Nicolas August Ludwig Jacob Johannsen

“ Language is the implement of thought, and it would seem that no study of this implement can give the best training, for studying the thought itself, or the reality that lies back of the thought. It is probable that the highest efforts of the mind, those efforts in which new truths have flashed out, then vanished, then returned again, until the investigator has finally made them his own, have been made without the aid of language. Language is a medium between man and man, not necessarily between man and Nature. Thoughts which come to us through language must come to us at second-hand. ”

“ I THINK it is safe to assume, on the one hand, that all, or nearly all, mental discipline is of value; and, on the other, that all, or nearly all, knowledge is of value. It will also be conceded that a life spent in disciplining the mind, while the mind so disciplined is never employed in the direction of utility, is a life wasted. It seems equally true that utility, when so narrowed as to relate only to the outward trappings of the human being, is not real utility. ”

“ The study of a dead language is supposed to give this mental discipline. Such study has almost nothing to do with present realities. It trains the mind to look, not so much at the thought as at the manner of expressing the thought. It deals with the tools of thought rather than the thought itself. For years the mind is habituated to work upon those things which must be discarded as soon as school-life is ended; and this is called education. It is not to be denied that such discipline is better than no discipline. It is conceded that such discipline does aid the student in the use of language. ”

“ By mental discipline we mean nothing more than habit of mental action. The disciplined mind does not differ in kind from the undisciplined any more than the strength of a man differs in kind from the strength of a child. It is evident that the best mental discipline must be that which prepares the mind to grasp and direct the facts, realities, and influences, on which human well-being depends.
It is thought that there is study which gives mental power or discipline, while it results in little useful knowledge. ”

“ Again, schools and education, technically so called, are not the antecedent but the consequent of progress. The men who have been most successful in penetrating the secrets of Nature and solving the problems of society have been in advance of any school. The education of these men has not been for mental discipline; they have studied to find the truth, and an incident of that study has been discipline. Whence came that discipline which rendered schools possible? ”

“ By a method of study the mind is to be developed into an intellectual Samson, but a blind Samson; and it is hoped and believed that a mind so trained will do something better than to involve itself and others in a common ruin. That is, it is assumed that a habit of thought which does not lead to useful knowledge in school, is the habit of thought which will lead to useful knowledge in common affairs of life. ”

“ I think we meet this fact everywhere out of the schools, that discipline is not sought as an end. The idea of discipline for its own sake was asceticism in religion. Men sought moral excellence by retiring from the world, and contemplating the things within them. The same idea of discipline led men to look for knowledge within themselves, instead of seeking it by observing things around them. ”

“ Discipline, habit, and character, appear to be activity crystallized in seeking adaptation to our environments. What is the truth that stands out in relief? Clearly, that character, habit, and discipline, are the reflex upon ourselves of activity, moral, mental, or physical. Whence it seems to follow that useless or vicious activity will appear as useless or vicious character and discipline. ”

“ We are superior to our savage ancestors, because our relations to society and the forces of Nature differ from theirs. What is knowledge but a mental accumulation of true relations? What is reason but the power to compare relations, and what is wisdom but the ability to perceive true relations, and direct our actions in accordance with them? ”

“ These are the glass through which we may see something of ourselves and the universe. Why waste half our lives in studying the glass under pretense of disciplining our eyes, when our eyes would be better disciplined by studying Nature beyond? ”

“ When we learn what knowledge is most valuable, the habit or discipline incidentally acquired in seeking that knowledge will, no doubt, be the discipline which will aid most in seeking and applying other valuable knowledge throughout the whole course of life. ”

“ That is, the law of education has been and is now, that mental discipline is the incident and not the end of study. Hence the conclusion, study what is most useful, and the resulting discipline will be most valuable.
We see the same truth in another aspect when we observe that the highest mental and physical power is attained in efforts to discover, measure, and control the forces around us. A language is never so easily or so well learned as when our personal comfort depends upon its use. ”

“ I cannot forbear here to point out, further, that the truth in regard to mental discipline appears to be a universal truth or law of human activity, perhaps of all activity. Discipline is an incidental result of right exercise. ”

“ We cannot go back to the ultimate cause, and tell why one class of the human family should progress and another retrograde or remain stationary. We may point out some of the conditions of progress; but the germ of that progress we do not know. We may believe that the best organized and most intelligent communities, by resulting strength, overcome the more poorly organized and less intelligent. ”

“ In the mind of the speaker the idea suggests the word; in the mind of the hearer, the word suggests the idea. No word ever explains any sensation, pleasant or painful, to one who has never felt the sensation. By aid of the imagination we may, to an extent, give meaning to language that does not directly appeal to experience ”

“ Better still to break through all barriers, and study things themselves, using the records of other men's experience as we may need them.
Again, mental discipline is mental habit. How do we form habits that are desirable? Not by seeking some course of activity that shall create the habit, but by trying to do something that is desirable. Useful habits are incidental results of doing useful work. The mechanic does not use extra care that he may form habits of accuracy, but that he may produce better work. ”

“ The astronomer does not make his observations with the view of forming habits, but to learn the phenomena of the heavens; and if he be called upon to observe some phenomenon that occurs but once in a lifetime, he will hardly think of seeking that special discipline which the observation may require by studying the conjugation of the Greek verb. ”

“ This much we observe, that in all progress discipline has not been an end but an incident of study. The discipline was attained by man in studying his environments and in altering his relation to those environments. Further, men attained a comparatively high state of mental discipline before schools existed at all. ”

“ But the system failed in religion and morals, as it failed in discovering truth and educating the intellect. We see why it must fail; it wastes the energies of the individual in acting upon his own powers. ”

“ Men have not marked out the course of human progress, nor have they, to any considerable extent, been able to forecast it. Two thousand years ago, who would have believed that the northern barbarians would surpass Greece and Rome? ”

“ The hand and eye of the hunter are never so thoroughly disciplined as when he knows that at any moment his life may depend on the accuracy of his aim. The mathematics have been invented to measure the relations of things in common life, or to investigate the less apparent relations. ”