The Dispatch. [volume] (Provo City, Utah) 1891-1895, 1891-06-06
The Brightest Paper in this Section.
SELF CULTURE.
The Excellent Lecture by
Prof. B. Cuff, Jr.
Delivered on Sunday at the
Y. NJ. Conference i'm Salt
Lake Tabernacle.

Elder Benjamin Cuff, il. tof Brig
ham Young Academy. Provo, deliv-
cred brief lecture on the subject Of
self-culture. Closely connected with
the subject Of mutual Improvement,
he said. is that of Self-culture. All
Improvement is self-imprOvement: for
it is by self-effort alone that we are
g lucated. Our environments, our
books, our teachers, all stimulate and
direct us: but if we are to learn we
ourselves must put forth effort. In no
organization more than in the asSOcia-
tions whose conference we are to-day
attending is effort tending to Self-cul-
ture so necessary; because while much
is to be learned in the general meet
ings and class gatherings, the greater
portion of the work, if done at all, must
be accomplished by the individual in
private study. There must be hard,
earnest work at home if desirable re-
suits are to be reached. The great law
Of development running through man S
whole being, moral, intellectual. phys
lcal, is systematic eXerc!Se-WOrk. Ma
ture abhorS idleness, ard reveals t
the idle none of her precious secret
but those who apply themselves with
energy and system she generously UNI
locks her doors and permits free ac
cess to all her hidden treasures of
knowledge In a systematic course of
self-culture, the first powers of the
mind to receive our attention are the
perceptive powers. Then would follow
the memory and the imagination, the
conception, judgment and reason, in
their order. The feelings and emo
tons also demand cOnSideTatOn--the
egotiStic, or those we feel in view of
self, the altruiStic, or those we feel for
Others, and the cosmic, or the emo
lions in view of he true. the beautiful
and the good. Following the emotions
are the Will power, attention, choice
and action. Ali of these faculties and
powers are capable of cultivation, and
should receive care and attention from
US to that end. The habit of close and
careful observation should also be Gull
tivated, inasmuch as without this the
useful lessons nature would teach us
are but half learned. These powers
can be easily cultivated, and proper
study of the natural sciences, botany,
geology, zoology, is an excellent eXer-
else for their development. The mem
DRY, too, should be carefully trained.
This, however, not being a faculty in
the sense in which we have used the
term, but rather capability of all the
faculties, must be cultivated in con-
nection with all the faculties.
Some people are deficient in the
memory OF dates and names. They
should study history. The NJ. |. A.
reading course furnishes excellent
IL l.,
of memory is to remember; reflect on
that which you have read and heard
and recall it often. if you would
strengthen your memory. Imagina
ton, that faculty of the mind by
which self forms ideals, should also
Oe developed. Every young man
should have a worthy ideal, and
should strive to attain it. \ worthy
ideal inspires laudable ambition, and
ambition can be satisfied only by
energetic effort Perhaps, after all,
the faculty most worthy of cultivation
at least 1t was SO considered by
be ancients-iS reason. or the
power to discern cause relations.
lhe study OF history, philosophy
Of logic, mathematics and of the
sciences tends strongly to develop
the reasoning powers. Neither must
we forget in our system of Self-culture
the cultivation of the emotions.
Seif-esteem and self-cOnfdence.
when they do not degenerate
into egotism, are cOmmendable
in any young man. Love and SYM
pathy for others should also be en-
couraged. But, though man be gift
ed with all the intellect Iality desir-
able, if he has not the viii power to
back it, he loses in the great human
struggle. The power of concentration
can be cultivated by carefully attend
ing to those subjects with which the
mind is Ocrupied-letting no stray
thoughts mtrude upon the mind,
Choice and action are similarly de-
yeloped. The subject of will-culture is
an important one, for to the will more
than anything ese attribute a mans
success in life, and to the want of it
his failure. To obtain the greatest re
suits in self culture, however, one
must choose his course of study with
reference to his adaptability. | do
not believe that we can become pro-
ficient in any line we might select at
random We must work along those
lines which the Creator has marked
out for us with energy and devotion in
order to attain the highest degree of
perfection. 1t is for US to seek and
find, then pursue with energy and de-
votiOn, and success will crown our
efforts.