In the days when books were scarce and expensive, when knowledge
was not formulated and summarised, men had to depend largely on
their own stores. But now, what is the use of books, if one is
still to load one's memory with details? The training of memory is
a very unimportant part of education nowadays; people with accurate
memories are far too apt to trust them, and to despise
verification. Indeed, a well-filled memory is a great snare,
because it leads the possessor of it to believe, as I have said,
that knowledge is culture. A good digestion is more important to a
man than the possession of many sacks of corn; and what one ought
rather to cultivate nowadays is mental digestion.
June 14, 1889.
It is comforting to reflect how easy it is to abandon habits, and
how soon a new habit takes the place of the old. Some months ago I
put writing aside in despair, feeling that I was turning away from
the most stable thing in life; yet even now I have learned largely
to acquiesce in silence; the dreary and objectless mood visits me
less and less frequently. What have I found to fill the place of
the old habit? I have begun to read much more widely, and recognise
how very ill-educated I am.
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