Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1860-01-12
FOR THE ENQUIRER
COUNsELS TO YOUNG MEN.
ASKING QUESTIONS.
NUMBER FOUR,

NUMBER FOUR.
We of the Puritan stock, have long been
noted and ridiculed for our anquasataveness
They report such things as this Of US. One
of our young Jonathans being asked, why
you Yankees always answer a question by
asking another, replied, Du they?" But
laugh as they may, aud say what they will,
this New England habit Of asking questions,
is one of the best which distinguishes US from
our neighbors and advise you to keep up
the credit of it. There is such thing, to
be sure, as carrying this provinciaism. as
they call it, too far A prying curiosity may
and does ask thousand needless, and some
impertinent questions, no doubt; and against
this extreme | would caution you. But kept
within proper bounds, asking questions, is
one of the cheapest methods of gaining use
fnl knowledge, that ever was found out; and
| advise you to learn how to ask them Of
everybody, who is able to give you any in
formation worth having Never be imperti-
nent; never be obtrusiye; but don't refrain
and lose good opportunity for fear of show
ing your ignorance. At your age, there is
no disgrace in being ignorant Of many
things Which you have not had time to learn.
In your intercourse with the world, you
will meet with two classes of men. One class
are very ostentatious of showing what little
they know, wherever they can get an oppor-
tunity. They are forward on all occasions
to engross the conversation, and enjoy no.
thing so much, as hearing themselves talk.
They care not how many questions you ask
them. The more the better, as it fatters
their vanity and gives them the desired op-
portunity Of showing how much in their own
estimation they know. Such men are very
sparing Of their own questions. They seem
to take it for granted, that you could say
nothing worth their hearing.
The other class are modest and inquistive.
They love to hear those whom they happen
to meet, talk, better than talk themselves;
and this leads them to turn the conversation
into such channels that they can draw out
information by pertinent questions. Thus
they are the while. without effort and almost
imperceptibly, adding to their stock Of kuowl-
edge. They gain something of everybody
not only from such as know more than they
do, but from many who know q great deal
less, except in some one thing; while men of
the other class remain ignorant of q thousand
things, which they might and ought to know,
simply because they are too proud or too
stupid to ask questions.
Just think for moment what wide and
rich field this privilege opens, on an infinite
variety of subjects. You can learn more or
less in this way, from men of every profes-
sion, trade or employment in life.
venture to say you will not meet one
man in hundred, who is not capable of tell
ing you something you did not know before,
in his line Of things, if you will only take the
pains to draw him out. The humblest me-
chanic, the obscurest pauper in his miserable
hut, know something which you don't, and
which it might be we'll for you to learn.
Let me illustrate bya few familiar exam
pies. A friend Of yours has just come home
from New York or Boston. If you have
never been there, now is your opportunity
You can ask him hundred questions, ahont
the city, its streets. its wharfs, its public
buildings, and the like; and he will take
pleasure in telling you oil he knows It is a
concise and cheap way Of gaining informa-
tion. 1t may not be of any great import
ance; but you will feel that you have learned
more or less, which it is well for you to
know and be able to talk about with others.
Young men are often mortified in company,
for not being able to take any part in the
conversation, about places, men and things,
simply because they have not been inquisi-
tive, where they could have informed them
selves, =
Another friend or acquaintance, has just
returned from the great west, full of infor-
nation about the prairies, the rivers, the
lakes, the cities and other marvels, to all