The Art of Thinking
An excerpt from the beginning of:
CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION
"It is not erudition that makes the intellectual man, but a sort of virtue that delights in beautiful and vigorous thinking, just as moral virtue delights in vigorous and beautiful conduct."
--Hamerton: The Intellectual Life.
"AND friend, when dost thee think?" was the reply made by a Quaker lady to whom Southey had explained with no little satisfaction how he spent the day. He told her how he studied Portuguese grammar whilst he was shaving, how he read Spanish for an hour before breakfast, how, after breakfast, he wrote or studied till dinner; how, in a word, his whole time was filled by writing, reading, eating, talking, taking exercise and sleeping; and she replied with the very pertinent question we have just given. It is one we should ask ourselves. Profound students of the times tell us that we are great absorbers of print, but that the art of thinking is gradually becoming a lost art. "Thinking for thinking's sake," says the Spectator in an article to which we are here indebted, "has become to most men positively repellent. They have an intense objection—an objection which they believe on the whole to be a laudable one—to time passed not in eating, sleeping, working, talking, reading, writing, or taking exercise." There is much truth in this contention, although we do not share its pessimism to the full. What we want is not the example of Democritus, who put out his eyes that, ceasing to read, he might think the more; or the example of Pythagoras, who devoted his evenings to solemn reflections on the events of the day. We want men and women of all-round activities who will set apart an hour for thought's own sake, and thus fulfil the exhortation of a wise man whose practice it was to "sort his thoughts and label them." Such a habit would not only be good in itself: it would increase mental efficiency in every department of life. Madame Swetchine says that to have ideas is to gather flowers; to think is to weave them into garlands. There could be no happier synonym for thinking than the word weaving—a putting together of the best products of observation, reading, experience, and travel, so as to represent a patterned whole, receiving its design from the weaver's own mind. We have plenty of flowers: we want more garlands. We have libraries, books, and newspapers: we want more thinkers.
Now this manual is intended to help those who are awakened to an individual sense of the need just stated; and it is very necessary at the outset that the writer and reader should thoroughly understand each other. First, then, what is our object?
(1) It is to investigate the rules and practices in which the art of thinking consists. This will require a brief account of the thinking faculty. It is not proposed to make a detailed study of brain from a physiological point of view; all that is necessary is a description of mental powers under the familiar forms of Feeling, Intellect, and Will. This will lay a good foundation for further study; for it is well nigh impossible to understand the art of thinking without some acquaintance with the machinery of mind.
We shall then inquire into the way in which thoughts are generated; in other words, how the intellectual storehouse is furnished with suitable materials. Apart from those ideas which seem to be ours by natural heritage, most of our thoughts arise from observation, reading, reflection, social intercourse, and travel. These will be considered separately and collectively. The next point is to know how to direct and control our thoughts. In this connection we shall discuss the power of prejudice, the influence of emotion, and a series of general rules for clear thinking. The importance of these chapters can scarcely be over-estimated. Mental drill here begins in earnest, and we shall ask the diligent reader to overhaul his own notions and ideas as well as those he reads in books or hears from the platform and pulpit. In the last three chapters we propose dealing with constructive thinking—the way in which thoughts are united into systems, theories, and hypotheses —with thought in its moral aspects, and with a concluding account of the entire programme. Perhaps it would be best to give a formulated scheme:
I. What is the Mind?
(a) Trinity in Unity. Feeling, Intellect, and
Will.
(b) The Laws of Thought.
II. How do we gather Thoughts?
(a) Some are part of the mind's original furniture.
(b) From observation, reading, reflection, social intercourse, and travel.
III. By what means do we think correctly?
(a) The true place of emotion.
(b) Beware of the prejudice of birth, of temperament, of the theorist, and of unintelligent conservatism.
(c) Avoid emotional excesses in fear, sympathy and admiration.
(d) Learn the nature...
1100149423
CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION
"It is not erudition that makes the intellectual man, but a sort of virtue that delights in beautiful and vigorous thinking, just as moral virtue delights in vigorous and beautiful conduct."
--Hamerton: The Intellectual Life.
"AND friend, when dost thee think?" was the reply made by a Quaker lady to whom Southey had explained with no little satisfaction how he spent the day. He told her how he studied Portuguese grammar whilst he was shaving, how he read Spanish for an hour before breakfast, how, after breakfast, he wrote or studied till dinner; how, in a word, his whole time was filled by writing, reading, eating, talking, taking exercise and sleeping; and she replied with the very pertinent question we have just given. It is one we should ask ourselves. Profound students of the times tell us that we are great absorbers of print, but that the art of thinking is gradually becoming a lost art. "Thinking for thinking's sake," says the Spectator in an article to which we are here indebted, "has become to most men positively repellent. They have an intense objection—an objection which they believe on the whole to be a laudable one—to time passed not in eating, sleeping, working, talking, reading, writing, or taking exercise." There is much truth in this contention, although we do not share its pessimism to the full. What we want is not the example of Democritus, who put out his eyes that, ceasing to read, he might think the more; or the example of Pythagoras, who devoted his evenings to solemn reflections on the events of the day. We want men and women of all-round activities who will set apart an hour for thought's own sake, and thus fulfil the exhortation of a wise man whose practice it was to "sort his thoughts and label them." Such a habit would not only be good in itself: it would increase mental efficiency in every department of life. Madame Swetchine says that to have ideas is to gather flowers; to think is to weave them into garlands. There could be no happier synonym for thinking than the word weaving—a putting together of the best products of observation, reading, experience, and travel, so as to represent a patterned whole, receiving its design from the weaver's own mind. We have plenty of flowers: we want more garlands. We have libraries, books, and newspapers: we want more thinkers.
Now this manual is intended to help those who are awakened to an individual sense of the need just stated; and it is very necessary at the outset that the writer and reader should thoroughly understand each other. First, then, what is our object?
(1) It is to investigate the rules and practices in which the art of thinking consists. This will require a brief account of the thinking faculty. It is not proposed to make a detailed study of brain from a physiological point of view; all that is necessary is a description of mental powers under the familiar forms of Feeling, Intellect, and Will. This will lay a good foundation for further study; for it is well nigh impossible to understand the art of thinking without some acquaintance with the machinery of mind.
We shall then inquire into the way in which thoughts are generated; in other words, how the intellectual storehouse is furnished with suitable materials. Apart from those ideas which seem to be ours by natural heritage, most of our thoughts arise from observation, reading, reflection, social intercourse, and travel. These will be considered separately and collectively. The next point is to know how to direct and control our thoughts. In this connection we shall discuss the power of prejudice, the influence of emotion, and a series of general rules for clear thinking. The importance of these chapters can scarcely be over-estimated. Mental drill here begins in earnest, and we shall ask the diligent reader to overhaul his own notions and ideas as well as those he reads in books or hears from the platform and pulpit. In the last three chapters we propose dealing with constructive thinking—the way in which thoughts are united into systems, theories, and hypotheses —with thought in its moral aspects, and with a concluding account of the entire programme. Perhaps it would be best to give a formulated scheme:
I. What is the Mind?
(a) Trinity in Unity. Feeling, Intellect, and
Will.
(b) The Laws of Thought.
II. How do we gather Thoughts?
(a) Some are part of the mind's original furniture.
(b) From observation, reading, reflection, social intercourse, and travel.
III. By what means do we think correctly?
(a) The true place of emotion.
(b) Beware of the prejudice of birth, of temperament, of the theorist, and of unintelligent conservatism.
(c) Avoid emotional excesses in fear, sympathy and admiration.
(d) Learn the nature...
The Art of Thinking
An excerpt from the beginning of:
CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION
"It is not erudition that makes the intellectual man, but a sort of virtue that delights in beautiful and vigorous thinking, just as moral virtue delights in vigorous and beautiful conduct."
--Hamerton: The Intellectual Life.
"AND friend, when dost thee think?" was the reply made by a Quaker lady to whom Southey had explained with no little satisfaction how he spent the day. He told her how he studied Portuguese grammar whilst he was shaving, how he read Spanish for an hour before breakfast, how, after breakfast, he wrote or studied till dinner; how, in a word, his whole time was filled by writing, reading, eating, talking, taking exercise and sleeping; and she replied with the very pertinent question we have just given. It is one we should ask ourselves. Profound students of the times tell us that we are great absorbers of print, but that the art of thinking is gradually becoming a lost art. "Thinking for thinking's sake," says the Spectator in an article to which we are here indebted, "has become to most men positively repellent. They have an intense objection—an objection which they believe on the whole to be a laudable one—to time passed not in eating, sleeping, working, talking, reading, writing, or taking exercise." There is much truth in this contention, although we do not share its pessimism to the full. What we want is not the example of Democritus, who put out his eyes that, ceasing to read, he might think the more; or the example of Pythagoras, who devoted his evenings to solemn reflections on the events of the day. We want men and women of all-round activities who will set apart an hour for thought's own sake, and thus fulfil the exhortation of a wise man whose practice it was to "sort his thoughts and label them." Such a habit would not only be good in itself: it would increase mental efficiency in every department of life. Madame Swetchine says that to have ideas is to gather flowers; to think is to weave them into garlands. There could be no happier synonym for thinking than the word weaving—a putting together of the best products of observation, reading, experience, and travel, so as to represent a patterned whole, receiving its design from the weaver's own mind. We have plenty of flowers: we want more garlands. We have libraries, books, and newspapers: we want more thinkers.
Now this manual is intended to help those who are awakened to an individual sense of the need just stated; and it is very necessary at the outset that the writer and reader should thoroughly understand each other. First, then, what is our object?
(1) It is to investigate the rules and practices in which the art of thinking consists. This will require a brief account of the thinking faculty. It is not proposed to make a detailed study of brain from a physiological point of view; all that is necessary is a description of mental powers under the familiar forms of Feeling, Intellect, and Will. This will lay a good foundation for further study; for it is well nigh impossible to understand the art of thinking without some acquaintance with the machinery of mind.
We shall then inquire into the way in which thoughts are generated; in other words, how the intellectual storehouse is furnished with suitable materials. Apart from those ideas which seem to be ours by natural heritage, most of our thoughts arise from observation, reading, reflection, social intercourse, and travel. These will be considered separately and collectively. The next point is to know how to direct and control our thoughts. In this connection we shall discuss the power of prejudice, the influence of emotion, and a series of general rules for clear thinking. The importance of these chapters can scarcely be over-estimated. Mental drill here begins in earnest, and we shall ask the diligent reader to overhaul his own notions and ideas as well as those he reads in books or hears from the platform and pulpit. In the last three chapters we propose dealing with constructive thinking—the way in which thoughts are united into systems, theories, and hypotheses —with thought in its moral aspects, and with a concluding account of the entire programme. Perhaps it would be best to give a formulated scheme:
I. What is the Mind?
(a) Trinity in Unity. Feeling, Intellect, and
Will.
(b) The Laws of Thought.
II. How do we gather Thoughts?
(a) Some are part of the mind's original furniture.
(b) From observation, reading, reflection, social intercourse, and travel.
III. By what means do we think correctly?
(a) The true place of emotion.
(b) Beware of the prejudice of birth, of temperament, of the theorist, and of unintelligent conservatism.
(c) Avoid emotional excesses in fear, sympathy and admiration.
(d) Learn the nature...
CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION
"It is not erudition that makes the intellectual man, but a sort of virtue that delights in beautiful and vigorous thinking, just as moral virtue delights in vigorous and beautiful conduct."
--Hamerton: The Intellectual Life.
"AND friend, when dost thee think?" was the reply made by a Quaker lady to whom Southey had explained with no little satisfaction how he spent the day. He told her how he studied Portuguese grammar whilst he was shaving, how he read Spanish for an hour before breakfast, how, after breakfast, he wrote or studied till dinner; how, in a word, his whole time was filled by writing, reading, eating, talking, taking exercise and sleeping; and she replied with the very pertinent question we have just given. It is one we should ask ourselves. Profound students of the times tell us that we are great absorbers of print, but that the art of thinking is gradually becoming a lost art. "Thinking for thinking's sake," says the Spectator in an article to which we are here indebted, "has become to most men positively repellent. They have an intense objection—an objection which they believe on the whole to be a laudable one—to time passed not in eating, sleeping, working, talking, reading, writing, or taking exercise." There is much truth in this contention, although we do not share its pessimism to the full. What we want is not the example of Democritus, who put out his eyes that, ceasing to read, he might think the more; or the example of Pythagoras, who devoted his evenings to solemn reflections on the events of the day. We want men and women of all-round activities who will set apart an hour for thought's own sake, and thus fulfil the exhortation of a wise man whose practice it was to "sort his thoughts and label them." Such a habit would not only be good in itself: it would increase mental efficiency in every department of life. Madame Swetchine says that to have ideas is to gather flowers; to think is to weave them into garlands. There could be no happier synonym for thinking than the word weaving—a putting together of the best products of observation, reading, experience, and travel, so as to represent a patterned whole, receiving its design from the weaver's own mind. We have plenty of flowers: we want more garlands. We have libraries, books, and newspapers: we want more thinkers.
Now this manual is intended to help those who are awakened to an individual sense of the need just stated; and it is very necessary at the outset that the writer and reader should thoroughly understand each other. First, then, what is our object?
(1) It is to investigate the rules and practices in which the art of thinking consists. This will require a brief account of the thinking faculty. It is not proposed to make a detailed study of brain from a physiological point of view; all that is necessary is a description of mental powers under the familiar forms of Feeling, Intellect, and Will. This will lay a good foundation for further study; for it is well nigh impossible to understand the art of thinking without some acquaintance with the machinery of mind.
We shall then inquire into the way in which thoughts are generated; in other words, how the intellectual storehouse is furnished with suitable materials. Apart from those ideas which seem to be ours by natural heritage, most of our thoughts arise from observation, reading, reflection, social intercourse, and travel. These will be considered separately and collectively. The next point is to know how to direct and control our thoughts. In this connection we shall discuss the power of prejudice, the influence of emotion, and a series of general rules for clear thinking. The importance of these chapters can scarcely be over-estimated. Mental drill here begins in earnest, and we shall ask the diligent reader to overhaul his own notions and ideas as well as those he reads in books or hears from the platform and pulpit. In the last three chapters we propose dealing with constructive thinking—the way in which thoughts are united into systems, theories, and hypotheses —with thought in its moral aspects, and with a concluding account of the entire programme. Perhaps it would be best to give a formulated scheme:
I. What is the Mind?
(a) Trinity in Unity. Feeling, Intellect, and
Will.
(b) The Laws of Thought.
II. How do we gather Thoughts?
(a) Some are part of the mind's original furniture.
(b) From observation, reading, reflection, social intercourse, and travel.
III. By what means do we think correctly?
(a) The true place of emotion.
(b) Beware of the prejudice of birth, of temperament, of the theorist, and of unintelligent conservatism.
(c) Avoid emotional excesses in fear, sympathy and admiration.
(d) Learn the nature...
0.99
In Stock
5
1
The Art of Thinking
The Art of Thinking
eBook
$0.99
Related collections and offers
0.99
In Stock
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940014866415 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | OGB |
| Publication date: | 08/12/2012 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 200 KB |
From the B&N Reads Blog