George Fillmore Swain

“ The only way that power and strength can be developed is by effort on the part of the student. The only real education is self-education. The best that the teacher can do for the student is to show him what he can do for himself and how he can do it. ”

“ STUDY LOGIC.—Logic is the science of correct reasoning. It teaches us how to discover truth, how to recognize it when discovered, how to arrive at general laws from facts collected by {29} observation or experiment, and how to deduce new facts from those already found to be true. It is thus the science of sciences, and finds its application in every branch of knowledge. The training of his power of logical thought is, therefore, one of the things that should be constantly aimed at by the student. ”

“ To do this, even if what is read be remembered, is to study by rote; it makes a routine, rule-of-thumb man, who merely imitates or copies. He should realize that nothing is true simply because it is in a book, but should accept it only when it passes the test of his own understanding. Mental courage, therefore, is essential for a proper {7} method of study, without which the student will become little more than a parrot. He must possess self-confidence, a consciousness of his power to master the subject, and a firm determination to master it. ”

“ A student beginning the study of a new science which he has never studied before, can do comparatively little; but at least he can insist upon getting a clear idea of what the subject or problem is, its extent, what its objects and methods are, how it is related to other subjects, what its uses are, and how other studies will find their application in it. ”

“ No doubt every one finds himself at times reading merely words or phrases without understanding them, reflecting about them, or translating them into terms which are intelligible to his understanding. ”

“ Students must of course proceed in a systematic way, and a student who has not studied physics cannot be expected to perceive reasons that depend upon the laws of physics, and yet without a knowledge of physics he may still perceive that a statement is not of a mere fact, but of something that must have a reason. ”

“ He is to master the book, the book is not to master him. He is to learn what the writer of the book thinks in matters of opinion, but he is never to accept such views blindly, and is to believe them only when he sees them to be true. Many students accept blindly as truth whatever they see on a printed page that they are required to read. ”

“ Success in the work of the world depends much more upon will than upon brains; but all faculties, {64} whether mental or moral, can be cultivated and developed to an almost unlimited extent. A study of the biographies of men who have succeeded should be urged upon the student, and such a study will show how often success has been attained only after repeated failures. It is scarcely too much to say to a student that he can attain anything he desires, if he desires it with sufficient intensity ”

“ SET SPECIAL TIMES FOR YOUR RECREATIVE STUDY.—Cultivate some hobby as a relief from your concentrated study of books. Music, some games of cards, chess, billiards, or other relaxations, are admirable means of recuperation. When you indulge in recreation or recreative reading, do not let the mind worry about problems of your previous studies. Make your recreative reading in itself have some aim. Do not allow yourself to develop in a one-sided manner, but have interests outside of your main study. ”

“ THE STUDENT SHOULD ACQUIRE AND INSIST UPON EXERCISING THE HABIT OF FORMING DEFINITE IDEAS.—This is one of the most important injunctions to be observed as an essential principle of intelligent study. [1] It is self-evident that facts or things cannot be reasoned about intelligently unless a definite idea is formed of the facts or things themselves. Vagueness of idea not alone precludes a proper conception of the thing itself, but may vitiate all reasoning regarding it. The student must resolutely make up his mind that he must not rest satisfied with hazy, uncertain, half-formed ideas. ”

“ 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 time being, concentrate your entire attention upon it, as already explained; but the mind is rested by change of occupation which comes by passing from one study to another of a different kind. ”

“ The importance of knowing how to study is evident when we realize that the amount of knowledge that a student can acquire in college, compared with the whole mass of human knowledge, even that bearing upon a single specialty, is entirely insignificant; and furthermore, that a student is generally quite unable to foresee with any degree of correctness what his work in life will be. ”

“ If you have problems assigned, solve them entirely by yourself, even if you make mistakes. Then, when those mistakes are pointed out, consider them with great care and discover the causes for them, and remedy them, so that you will not again make the same mistake or one analogous to it. You should delight in discovering difficulties which give you an opportunity to test and increase your strength and so avoid future errors. In the same way, examinations should be welcomed, not dreaded. The teacher does not mark you—you mark yourself; the teacher merely records the mark. ”

“ Such reading is worse than useless; it leads to actual mental injury. Whenever we find ourselves doing this we should therefore arouse ourselves, make an effort of will, and concentrate our attention upon the subject, insisting upon understanding it. If for any reason we are unable to do this, we should close the book, take some exercise or recreation, or at any rate do something else, for we are not at the moment fitted for study. We might as well eat sawdust and deceive ourselves with thinking that we are taking nourishment. ”

“ Experience with students, however, will often show that a student is on the wrong track, or trying to do work for which he is not well adapted. If this can be demonstrated with reasonable certainty, the student should be the person most eager to take advantage of it, and should alter his course of study or his aim in life, in such a manner that he may train himself to do that work which he is best qualified to do. To put the right man in the right place should be one of the chief aims of education ”

“ SELECT THE BEST BOOK FOR YOUR PURPOSES AND STUDY IT THOROUGHLY.—The best book for your purposes will depend upon circumstances. If you are beginning a subject, do not start with the most complete book, but take a more elementary one. Remember that elementary knowledge is not the same thing as superficial knowledge, but may be quite the reverse. A knowledge of fundamental elementary principles is essential for the understanding of any subject. ”

“ HOW TO STUDY "For the end of education and training is to help nature to her perfection in the complete development of all the various powers."—Richard Mulcaster, 1522-1611.
Education is an opportunity, nothing more. It will not guarantee success, or happiness, or contentment, or riches. Everything depends upon what development is produced by it and what use is made of it. ”

“ An infallible test of whether you understand what you have read is your ability to apply it, particularly to cases entirely different from those used in the book. An abstract idea or result not illustrated or applied concretely is like food undigested ”

“ With the progress of science many phenomena once mysterious and looked upon as facts have become easily explained. The intelligent student, however, can generally distinguish between statements of the different kinds which have been described, and he should constantly endeavor to explain or seek the reason for new statements by relating them to the body of knowledge which he has previously gained. Unfortunately, the average student reads only to accept what is written, whether fact, conclusion, or opinion, perhaps memorizing it verbatim under the impression that by so doing he is learning ”

“ If the teacher convinces himself that the student has not this capacity, he should not be allowed to go on with the class or perhaps should be required to withdraw from the school. It is an injury rather than a help to a man to endeavor to give him an education for which he is not fitted and which he cannot assimilate, and it often results in putting a man into a position in life for which he is entirely unadapted. ”

“ The aim of education is purely utilitarian, and is expressed more clearly by the word power than by any other. Its object is to give the man power to meet the problems of life, and to develop all his faculties to the greatest degree. ”

“ STUDY THE DICTIONARY.—By study of the dictionary, the student may train himself to distinguish slight differences in meaning between words, and habitually to use precisely the word with the proper meaning to express his idea. A knowledge of the derivation of words will often assist, and such books as Archbishop Trench's on "The Study of Words," or a course in English composition under a good teacher, accompanied by exercises in expression, will all contribute to {26} the formation of the habit. ”

“ The lesson should not be so long that the average student cannot, in the time allowed, properly assimilate it. Then in the class-room the teacher should call up a student, question him on the lesson, or give him a problem to work out on the blackboard. He should question the student at all points of his work to ascertain whether he really understands the subject. Oftentimes the student will reply to a question with entire correctness, perhaps using the very words in the book, from which a superficial teacher might infer that he understood what he was saying ”

“ The student of mathematics, on the other hand, does not gain in that study much practice in weighing evidence or seeking objections to an argument, for he deals with principles which are rigid and not open to question. ”

“ IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR STUDIES DO NOT NEGLECT PROPER PHYSICAL EXERCISE.—Remember that the preservation of your health should be your principal aim rather than to cram your head with book learning. Study should not be allowed to interfere with a sufficient amount of physical exercise in the open air, but this should not be carried to the extent of severe bodily fatigue. A healthy body is necessary for the fullest cultivation of the mental powers, but {61} on the other hand, the mind will not work when the body is exhausted. ”

“ Thus palpable mistakes, or even typographical errors, which a careful student should detect at once, are often accepted and believed. It is for this reason that it is so easy to deceive most people, at least for part of the time. They do not think for themselves, and all that is necessary to make them believe what you say is in some way to get them to think you are an authority. ”

“ BE SYSTEMATIC.—Have set times for your study of each subject, a regular program of work. Gain the habit of being able to start at once on your work without frittering away your time and thinking about beginning. Apply yourself steadily and persistently and do not let your work consist of a series of spasmodic efforts. By systematically doing one thing at a time and passing 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. ”

“ It is undoubtedly true that training in the proper habits and methods of study should be inculcated by each individual teacher in the course of his work, and exemplified by the occurrences in his class room. ”

“ It may make a man more capable of doing harm in the world, for an educated scoundrel is clearly more dangerous than an ignorant one. Properly employed, however, and combined with high character, with a due regard for the rights of others, and with simple and practicable but high ideals, it should help a man very greatly in making himself of service in the world and so in making his life really successful in the highest sense. What the student gets out of his education depends largely upon what he puts into it. The student is not an empty vessel to be pumped full of learning ”

“ It will become evident from the foregoing that a fourth essential for proper study is mental initiative. The student must have a definite purpose, and must do what is the proper thing without it being suggested to him. He must not simply do as he is told. If he have not initiative and cannot develop it, he will probably never study intelligently, nor gain a thorough understanding of what he reads, but will merely memorize. ”

“ Unessential facts, or those of secondary importance, may be passed over in the first reading, and left for a second or later reading, for a proper method of study always involves re-reading, perhaps many times.
You cannot possibly know everything even of a single subject, hence the importance of knowing the fundamental things about it and knowing them thoroughly. Even if you gain but an elementary knowledge of a subject, that knowledge may be thorough and should include fundamentals. Thorough elementary knowledge must not be confused with a smattering. ”

“ Education will broaden a narrow mind, but there's no cure for a big head. The best you can hope is that it will swell up and bust, and then, of course, there's nothing left. Poverty never spoils a good man, but prosperity often does. It's easy to stand hard times, because that's the only thing you can do, but in good times the fool-killer has to do night work."—Lorimer: Letters from a Self-made Merchant to his Son at College. ”

“ The student should be made to realize that all labor is honorable, and that it is far better {63} to be a successful mechanic, laborer, or clerk than an unsuccessful or incompetent lawyer, physician, or engineer. For every man there is some work which he is better fitted to do than anything else, and which he can do with reasonable success. ”