The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1891-10-29
Choice of Books.

A man may be. as the poet saith. ''deep
versed in books. and shallow in himself"
We need to know in order that we may feel
rightly, and act wisely.
When we speak about books. let us avoid
the extravaganza of expecting too much
from them. The choice of books is in re
.ality, the choice of our intellectual and
.judicious reading, should leave no great
type of thought. no dominant phrase of hu
man nature, wholly blank. Whether our
reading be much or little. so far as it goes
it should be general. If our vocation in
life be such as to admit of but short space
of time each day for reading. it is all the
more reason why such time should be judi
'ciOusly applied.
We should not allow ourselves to fall into
the habit of following one line of literature,
for, in so doing, we may be sure that it will
tend to narrow or defOrm our minds. The
mind, like the body. requires nOurishment
to keep it in good working order; cOnse-
Quently, judiciOuS variation of reading
tends to build up and strengthen it. A
healthy mode of reading would follow the
lines of sound education; and the first
canon of sound education is to make it
the instrument to perfect the whole nature
and character. Its aims are comprehensive.
not special; they regard life as whole, not
mental curiosity; they have to give us not
so much materials as capacities; so that.
however moderate and limited the opportu-
nifty for education, in its way it should be
always more or less symmetrical and bal
=anced. appealing equally in turn to three
grand intellectual elements-imaginatiO
memory, and reflection; and so having
something to give us in poetry, in history,
in science. and in philosophy. And thus
our reading will be sadly one sided, how
ever vOlumnOus it be. if ii entirely close to
us any of the great types and ideals which
the creative instinct of man has produced.
if it shut out from us either the ancient
world, or other European poetry. as i'm
pOrtant almost as our own.
To read, and yet so to read that we see
nothing but corner of literature. the loose
fringe, or flats and waists of letters, and by
reading only deepen our natural belief =
this island is the hub of the universe,
the nineteenth century the only age wo
notice. all this is really to call in the aid t
books to thicken and harden our untaugh
prejudices.
Be it Imagination. memory or reflection
that we address-that is. in poetry, history.
science. or philosOphy-our first duty is to
aim at knowing something at least of the
best, at getting some definite idea of the
mighty realm whose outer rim we are per-
mtted to approach.
We should, therefore, take hold with the
determination to win; lay aside all petty
prejudices. make up our minds to profit by
our enforced confinement. l say. "boys. !"
make use of the hundreds of good books
that our library contains. Winter is now
close at hand with it's long evenings. Make
up your minds to improve yourself with the
spare time which you have at hand; throw
off this desire for ''blOOd and thunder liter
ature;" read only such as will tend to en-
tighten and build up the mind. Do not be
discouraged because you are now wearing
the garb of degradation. but picture out to
yourself your future course in life; impress
this picture upon your mind-with the re-
solve that "cOme what may" your motto
will be "Look up and lift up" By so do
ing. you can say. in the words OF Charles
Kingsley
mot all who seem to fail have failed indeed"
MORTIMER.