Though this is only a half-truth, the element of truth it contains is large

enough to make us pause. Put yourself through a good old Presbyterian

soul-searching self-examination, and if reading-from-thought-laziness is one of

your sins, confess it. No one can shrive you of it--but yourself. Do penance for

it by using your own brains, for it is a transgression that dwarfs the growth of

thought and destroys mental freedom. At first the penance will be trying--but at

the last you will be glad in it.

 

Reading should entertain, give information, or stimulate thought. Here, however,

we are chiefly concerned with information, and stimulation of thought.

 

What shall I read for information?

 

The ample page of knowledge, as Grey tells us, is "rich with the spoils of

time," and these are ours for the price of a theatre ticket. You may command

Socrates and Marcus Aurelius to sit beside you and discourse of their choicest,

hear Lincoln at Gettysburg and Pericles at Athens, storm the Bastile with Hugo,

and wander through Paradise with Dante. You may explore darkest Africa with

Stanley, penetrate the human heart with Shakespeare, chat with Carlyle about

heroes, and delve with the Apostle Paul into the mysteries of faith. The general

knowledge and the inspiring ideas that men have collected through ages of toil

and experiment are yours for the asking. The Sage of Chelsea was right: "The

true university of these days is a collection of books."

 

To master a worth-while book is to master much else besides; few of us, however,