Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1901-04-24
WEDNESDAY, APRIL "a, 1901.


WEDNESDAY. APRIL "a, 1901.
QUALITY NOT QUANTITY.
Though had drained the fount of knowl-
edge dry,
And heard all the stories told by tongue or
pen,
still should yearn to know the thoughts
that lie
Unvoiced, unwrit. in graves of nameless
men.
Carrie Blake Morgan in The Path of Gold.
A very foolish wish, Carrie. Any,
one that would want to hear "all the
stories told by toEgue or pen," and
then yearn for more must have lots of
room to let in the upper story. Better
try the experiment of doing some of
your own thinking, instead of yearn-
ing for the thoughts and stories of
others-most of it not worth q mo-
ment of anybody's time. The fault of
the present age is that there is too
much "pouring in" till the brain is
paralyzed or drowned. What people
need is not to read more, but to read
more discriminatory and with more
serious attention. We are actually
flooded with cheap literature-cheap
in every sense. If ninety-nine out of
every hundred of the books written
during the past century were swept
out of existence the world would be
better off. This is especially true in
the line of works of fiction. Indis-
criminate novel reading has ruined
thousands of minds that might other
wise have been capable of doing some
independent thinking. This is not
condemning novels as class, but
the cheap trashy novels written for
no purpose but to develop little plot,
indulge in lot of sickly, gushing
sentiment, and get the hero and hero
inc married after great deal of un-
necessary trouble. There are novels
that are worth reading because they
deal with some problem of human life
in a more interesting way than could
be done in dry essay. The books
that make US think deeply and earn
estly, the books that have true human
characters in them instead of mpos-
sible paragons of loneliness and hero
ism, are the ones to read. If in read
ing a book you find yourself inter-
ested only in seeing chow it will turn
out" it is safe proposition to say
that the book is not worth reading.
Reading books of that kind is like
using strong seasonings for your
food; it dulls the taste and the sea-
soning will have to be made stronger
and stronger, until finally it has
killed the sense of taste and the en-
joyment it brings.
Don't read a book because it is new
or fashionable. Life is too short to
spend on fads. There are plenty of
good books that have stood the test
of time. You can read only an in
finitesimal part of all that has been
written. Then why not: make that
little good. 1t is far better to read a
thought producing book over and
over again. You will find more and
more in it every time you 60 over it..
A book that can't be read to advan-
tage the second time is not worth read
ing the first time. The same holds
true in "draiaing the wells of knowl-
edge" If you try that experiment
you will find the stuff has run through
your brain without stopping. It is
not the mass of our knowledge but the
thoroughness with which we have
learned what we do know that makes
US useful. Human knowledge is toe
vast for. any one brain to hold it.
We must specialized There are few
general facts in history, geography
and some other branches that all
ought to know. Some mathematical
knowledge, more valuable for the
training in exactness than for practi.
cal use, should be possessed by all.
The best products of the master minds
of literature should be at the disposal
of all. Beyond that each one should
devote his entire energies to his owl
special subject. Broadness is otter
only another name for shallowness.
The one who has studied deeply, moi
widely, is the one who is most liable
to leave his footprints on the sands
of time" -..s r. :.
.Ae ---T-@ Z ~ = a e ~
II. the NEW PARTY. =.