Show STUDENT LIFE the diversified specializations in the wide and varied range of learning presented by the curriculum open to him a field of inquiry extending to the farthest horizon of his thought As students seeking to advance in knowledge you have been impressed with the nobility of learning and have felt the inspiration of a love for the truth which must have served to animate you one and all with a determination to order your future lives consistently with the work here so auspiciously begun It is in my thought to consider with you the question of education (as it is termed) and the true relation of knowledge to the duties and obligations of life I do not like the word education in the sense in which it is ordinarily apTo say that a plied in this connection man or woman is educated seems to imply that he or she has learned all that is known or at least all that is necessary to be known My conception of an educated person is satisfied in one who has begun to acquire knowledge and desires and knows how to acquire more The question of education is but one of degree Some know more than others but all have more to learn A large majority of our youth is prevented by circumstances from devoting any length of time to school work but this need not discourage anyone in such a situation It is generally true that the schools and colleges present the best opportunites for the training and discipline of the faculties so necessary to the art of thinking yet he who has a craving for knowledge and really means to learn things will find a way to satisfy his desires To make advancement in knowledge one must learn to think It is not so easy as may be supposed and one may seem to have a consciousness that he is thinking when in truth he only thinks he is Real thought is mental process dependent upon a se 151 vere concentration of the faculties and is made possible by application and discipline And how necessary to all investigation is the exploration of any branch of knowledge or in the successful pursuit of any vocation or business is the power of thinking closely and accurately If the student is not thus equipped he is incapacitated to assimilate and apply the knowledge he has at hand The schools will not give you knowledge and wisdom but they point the way and afford such sufficient aids as to enable the sincere student to succeed by his own efforts The natural limitations of man’s caimpacity and of his span of life make it possible for any individual to include all knowledge in his aspiration with any Nor is it imhope of accomplishment portant or necessary that he should do so The real purpose of existence is satisfied by conforming our lives to the requirements of natural laws (which we can only do upon study and reflection) whereby we are enabled to benefit society as well as ourselves and our true happiness is found in the struggle and effort required of us This consummation is not dependent upon the possession of great learning and wisdom although with a poet’s license Pope has rhymed “A little learning is a dangerous thing Drink deep or taste not the Pierian spring” Pope lived in an age when the doors of knowledge were closed to the masses and the opinion prevailed — very generally promoted and fostered by governments for obvious reasons — that it was no part of the divine plan to educate the common people There is no reason why a man should not learn all that he can and con- tinue to study all of his life although he |