| Show I READ WITH YOUR PEN The wise student will do most of his reading with a pen or a pencil in his hand advises John Morley He will not shrink from the useful toil of making abstracts and summaries of what he is reading Sir William Hamilton was a strong advocate for underscoring books of study Intelligent Intelligent Intelligent Intel underlining he said gave a kind of abstract of an important work and by the use of different cOlor colored d inks s to make a difference of contents and discriminate the doctrinal from the historical or illustrative elements of an argument of exposition the abstract abstract abstract ab ab- ab- ab became an analysis very serviceable serviceable serviceable ser ser- ser ser- for ready reference This assumes as Hamilton said that the book to be operated on is your own and perhaps it rather too elaborate a counsel of perfection for lor most of us Again some great men men Gibbon Gibbon was one and Daniel Webster was another and the great Lord Stafford was vas a third third always always before reading a book made a short rough analysis of the questions which they expected to be answered in it the additions to be made to their knowledge and whither it would take them After glancing my eye says t Gibbon over the design and order of ofa ofa ofa a new book I I. I suspended the perusal until I 1 had finished the task of self- self examination till tilt I had resolved in a solitary walk all that I 1 knew or believed be be- believed believed or had thought on the subject of the whole work or of some particular particular particular ular chapter I 1 was then qualified to discern how much the author added to my original stock and if I 1 was sometimes satisfied by the agreement I 1 was sometimes armed by the opposition opposition opposition tion of our ideas I h have ve sometimes tried that way of steadying and guiding attention and andI I 1 commend it to you I 1 need not tell you that you will find that most books worth reading once are worth reading twice and what and what is most important important important im im- im- im of all the all the masterpieces of literature are worth reading a thousand thousand thousand thou thou- sand times It is a great mistake to think that because you have read a masterpiece once or twice or ten times therefore you have done with it Because it is a masterpiece you ought to live with it and make it part of your daily life lire practice is that of keeping a commonplace commonplace commonplace common common- place book and transcribing into it what is striking and interesting Christian Science Monitor |
