The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-03-24
HOW TO THINK.

The first, and perhaps the greatest aid
! would be, to determine the exact object for
| thought aimed at. 1t would perhaps surprise
most OF us if we were 10 observe with care how
rarely we state to ourselves, with anything liks
accuracy, the precise objecS we wish to accom-
plish by thought. Often, after such observa-
tion, We would find that our Object OF thought
combined two or-three contradictory elements.
It was very happy expression Of Dickens,
"How not to do (" md, if we looked hon.
estly into the processes of our minds, We
should often perceive that We have begun by
i such an insufficient Or contradictory statement
(eyen TO ourselves) of our endcavor. that we
| have already insured the result of chow not to
think it." We constantly combine what ls
| irrelevant or even what IS absolutely lpconsls.
| tent, with the main purpose which we have set
ourselves to think out. II word simplicity as
reg ards the object of our thought is to be aimed
at; and that we should have thoroughly deter
mined what is to DO the purpose OF our
thought.
which we should devote ourselves: 1t is, that
there should be simplicity in the processes Of
our thinking. But great deal more than that
is required to insure the requisite simplicity in
The procaes OF thinking. Our own previous
thoughts are often most .maging: Now here
comes in q subslety which must be carefully
considered. It is not only that our previous
thoughts lead Us astcay, but they load us into
direction vi ich often con oulY land US IN dis
aster. For these previous thoughts. both OF
our own and other people, have been cblehf
built upon precedent, the torce OF which preoe-
dent is entirely inapplcable to tbe new clrcum-
stances with which we have 10 deal.
As general rule, great thinkers have rarely
let us into the secret OF how they have been
accustomed to think. But when they have
been inventors, We have sometimes had an
mixing of their mole of procedure. They have
BETRAYED to US that it was what they call
''sudden thought" We may be nearly sure
thai their object of thought stood very clearly
before them ID their minds. Then came this
Sudden" thought, as they call it. But sus-
meet its potency was not in its suddenness, but
in its being disengaged thOught-a thought
disentangled from the thoughts OF other men,,
or even from previous thoughts OF thcir own.
I would dcdIce from this. that tho Chief art
in severe thinking is the art OF forgetting, or
OF ignoring all that has been previously said,
done, or written by yourself and others in the
matter. I can conceive that there should be a
man who would be able to combine and bring
to focus all those eX,raneousst thoughts, and
should ithus be able to attain to novelty OF
thought, without the DeIplexlty ensendered by
KNOWLEDGE o, or rather by llalf-L now'edge. or BY
the fancles Of imagination, or by an lgnobie
dotine upon antiquity, or b; slavish subser.
riency to incomplete precedent. But-that man
has rarely appeared upon Ube earth. And tie
main use of all that PREVIOUS thought upon the
subject can teach you is that 1t may form a
means of criticislns, purifying, enlarging, con-
6ning, or condemning your new though5,-By
the Author Of "FriendS IN Council"