we have  books intended to convey       
information4 ,this class is very        
numerous as  it includes histories1     
biographies1 travels1 text books and    
works on  technical subjects4    ,the   
second class comprises those written to 
amuse1 and consists mainly  of works of 
fiction4 ,this is also numerous1 for it 
constitutes the  chief mental           
nourishment of the greater number of    
readers4 ,it is  estimated that novels  
form fully three-fourths of the books   
issued by  circulating libraries4       
,the last class is composed of books    
written to inspire1 to which belong     
works of the sacred writers and of the  
great poets4 ,such books are            
comparatively few in number1 but they   
include much of the noblest work  of the
 noblest men whom the world has known4  
,these three divisions are not separated
 by hard and fast lines2  ,hawthorne's  
,marble ,faun1 for example1 at once     
entertains1 informs and  inspires1      

while1 fortunately for us all1 the      
number of books that amuse  and at the  
same time instruct is sufficient to     
supply pleasure and  profit for the     
longest life and the most varied tastes4
    ,there is of course still another   
class of books that are no books1  works
 of this kind far outnumber all the     
others put together1 and it  requires   
constant care in order to avoid them4   
8,throw away none of your time10 says   
,lord ,chesterfield1 8upon those        
trivial futile books1 published for the 
amusement of idle and ignorant  readers2
 such sort of books swarm and buzz about
 one every day2 flop  them away1--they  
have no sting40    ,ruskin calls        
attention to the difference between     
books written to  render thought        
permanent such as great poems and       
histories1 books of  all time he calls  
them1 and books written merely for the  
hour1 the  useful or pleasant talk of   
some person you cannot otherwise        
converse  with1 such as travels and     

novels which he says are not books at   
all but  merely letters or newspapers in
 print4    8,a book10 he says1 8is      
essentially not a talked thing1 but a   
written  thing2 and written1 not with   
the view of mere communication1 but of  
permanence4 ,the book of talk is printed
 only because its author cannot  speak  
to thousands of people at once2 if he   
could1 he would--the  volume is mere    
multiplication of his voice4 ,you cannot
 talk to your  friend in ,india2 if you 
could1 you would2 you write instead2    
that is  mere conveyance of voice4 ,but 
a book is written1 not to multiply  the 
voice merely1 not to carry it merely1   
but to preserve it4 ,the  author has    
something to say which he perceives to  
be true and useful1  or helpfully       
beautiful4 ,in the sum of his life he   
finds this to be  the thing1 or group of
 things1 manifest to him3--this is the  
piece of  true knowledge1 or sight1     
which his share of sunshine and earth   
has  permitted him to seize4 ,he would  

fain set it down forever2 engrave it  on
 rock1 if he could2 saying1 #8,this is  
the best of me2 444 this ,i saw  and    
knew2 this1 if anything of mine1 is     
worth your memory4' ,that is his        
#8writing'2 it is1 in his small human   
way1 and with whatever degree of  true  
inspiration is in him1 his inscription1 
or scripture4 ,that is a  #8,book'40    
,de,quincey has made a very famous      
division of books1 which ,i quote at    
length because though often referred to1
 it is seldom seen in its  entirety4 ,he
 says3 8,there is the literature of     
knowledge and there  is the literature  
of power4 ,the function of the first is 
to teach2  the function of the second is
 to move4 ,the first is a rudder2 the   
second1 an oar or a sail4 ,the first    
speaks to the mere discursive           
understanding2 the second speaks1       
ultimately it may happen1 to the  higher
 understanding or reason1 but always    
through affections of  pleasure and     
sympathy4    8,remotely1 it may travel  

towards an object seated in what ,lord  
,bacon  calls dry light2 but1           
proximately1 it does and must operate1  
else  it ceases to be a literature of   
power1 on and through that humid  light 
which clothes itself in the mists and   
glittering iris of human  passions1     
desire and genial emotions4    8,men    
have so little reflected on the higher  
functions of literature1 as  to find it 
a paradox if one should describe it as a
 mean or subordinate  purpose of books  
to give information4 ,but this is a     
paradox only in  the sense which makes  
it honorable to be paradoxical4         
,whenever we talk  in ordinary language 
of seeking information1 or gaining      
knowledge1 we  understand the words as  
connected with something of absolute    
novelty4  ,but it is the grandeur of all
 truth1 which can occupy a very high    
place in human interests1 that it is    
never absolutely novel in the  meanest  
minds2 it exists eternally by way of    
germ or latent principle  in the lowest 

as in the highest1 needing to be        
developed but never  planted4 ,to be    
capable of transplantation is the       
immediate criterion  of a truth that    
ranges on a lower scale4 ,besides which1
 there is a  rarer thing than truth1    
namely1 power1 or deep sympathy with    
truth4  ,what is the effect1 for        
instance1 upon society1 of children8 ,by
 the  pity1 by the tenderness1 and by   
the peculiar modes of admiration1 which 
connect themselves with the             
helplessness1 with the innocence1 and   
with the simplicity of children1 not    
only are the primal affections          
strengthened and continually renewed1   
but the qualities which are  dearest in 
the sight of heaven--the frailty1 for   
instance1 which  appeals to forbearance1
 the innocence which symbolizes the     
heavenly1  and the simplicity which is  
most alien from the worldly1 are kept up
  in perpetual remembrance1 and their   
ideals are continually refreshed4  ,a   
purpose of the same nature is answered  

by the higher literature1  viz3--the    
literature of power4    8,what do you   
learn from ,paradise ,lost8 ,nothing at 
all4 ,what do you  learn from a         
cookery-book8 ,something new--something 
that you did not  know before1 in every 
paragraph4 ,but would you therefore put 
the  wretched cookery-book on a higher  
level of estimation than the divine     
poem8 ,what you owe to ,milton is not   
any knowledge1 of which a million       
separate items are still but a million  
of advancing steps on the same  earthly 
level2 what you owe is power1 that is   
exercise and expansion  to your own     
latent capacity of sympathy with the    
infinite1 where every  pulse and each   
separate influx is a step upwards--a    
step ascending as  upon a ,jacob's      
ladder from earth to mysterious         
altitudes above the  earth4 ,all the    
steps of knowledge1 from first to last1 
carry you  further on the same plane1   
but could never raise you one foot above
  your ancient level of earth3 whereas  

the very first step in power is  a      
flight--is an ascending movement into   
another element where earth is          
forgotten40    ,the verdict of time is  
never wrong4 ,books that delighted      
generations  of men have done so because
 of real merit and these are the books  
that  have embodied the life thought of 
great men4 ,shallow books no matter  how
 brilliant they may be are short-lived4 
,the best thoughts of the  best men     
endure in books that are true to human  
experience irrespective  of the century 
in which they were written4 ,an author  
is great in  proportion as he perceives 
the universally true in life4    ,the   
books which do us good are the sincere  
books1 those which are true  in the     
highest sense of the word which give    
noble and cheerful ideas of  life1 which
 make us respect human nature1 books    
written by men who have  a helpful      
message for their fellow strugglers4    
,there are books which mark epochs in   
the progress of the world just  as the  

discovery of ,america and the invention 
of printing do1 and the  reading of a   
book sometimes marks an epoch in life4  
,great is the joy of  meeting a real    
book by a thoughtful man4 ,keats wrote  
on first looking  into ,chapman's       
,homer3--        8,then felt ,i like    
some watcher of the skies      ,when a  
new planet swims into his ken      ,or  
like stout ,cortes when with eagle eyes 
,he stared at the ,pacific--and all his 
men      ,looked at each other with a   
wild surmise--      ,silent1 upon a peak
 in ,darien40          ,,chapter ,,vii4 
,,poetry4      ,poetry is the flower of 
literature1 the most perfect utterance  
of the  human mind in no other of his   
works does man so nearly approach the   
,divine1 so that in every age the poet  
has been regarded as the inspired       
mouthpiece of ,god4 ,the prophet was the
 forth teller not merely the  foreteller
 and his message commanded attention and
 respect as coming  from a power above  
the speaker4 ,whatever may be said to   

the contrary  there still remains the   
fact that the greatest and noblest      
thoughts  which have ever occupied the  
mind of man have found their highest    
and most permanent expression in poetry1
 the outward form of which  differing   
from the language of daily life is at   
once the accompaniment  and indication  
of the dignity of a great idea4         
,wordsworth calls poetry the breath and 
finer spirit of all knowledge4  ,to the 
question1 8,what is a poet80 he replies1
 8,he is a man speaking  to men2 a man1 
it is true1 endowed with more lively    
sensibility1 more  enthusiasm and       
tenderness1 who has a greater knowledge 
of human nature1  and a more            
comprehensive ,soul than are supposed to
 be common among  mankind4 ,to these    
qualities he has added a disposition to 
be affected  more than other men by     
absent things as if they were present40 
,poetry is life crystalized into        
literature1 its value is in its eternal 
truth1 in its universal adaptation to   

the higher needs of our nature4  ,it is 
because we find in poetry what we have  
observed but could not  formulate for   
ourselves that it impresses us so       
deeply4 ,george ,eliot  said of         
,wordsworth's poems1 8,i never before   
met with so many of my own  feelings    
expressed just as ,i should like them40 
8,there is some awe  mixed with the joy 
of our surprise10 wrote ,emerson1 8when 
this poet1  who lived in some past      
world1 two or three hundred years ago1  
says  that which lies close to my own   
,soul1 that which ,i also had well-nigh 
thought and said40    ,lowell thought   
that the highest office of a great poet 
is to show us  how much variety1        
freshness1 and opportunity abides in the
 obvious  and the familiar4 ,great poets
 have concentrated in their works the   
thought of an age4 ,gladstone says that 
the poems of ,homer constitute  a world 
of their own4 8,the study of him is not 
a mere matter of  literary criticism1   
but is a full study of life in every one

 of its  departments40 ,poetry has      
somewhat the same relation to prose that
 a  landscape painted by ,corot bears to
 a photograph of the same scene4 ,it  is
 truth idealized4 ,the poets teach us to
 admire beauties in nature  that we have
 often looked at but never perceived4   
,if it were not for  ,scott few people  
would know of ,loch ,katrine4    ,there 
is just as beautiful scenery elsewhere1 
but we are waiting for  the poets to    
show it to us4    ,sometimes the poets  
compress their observations of life and 
of the  working of the spirit of man    
into words which embody a great truth in
 a  little space4 8,jewels five words   
long that on the stretch'd forefinger   
of all ,time sparkle forever40 ,often   
the poets produce an impression  or make
 a picture by the use or a single       
appropriate word1 as when  ,tennyson    
says the cloud smoulders on the cliff4  
,he is master of the  art of calling up 
mental images by allusions to color1    
sound and smell1  and he carefully      

chooses from his enormous vocabulary the
 exact word to  produce the desired     
effect4    ,lowell thought that the real
 literary genius stored up the apt or   
pleasing word1 and ,ruskin said1 8he is 
the best poet who can by the  fewest    
words touch the greatest number of      
secret chords of thought in  his        
reader's own mind1 and set them to work 
in their own way40    ,the inspiration  
and delight derived from familiarity    
with the best  poetry is one of the most
 precious results of culture4 ,more than
 any  other work of man poetry helps us 
to cherish the ideal and we look to  our
 ideals to counteract the hardness of   
our daily life1 to strengthen  and      
uplift us4 ,to read a great poet for a  
few minutes every day raises  one out of
 the commonplace4 ,matthew ,arnold1 who 
was one of the hardest  worked men of   
his time1 used to read a hundred lines  
or more of  the ,odyssey before he went 
to bed4 ,he said that 8,good poetry does
  undoubtedly tend to form the ,soul and

 character2 it tends to beget a  love of
 beauty and of truth in alliance        
together2 it suggests however           
indirectly high and noble principles of 
action1 and it inspires the  emotions   
helpful in making principles operative10
 and he added1 8,we  have to turn to    
poetry to interpret life for us1 to     
console us1 to  sustain us40    ,it is  
one of the fortunate miracles of        
literature that so much of the  very    
best poetry is also within the          
comprehension of the humblest           
understanding4 ,many of the poems which 
have been the delight and  consolation  
of men of the greatest mental capacities
 have also the  power to encourage and  
uplift those of far lower abilities4    
,the ,psalms  of ,david1 for example1   
have heights and depths which have made 
them  the inspiration of men of all     
classes in all ages4 ,progress in the   
understanding of the poets is the result
 of reading which1 beginning  with those
 that are easiest to comprehend1 goes on

 with increasing  power to those1 who1  
like ,wordsworth1 are philosophical and 
deep  and those1 who1 like ,browning1   
present particular difficulties the     
overcoming of which is rewarded by a    
vast wealth of inspiring thought4       
,matthew ,arnold1 who speaks with       
authority on these subjects says1       
8,constantly in reading poetry a sense  
of the best1 the really  excellent1 and 
of the strength and joy to be drawn from
 it1 should be  present in our minds1   
and should govern our estimate of what  
we read40  and he remarks of the poet   
that1 8if he is a real classic1 if his  
work  belongs to the class of the very  
best 7for this is the true and right    
meaning of the word1 classic1           
classical71 then the great thing  for us
 is to feel and enjoy his work as deeply
 as ever we can1 and  to appreciate the 
wide difference between it and all work 
which has  not the same high character4 
,this is what is salutary1 this is what 
is formative1 this is the great benefit 

to be got from the study of  poetry40   
,it is not to be expected that at the   
first reading you can see all the       
beauties that a word-painter like       
,tennyson spent years in elaborating4   
,a masterpiece cannot be read too       
carefully nor too often4 ,to appreciate 
a great picture like the ,sistine       
,madonna1 you must return to it again   
and again and let its gracious sweetness
 sink into your soul4 ,it is so  that   
you must study a great poem4    ,hence  
it follows naturally that there is great
 culture value in storing  the memory   
with noble poems4 ,while we should not  
go so far as to say  with ,ruskin that  
no poetry is worth reading which is not 
worth learning  by heart1 there is an   
inspiration in adorning our minds with  
as much as  we can learn accurately from
 the great poets2 and this inspiration  
is  derived especially from the poetry  
we have known and loved in youth1  which
 has1 from its very associations1 a     
strength and sweetness that no  other   

can have4    8,many a noble poem10 says 
,henry ,pancoast1 8early acquired by a  
pure  effort of the memory and at first 
but dimly understood1 has gradually     
worked its way into the hidden depths of
 a child's conscious life1  revealing   
its full power and beauty only by slow  
degrees1 and  elevating1 quickening1 and
 enlarging his spirit in secrecy and in 
silence40    ,poetry as the truest      
expression of the life and morals of an 
age is at  once a prophecy and a        
history4 ,a prophecy as indicating that 
to which  the nation would aspire--a    
history as a record of the fact of past 
aspiration4 ,concrete individual fact   
has little significance to poetry       
except as the manifestation of an idea  
or of a universal truth4--,the  poet is 
the embodiment of his age and his era   
and a full understanding  of his poetry 
gives us an insight into the very heart 
of them4          ,,chapter ,,viii4     
,,biography4      ,great poetry is the  
expression of the spiritual life1 not of

 the poet  merely1 but of the poet in   
his capacity of forthteller of what is  
divine and universal in human life4     
,history deals with the life and        
actions and motives of men in a         
particular age and treats of human      
achievements and relations1 and of their
 causes and effects4 ,both  ,poetry and 
,history are in a sense impersonal1     
being concerned not so  much with       
individuals as such1 as with the ideals 
toward which or  the ideas with which   
men live their lives and do their work4 
,it is  biography to which we turn for  
the most intimate and detailed personal 
knowledge of a particular great man who 
may have been the poet whose  lines have
 met response in every heart or the     
writer whose mind has  guided a nation4 
,as dealing with life itself biography  
may well be  regarded as one of the     
important divisions of literature4 ,it  
may be  and usually is found to belong  
in both classes1 the literature of      
knowledge1 and the literature of power4 

,there is a directness about a  great   
biography that causes us to feel        
personally acquainted with the  subject 
of it4    8,the great man10 says        
,carlyle1 8does in good truth1 belong to
 his own  age--nay1 more so than any    
other man2 being properly the synopsis  
and  epitome of such age with its       
interests and influences2 but belongs   
likewise to all ages1 otherwise he is   
not great4 ,what was transitory  in him 
passes away and an immortal part        
remains1 the significance of  which is  
in strict speech inexhaustible--as that 
of every real object  is4 ,aloft1       
conspicuous1 on his enduring basis1 he  
stands there1 serene1  unaltering2      
silently addresses to every new         
generation a new lesson and  monition4  
,well is his life worth writing1 worth  
interpreting2 and ever1  in the new     
dialect of new times1 of rewriting and  
reinterpreting20 and  he adds1 8as the  
highest ,gospel was a ,biography1 so is 
the ,life of  every good man still an   

indubitable ,gospel40    ,there is an   
obvious similarity between the biography
 of a great man  by a great man and the 
portrait of a great man by a great      
artist4  ,the ,national ,portrait       
,gallery in ,london makes real to us the
 men who  have been ,england's glory in 
peace and war4 ,no one can leave it     
after  looking on the faces of          
,gladstone and ,tennyson and ,sir ,john 
,franklin  and the hundreds of others   
who scorned delights and lived laborious
  days without having a higher estimate 
of humanity and being nerved  to new    
efforts1 and we may obtain the same     
effect in a more detailed  manner by    
reading the best biographies4    ,the   
number of great men who are alive at any
 one time is small1 and  they are too   
much occupied to see any but those who  
have important  business with them1 but 
we may study them at our leisure in     
their  biographies1 and go over the     
events of years in a few hours4    ,a   
knowledge of the life of an author      

always adds interest to the  perusal of 
his books and is frequently of value in 
explaining them4  ,the study of the     
noble life in connection with the works 
of the noble  mind is one of the best   
foundations for liberal culture4        
,consider the  influence of an          
acquaintance with the entire works of   
,longfellow or  ,lowell1 read in        
connection with the life of the former  
by his brother1  or with the biography  
of the latter by ,scudder4 ,to know the 
atmosphere  which surrounded such men1  
the things towards which their interest 
went out1 the sources from which they   
drew their inspiration1 the way  in     
which the common experiences of life1 so
 familiar to us all grew  beautiful     
under their poetic imagination2 a       
familiarity with all these  things will 
elevate a man's whole life4    ,the     
light too which is thrown by biography  
on the conduct of life is  very great4  
,theory1 philosophizing1 opinions1      
reasoning1 are of little  worth when    

compared with the actual facts of the   
life of a man who has  attained         
distinction in any department of human  
achievement4 ,reading of  this kind     
teaches us that chance is only to a     
small extent an element  of success1    
that nothing is attained by the         
brightest minds without  that infinite  
patience and labor which in itself is   
genius4 ,to think of  the brave way in  
which such men met the trials that they 
were called  upon to endure is a most   
healthful remedy for warped and selfish 
ideas  of life4    ,take the life of    
,scott by ,lockhart2 note the domestic  
tastes of the  author of ,waverly1 his  
kindly interest in the humblest persons 
around  him1 the heroic way in which he 
nerved himself to meet single-handed    
the overwhelming catastrophe of the     
failure of ,constable1 the way  in      
which1 while struggling with physical   
weaknesses that would have  rendered    
another conscious only of his own       
sufferings1 he retained his  simplicity 

and gentle thoughtfulness for           
others1--all these lessons may  be      
learned from that noble biography4      
,we should take a sympathetic interest  
in the lives of high-minded men1  and   
note how in spite of obstacles and      
failures they have accomplished  their  
purposes and how some have been great   
because they nobly tried  and in spite  
of the fact that they nobly failed4     
,nothing is more  helpful than to see   
that our ills are not peculiar to       
ourselves1 but  that others have        
overcome the same difficulties that are 
perplexing us4    ,biography teaches us 
to look at life from many points of     
view4 ,in  reading biography1 said ,dr4 
,andrew ,peabody1 8,i find myself       
translating  a life unlike what mine can
 ever be into terms of my own life1     
shaping  from it analogies1 equivalents1
 and parallels for my own aims and      
endeavors1 studying modes of embodying  
its underlying principles in  forms1 it 
may be of which he whose experience     

suggests them could never  have         
dreamed40    ,learn to make a           
distinction between the essential and   
fundamental  characteristics of a great 
man and such gossipy details as what he 
had for breakfast and how he wore his   
hair4 8,it is the great error of        
thoughtless biographers10 says ,ruskin1 
8to attribute to the accident  which    
introduces some new phase of character1 
all the circumstances of  character     
which gave the accident importance40    
,when a great man has written the story 
of his own life the result is a  book of
 double value4 ,emerson and ,george     
,eliot agreed in considering  the       
,confessions of ,rousseau the most      
interesting book they had ever  read4   
,franklin's ,autobiography is a model of
 keen and accurate  observation         
expressed in the clearest and simplest  
language4    ,boswell's ,life of        
,johnson is commonly considered the best
 biography  in the language4 ,of this   
and ,lockhart's ,scott ,phillips ,brooks

 says  that they are 8worthy to be read 
and re-read1 and read again by all men  
who want to keep their manhood healthy1 
broad and brave1 and true40             
,,chapter ,,ix4    ,,history4      ,the 
object of history is to tell us not only
 what happened but the  causes and      
results of what happened1 and this leads
 the historian  into almost every field 
of human interest4 ,he deals1 to be     
sure1 with  facts1 as far as he is able 
to ascertain them1 but his              
generalizations  and interpretations of 
facts are an important part of his work4
 ,the  historian must abandon prejudice1
 preconception and predilection of      
every kind4 ,he must deal with the      
people1 their ideas1 development  and   
social movements as well as with the    
incidents of war and foreign  relations 
and the actions and influence of great  
men whose agency in  shaping the        
progress of events is often             
over-estimated4    ,as everything which 
passes through the human mind is        

necessarily  colored more or less by the
 particular mind through which it       
passes1 we  find that the history of the
 same people during the same period will
  not seem in all respects to be        
identical when presented by different   
historians4 ,macaulay and ,carlyle1 each
 of whom wrote history with             
extraordinary brilliancy1 present to us 
pictures of the times of which  they    
wrote that for interest are wonderful   
but for accuracy are in many  respects  
less valuable than the histories written
 by authors of less  ability4           
,psychologists tell us that the chief   
use of the study of history is  to train
 the judgment4 ,it has other uses1      
however1 which while not so  essential  
from the viewpoint of the psychologist1 
are important in  their bearing on the  
development of the individual4 ,the     
breadth of view  which comes from a     
knowledge of the relations of men in    
another period  or land helps us in the 
understanding of the affairs of our own 

nation  or community in our own day4    
,human struggles1 achievements or even  
failures must ever interest the         
thoughtful man and the rise1 progress   
and decline or success of great         
movements in another age enables us  to 
judge intelligently of similar or other 
movements going on about  us4           
,narrowness and bigotry will ever exist 
even among men who are in  intention    
perfectly sincere and honest1 but the   
man who is narrow  and bigoted in regard
 to any subject because of ignorance of 
history  or unwillingness to ascertain  
the full facts is dishonest to himself4 
,history is one of the most enlightening
 of studies and its effect upon  daily  
conduct if rightly viewed may be such as
 to lead men to a wider  and fuller     
application of the ,golden ,rule4 ,in   
fact much of what the  historian is     
called upon to record has a direct      
relation to the ,golden  ,rule or rather
 to the frequent failure of men to      
observe it4 ,to the  devout mind the    

working of ,god in history is clearly   
shown1 and the  downfall of nations may 
be traced in many instances to a decline
 in  religious earnestness and to a     
consequent lowering of moral standards4 
,the thought that human history from the
 beginning has been one  continuous and 
progressive whole without a break or    
intermission of  any kind is an idea for
 the clear expression and emphasizing of
 which  we are greatly indebted to      
,thomas ,arnold4 ,the histories of      
,greece and  ,rome are our histories1   
for from them has come the glorious     
heritage  of thought and social         
organization which we have in their     
literature  and in ,roman law4 ,all     
facts in history are in some way        
related1 though  we often lose the      
connection through ignorance of         
intervening facts or  events1 or through
 lack of knowledge of even whole        
centuries of human  life and struggle4  
,the ,old ,testament regarded as actual 
human history is a series of  documents 

pulsating with the very life and        
heartbeats of real men4 ,it  is no dry  
theology or book apart from great       
movements of mankind4 ,it  is the living
 record of one part of our race4        
,history interprets for  us the present 
and enables us to predict the future4   
,it shows that  there are laws which    
govern human relationships and that a   
knowledge of  these laws will enable us 
to judge what is likely to come to pass4
 ,a  study of the method pursued by the 
men who have written great histories    
reveals to us the diligence of          
investigation1 the labor to secure      
accuracy1 the care to be impartial      
observers that must characterize the    
writers of history as we now understand 
it4 ,an important part of the  work of a
 modern historian consists in weighing  
and interpreting the  statements of     
writers of long ago who are often the   
only source we have  of information     
concerning the things of which they     
wrote4 ,no source  of information is to 

be ignored4 ,an inscription on a coin   
may unfold  a story to the patient      
searcher for historical knowledge2 an   
,etruscan  tomb may modify our          
understanding of a passage of early     
,roman history2  a visit to the scene of
 one of ,caesar's battles may give us an
 entirely  different idea of the great  
general's account of it4    ,john ,fiske
 said that 8,the real history of a      
people includes everything  about them  
and is therefore an aggregate of        
innumerable facts4 ,it is  impossible   
and undesirable to present all these    
facts or a millionth  part of them and  
so history must be a selection from     
infinite details4  ,historic facts are  
not of equal value and the historian    
fixes upon  those only which he thinks  
will help him show the greater features 
of  a people's origin1 rise1 progress   
and vicissitudes4 ,it is desirable  to  
have at command the more important facts
 of history1 but the  most precious     
thing history has to offer may be missed

 by one who  is chiefly employed in     
memorizing it4 ,when history is viewed  
as an  assemblage of unrelated facts1   
conquering it naturally takes the form  
of committing it to memory4 ,when it is 
looked upon as a development--a  chain  
of causes and effects--it appeals more  
directly to the reason  and the         
understanding4 ,most of history we must 
forget1 but we should  strive to retain 
something of interest in reading        
history1 something of  power in         
following up a line of ordinary         
investigation1 something of a           
disposition to seek for the underlying  
causes of events1 something of a  grasp 
of the mightier tendencies and movements
 of history that makes it  a teacher of 
the present out of the wealth of its    
past40    ,history as contained in the  
biographies of representative men is    
both  delightful and profitable reading4
 ,montaigne tells us that 8the only     
good histories are those that are       
written by such as commanded or were    

imploid themselves in weighty affaires  
or that were partners in the  conduct of
 them1 or that at least have had the    
fortune to manage others  of like       
qualitie40    ,our literature is        
especially rich in biographies and      
autobiographies  of men prominent in    
,american history1 such as ,washington1 
,franklin  and ,lincoln1 and in personal
 memoirs such as those of ,grant1       
,sherman1  ,sheridan1 ,johnston and     
,longstreet4 ,the accounts of the ,civil
 ,war by  the ,northern and ,southern   
commanders form a valuable exercise of  
the  judgment for they show how         
honorable men may look at a question    
from  different points of view4 ,such   
reading should teach self reliance and  
confidence as well as modesty and       
fairmindedness4 ,one should first read  
a short and reliable book1 and1 after he
 has obtained a knowledge of  the course
 of events1 expand it by reading longer 
works and by making a  comparison of    
authorities4 ,study the history of our  

own country1 but do  not forget that it 
cannot be perfectly understood without  
studying that  of other countries and   
especially that of ,england4 ,students  
of history  consider that ,roman history
 unites the ancient world to the modern2
  ,french history is the story of       
civilization from the twelfth to the    
eighteenth century1 ,european history   
centres in ,french history4    ,we may  
sometimes get an excellent idea of      
history from a historical  novel such as
 ,the ,virginians or ,the ,scarlet      
,letter1 for such  works give us a      
picture of social conditions of the     
times with great  historical characters 
appearing usually1 if at all1 in the    
background  or setting of the story4    
,,chapter ,x4    ,,fiction4             
,fiction which includes two closely     
related forms1 the novel or romance  and
 the drama1 has two functions2 the more 
important being the  interpreting and   
reflecting of life1 the holding of the  
mirror up to  nature1 as ,hamlet called 

it1 and the giving of pleasure as a     
result of  the presentation4    ,the    
romance which may be in the form of a   
novel or of a drama differs  from the   
ordinary novel as chiefly in dealing    
with the unusual and  improbable1       
including the supernatural4 ,the novel  
performs to-day a  great part of what   
the drama performed practically alone in
 the days of  ,elizabeth and ,james4    
,the close relation of the drama and the
 novel is seen in the fact that  the    
same story may be told in both forms and
 it is common to-day to see  a          
successful novel presented as a drama on
 the stage while on the other  hand1    
novels have sometimes been written from 
plays4    ,the novel and the drama are  
classed as fiction because they present 
pictures that are usually not           
representations of actual fact1 but no  
novel or drama is worthy of             
consideration which is untrue to what   
might happen in human life or to the    
great essential truths of human         

relationships4 ,this is not a           
distinction between moral and immoral   
novels and dramas1 for an immoral book  
may be true to facts in human           
experience1 but they are the facts of   
pathological conditions and not  of     
health4    ,an immoral book is one in   
which vice is made attractive and evil  
is condoned and unpunished4 ,the        
,elizabethan drama never made vice      
triumphant and the sinner always was    
made to pay the just penalty for  his   
sin4 ,the drama of the ,restoration1    
narrower in human interest than  that of
 the ,elizabethans1 differed from the   
latter notably in the  attitude towards 
vice2 sacred relationships were matters 
of jest by the  dissolute courtiers and 
their followers and vice was            
objectionable only  when found out4     
,when our ideas of right and wrong are  
confused and our  conceptions of        
morality undermined by a book1 it is to 
be avoided1 for  it can only do us harm4
 ,no good book ever makes sin           

respectable though  it may of necessity 
present scenes in which disreputable    
characters  appear2 one of the greatest 
examples of this is ,vanity ,fair4      
,keener observers than we are1 who saw  
deeper into the inner workings of  human
 nature have described in novels the    
operations and consequences  of love1   
hate1 avarice1 revenge and other        
emotions which are always  likely to    
move the heart4 ,it is therefore of the 
utmost importance that  when we read    
fiction we should read none except that 
written by masters  who really did      
understand the soul of man1 for when we 
read books by  inferior observers we get
 warped and false ideas4 ,in giving     
impressions  of life the novel possesses
 a great advantage over biography1      
because1  out of respect for the memory 
of the dead and the feelings of the     
living1 the tendency of biography is to 
omit or to subdue harsh  experiences1 so
 that books like the ,confessions of    
,rousseau which  describe the deepest   

workings and weaknesses of the heart of 
a real man  are exceedingly rare4       
,treating of imaginary characters1 the  
novelist may describe what he  actually 
sees without fear of hurting the        
feelings of anyone4 ,the  tendency of   
many novels to conventionalize life and 
to express in set  phrases the tenderest
 emotions is another reason why we      
should read no  fiction but that which  
is true to life4 ,we may occasionally be
 obliged  to read for information a book
 written by an inferior author but there
  is no excuse for reading any novels   
but those of the highest class4  ,we    
should question fiction sharply as to   
its effect upon our natures2  if it does
 not have a wholesome and uplifting     
influence1 no amount of  interest that  
it possesses should entitle it to       
consideration4    ,when you read fiction
 read that written by the masters1 like 
,scott1  ,dickens1 ,thackeray and       
,george ,eliot4 ,read the great novels  
that the  judgment of the world has     

pronounced of permanent value but do not
 form  one of the large class whose     
chief inspiration is derived from the   
last  new novel4 ,the new book that     
every one is talking about will probably
  be forgotten in six months but        
,ivanhoe1 ,henry ,esmond1 ,david        
,copperfield1 and ,romola will last as  
long as the ,english language4  ,there  
are some classic stories like ,robinson 
,crusoe1 ,gulliver's  ,travels and ,the 
,arabian ,nights to which constant      
reference is made  and with which every 
educated person is expected to be       
familiar4    ,to keep up with the flood 
of modern fiction is impossible4 ,there 
is  a great gain if we can find         
amusement in reading books which inform 
as well as entertain4 ,prefer fact to   
fiction4 ,few are indifferent to  the   
pathos of ,dickens and ,thackeray but   
there is a chord touched in  reading of 
the actual heroism of brave men and     
women which no imaginary  character can 
affect so strongly4 ,when we read poor  

,de,long's record1  in the midst of that
 terrible ,arctic winter on the         
,jeannette1 8for  myself1 ,i am doing   
all ,i can to make myself trusted and   
respected1 and  ,i think ,i succeed1 ,i 
try to be gentle but firm in correcting 
anything  ,i see wrong1 and always calm 
and self-possessed40 we are moved by a  
real human sympathy4 ,yet it is one of  
the miracles of the masters of  fiction 
that they make their characters so real 
to us4 ,lowell said he  knew the sound  
of ,squire ,weston's voice2 and for many
 people ,baker  ,street1 ,london1 is    
more definite as a landmark as the      
residence of the  imaginary ,sherlock   
,holmes than of the real ,mrs4 ,siddons4
          ,,chapter ,,xi4    ,,libraries
 ,,and ,,the ,,care ,,of ,,books4       
,we do not get the most out of a book   
unless we own it2 we cannot take  a     
personal interest in borrowed books1    
and1 although it pleases ,mr4           
,augustine ,birrell to think of the     
thousands of thumbs that have turned    

over its pages with delight1 it is      
difficult really to know a library  book
 with its soiled pages1 battered cover  
and the date when it must be  returned  
impending like the ,day of ,judgment4   
,there is the same difference between a 
book that you own and a library  book   
that there is between a home and a      
hotel2 the one is stamped  with the     
individuality of its owner1 the other is
 common property4 ,it  is pleasant to   
have a feeling of proprietorship in the 
great men of  the past and to speak of  
my ,homer or my ,shakespeare4 ,how close
  it brings us to a man when we possess 
a book with his autograph or  book-plate
 in it1 or which1 better still1 he has  
read and marked4 ,if  for instance1 we  
owned ,lowell's ,don ,quixote with the  
notes written on  its margin in repeated
 readings from which he drew the        
material for his  famous address1 what  
an inspiration it would be4    ,the     
books that you skim you may borrow4 ,if 
you buy them they will take  up room on 

your shelves that may be more profitably
 employed2 but the  books that you wish 
to read again and again1 to ponder over 
and to  study you must own4    ,you may 
have a library full of books1 but what  
you really are is  determined by that   
part of them which you have read and    
laid to heart4  ,yet the unconscious    
tuition of books has a real value1 we   
learn to  love them by having them about
 us4 ,merely to surround ourselves with 
great books and with the portraits of   
those who have written them has  a      
refining influence as constant as it is 
unnoticed4 ,that the essay of  ,emerson 
or the poem of ,longfellow is where you 
can lay your hand on it1  that the      
kindly faces of the writers look down on
 you from the wall1  associations such  
as these sweeten and elevate life4      
,although there is a luxurious beauty   
about an elegant edition that is  not to
 be lightly esteemed1 there is a        
satisfaction in knowing that we  can    
derive as much food for thought from a  

cheap ,shakespeare as from  a first     
folio4 ,the truest book-lovers are those
 who love the thoughts  that the books  
contain4 ,complete editions of standard 
authors are the  best to own4 ,the print
 should be large and the books easy to  
hold and  to open4 ,if edited at all1   
the work should be done by a competent  
scholar4 ,it takes a great deal of      
editing to spoil a classic1 but         
nowadays there is too much editing1 too 
much thinking is done for us4    ,dr4   
,johnson thought that books that you may
 carry to the fire and hold  readily in 
your hand are the most useful4    ,the  
durability of the letter as well as the 
spirit of a book is  nowadays too often 
disregarded4 ,publishers recognize how  
much a  striking exterior has to do with
 the sale of a book and pay more        
attention to making it attractive than  
durable4 ,in former times men  had more 
respect for books4 ,the vellum bound    
volumes of three hundred  years ago will
 be in good condition long after the    

books of to-day have  come to pieces and
 been thrown away4    ,if it be true    
that the degree of civilization of a    
people may be  measured by its respect  
for its dead1 it is no less true that   
the  refinement of a household may be   
estimated by its care for its  books4   
,some men of letters1 however1 have been
 remarkable for their  ill-treatment of 
books4 ,the poet ,young turned down the 
leaf where there  was a passage that    
interested him1 so that many of his     
books would not  shut4 ,voltaire noted  
his likes and dislikes in books with    
little regard  to whether they belonged 
to him or not1 while ,coleridge said you
 might  as well turn a bear into a tulip
 garden as let ,wordsworth loose in your
  library2 and in his ,literary         
,reminiscences ,de,quincey records a    
story  which makes every book-lover     
shudder1 that ,wordsworth cut pages of  
,burke with a knife that had been used  
to butter toast4    ,mr4 ,spofford gives
 some admirable directions for the care 

of books4  ,one should never draw books 
out from the shelf by their head-bands1 
or by pulling at the binding1 but by    
placing the finger firmly on the  top of
 the book1 next to the binding and      
pressing down while drawing  out the    
volume4 ,do not wedge books tightly     
together2 do not pile them  on top of   
each other2 do not lay open books down  
upon their faces1  or place weights upon
 open books4 ,books should be kept dry1 
but not  too warm2 if moist they mildew1
 if too warm they warp4 ,no sensible    
person would press plants in any book of
 value4 ,do not mark the place  by cards
 or letters4 ,it weakens the binding4   
,use thin paper4 ,do not  touch the     
engravings in books4 ,remember that even
 clean hands may soil  dusty books4     
,those who follow the injunction of the 
,prayer ,book to  read and mark should  
be sure that they do so in their own    
books only4  ,the suggestion not to wet 
the fingers in turning the leaf would   
seem  needless did not observation show 

that there are persons with whom this   
clownish custom still obtains4    ,a    
private library should be a growth4 ,it 
marks the stages of progress  of the    
mind of its owner2 no other property    
that a man leaves behind  him shows what
 he really was so fully as his books4   
,there are few hobbies a man can adopt  
from which as much enjoyment and        
instruction may be derived as from the  
gradual acquisition of a lot of  books  
on some subject of special interest4    
,emerson's advice 8buy in the  line of  
your genius0 is weighty and should be   
heeded4 ,a man of moderate  means may   
gradually get together a more complete  
collection on his  specialty than the   
richest man could secure at short       
notice1 and his  satisfaction in the    
growth of such a library can never be   
experienced  by the wealthy book        
collector who employs others to do the  
work for  him4 ,all that is needed is   
steady attention to buying such books1  
as  opportunity presents itself4 ,many  

of the rarest and most valuable works   
cannot be procured on demand and must be
 bought when found1 or the  chance of   
securing them is gone1 perhaps forever4 
,the gathering of such a collection may 
be made an education in itself1  and    
instead of leaving his books to be      
scattered at his death1 as has  been the
 fate of so many libraries1 a prudent   
man would provide that  they should be  
kept together and given to a permanent  
library4 ,many  an institution would be 
glad to add to a good private collection
 on a  particular subject its own books 
on the subject and make a memorial      
alcove to the donor which would prove a 
far more sensible monument  than a shaft
 in the cemetery4 ,now that men have    
learned to respect  books public        
libraries are as nearly immortal as any 
human institution  can be4 ,a great     
library is the only human institution   
that can take  all knowledge for its    
province4 ,such libraries are mines from
 which  knowledge may be quarried1 and  

where the ideas of the past may be      
adapted to the needs of the present4    
,in a collection of books on the same   
subject each adds value to the  other4  
,many libraries are an ill-assembled    
throng as useless as the  vast army of  
,darius4    ,there is such a thing as an
 embarrassment of riches4 ,if you have  
too  many books about you1 you may be   
bewildered so that you do not read  to  
advantage4 8,successful work10 said     
,lowell1 8is the result of a  due       
proportion between the task and the     
instrument4 ,southey1 whose  literary   
industry was so remarkable within the   
range of his own  library1 said #8that  
he never should have accomplished       
anything1 if his  energies had been     
buried under the vast stores of the     
,british ,museum4'0    ,as a workshop   
the public library may supplement1 but  
it can rarely  take the place of the    
private library4 ,de,quincey said that  
for mere  purposes of study your own    
library is far preferable to the        

,bodleian  or the ,vatican1 and ,emerson
 thought that the best of the ,harvard  
,university library was in his study at 
home4 ,that was the best for his  own   
use1 because when a man is working in a 
special line of thought he  accumulates 
in time a collection of books on that   
subject that is more  complete than any 
but the largest library can supply1 and 
he can work  with more facility with    
books that are familiar to him and ready
 to  his hand4 ,emerson's books1        
however1 would have been of little use  
to a  ,civil ,engineer or to an         
,american ,historian1 while a public    
library must  provide for the needs of  
all students in whatever lines of       
research4  ,but ,emerson was under      
constant indebtedness to the ,harvard   
library1  in fact1 that noble collection
 of books has played no small part in   
the literary development of ,boston as  
well as of the great ,university4  8,the
 true ,university of these days10 said  
,carlyle1 8is a collection of  books1   

and all education is to teach us how to 
read40           99       99       99   
99       99    ,read in order that you  
may know more1 be more1 do more3 books  
will help  you to accomplish all these  
things and these things make up the sum 
of  life1 here and hereafter4           
,transcriber's ,notes      ,italicized  
text is surrounded by underscores3      
italics4    ,small capitals are changed 
to all capitals4    ,obvious            
typographical errors and punctuation    
errors have been corrected  after       
careful comparison with other           
occurrences within the text and         
consultation of external sources4       
,except for those changes noted below1  
all misspellings in the text1 and       
inconsistent or archaic usage1 have     
been retained4    ,the following        
corrections have been applied to the    
text 7before_/after73      7p4 #bc7     
444 pilot with out eyes4 444    444     
pilot without eyes4 444      7p4 #bg7   
444 distracted with thoughs of 444      

444 distracted with thoughts of 444     
7p4 #bh7    444 and first1 and last 444 
444 and first and last 444      7p4 #bi7
    444 difficulty in re membering what 
444    444 difficulty in remembering    
what 444      7p4 #cj7    444 kind of   
re-active behavior 444    444 kind of   
reactive behavior 444      7p4 #ca7     
444 ,,the ,,abuse ,,of ,,books    444   
,,the ,,abuse ,,of ,,books4      7p4    
#ca7    444 first-class houses stay at  
444    444 first-class houses1 stay at  
444      7p4 #ch7    444 ,schopenhauer  
calls1 8bad books1 444    444           
,schopenhauer calls 8bad books1 444     
7p4 #ch7    444 of their readings    444
 of their readings4      7p4 #db7    444
 #8,it is of paramount 444    444 8,it  
is of paramount 444      7p4 #dd7    444
 receive the companship and sympathy 444
    444 receive the companionship and   
sympathy 444      7p4 #df7    444 8,in  
studies whatsoever 444    444 8,in      
studies1 whatsoever 444      7p4 #ej7   
444 8,books1' said ,dryden1 444    444  

8,books10 said ,dryden1 444      7p4    
#ej7    444 useful qualities ,some books
 444    444 useful qualities4 ,some     
books 444      7p4 #ee7    444 mental   
nourisment of the greater 444    444    
mental nourishment of the greater 444   
7p4 #ei7    444 connect them selves with
 444    444 connect themselves with 444 
7p4 #fa7    444 with a wild surprise--  
444 with a wild surmise--      7p4 #fc7 
444 among mankind ,to these 444    444  
among mankind4 ,to these 444      7p4   
#fd7    444 opportunity abides n the    
obvious 444    444 opportunity abides in
 the obvious 444      7p4 #ff7    444   
principles operative1 and he 444    444 
principles operative10 and he 444       
7p4 #fg7    444 like ,browning present  
444    444 like ,browning1 present 444  
7p4 #fg7    444 high character ,this is 
444    444 high character4 ,this is 444 
7p4 #fi7    444  past aspiration1       
,concrete 444    444  past aspiration4  
,concrete 444      7p4 #ge7    444 says 
,ruskin1 to attribute 444    444 says   

,ruskin1 8to attribute 444      7p4 #hc7
    444 to the moern2 ,french history   
444    444 to the modern2 ,french       
history 444      7p4 #hh7    444 it     
posses should 444    444 it possesses   
should 444      7p4 #hh7    444         
,dickens1 ,thackery and ,george ,eliot4 
444    444 ,dickens1 ,thackeray and     
,george ,eliot4 444      7p4 #ib7    444
 borrow4 if you 444    444 borrow4 ,if  
you 444      7p4 #ic7    444 scholar4   
,if takes a 444    444 scholar4 ,it     
takes a 444      7p4 #ic7    ,the       
durablity of the 444    ,the durability 
of the 444      7p4 #ii7    444 here and
 hereafter1    444 here and hereafter4