Part 4 (1/2)

Then again, many questions are indefinite, and {52} can only be answered indefinitely; but to all questions a correct answer can be given, and the student ive the ain the ability to qualify his answer or classify possible cases in such manner as may be necessary

(_e_) IF YOU CANNOT SEE HOW THE AUTHOR REACHES A STATED CONCLUSION, BECAUSE HE DOES NOT INDICATE THE PROCESS WHICH HE FOLLOWS, DO NOT SPEND TOO MUCH TIME TRYING TO FIND OUT HOW HE DID IT, BUT RATHER SEE IF YOU CAN COME TO A CONCLUSION IN YOUR OWN WAY, THUS CULTIVATING YOUR OWN POWER AND INITIATIVE RATHER THAN FOLLOWING THE AUTHOR--A good textbook should not s too clear, or relieve the student of the necessity of exerting hieneral conclusion possible froeneral principle can be laid down

This is a most important faculty to acquire At the saeneralization, based on insufficient data

(_g_) GO BEYOND THE BOOK--Regard the book as suggestive and not final, as the assistant to your oers that you are for thePursue the subject as much farther {53} as you have time for In this way you

(_h_) VISUALIZE YOUR RESULTS SO FAR AS POSSIBLE--Train the i results in yourapplications of facts and principles Remember that use is the object of study, and try to see the use that may be made of what you have acquired

We have seen that there are four e; (2) Understanding; (3) System; (4) Initiative In addition to these may be mentioned (5) Proper habits and methods of work, under which head a nuestions ood fortune is that which corrects our deficiencies and redeems our mistakes”--_Goethe_

{54}

V

PROPER HABITS AND METHODS OF WORK

(_a_) SELECT THE BEST BOOK FOR YOUR PURPOSES AND STUDY IT THOROUGHLY--The best book for your purposes will depend upon circu a subject, do not start with the most complete book, but take a e is not the sae, but e of fundamental ele of any subject These should be obtained first from some elementary book, and made to form a skeleton or framework, upon which thein their proper places In large books there will be found too great detail for the beginner, and he will be discouraged by having too s thrust upon his attention at once

Elein, therefore, with the best elementary book there is, one which will h, understand, test and discriain, if possible, a stio beyond to a more elaborate treatise

(_b_) DO NOT STUDY TOO MANY SUBJECTS AT ONCE--You need not concentrate on one thing to the exclusion of everything else, although when studying any one subject you should, for the ti, concentrate your entire attention upon it, as already explained; but the e of occupation_ which co from one study to another of a different kind The point is, that you should not dissipate your powers by taking up tootheand will result in your doing nothing well Do not attempt more than you can do properly Select first the subjects that will be directly useful to you, and study the your attention on one subject with intentness for several hours at a time In the end your e to an entirely different subject, or even to recreation, such as the study of good fiction {56} The e of occupation Probably from three to five studies are as many as the student can profitably pursue at once, but students differ greatly in this respect, as in others

(_c_) DO NOT BE IN A HURRY--Take time to think, so that you will not take the stateranted, but will study them with a sense of mastershi+p Remember that here, as elsewhere, ”the more haste the less speed” You may think that you have not time to think about your studies The fact is, that you have not time _not_ to think about them, and that in the end you can dopains

(_d_) DO NOT TAKE UP A STUDY LIGHTLY, BUT WHEN TAKEN UP DO NOT ABANDON IT WITHOUT GOOD CAUSE--At the beginning of your study try to get a definite idea before your et out of your study, and keep this point before your ress in the subject

(_e_) CULTIVATE THE POWER OF JUDICIOUS SKIPPING--You can do this if you study with a sense of et It is not necessary to read every word in the book Soes {57} and perhaps chapters may be skipped This, however, should not lead you into the habit of careless or superficial reading

(_f_) BE SYSTEMATIC--Have set tira able to start at once on your ithout frittering away your ti Apply yourself steadily and persistently and do not let your work consist of a series of spas at a ti from study to study, you can finally, after a period of continuous application, dependent upon your powers, alternate with a period of relaxation or amusement Your period of continuous study should not be so short as to prevent continuous effort, nor so long as to over-fatigue your mind Some students are restless, spasmodic, and while they see Others by a steady, continuous pull, achieve _) CULTIVATE THE POWER, BY HABITUAL PRACTICE, OF FIXING YOUR MIND INTENSELY UPON ONE THING FOR A CONSIDERABLE TIME--If you can acquire this, it will be most valuable to you It has been said that the difference between clever and ordinary men is oftenand controlling theor day drea to another in a desultory ht toward the object in view