The professional world. (Columbia, Mo.) 1901-192?, 1902-04-11
WHAT is YOUR DUrY2
BY PROF. PAUL SCHwEITZER.
Concluded


Mental power is gained by ex-
ercise just as physical power is; it
not the absorption of nourishing
food that makes the body strong,
but the constant exercise of it's
muscles; it is not the taking in of
information, that strengthens the
mind, but the constant employ
ment of its powers in overcoming
difficulties. Any branch of study,
which is not merely formal, offers
field for such practice; the more
varied the types. the more difficult
and abstruse the conditions, the
greater the possible accretion
of mental power. Mental power,
therefore, is specifically of mans
own begetting. Shun so-called
easy studies; what is at the beck
of everybody is not worth running
after; if you can select none other,
remember that you will, at best,
acquire only an ornament. If you
would have mental fibre, pursue
the subject for which you have no
talent and conquer it's difficulties
by sheer force of will you will
come out all the stronger and all
the better prepared for the dis
charge of duties in life, which you
do not like, but which necessity
forces upon you and requires you
to do well. To learn anything in
the usual receptive, not to say
passive, manner is of no benefit
whatever toward that end; Ian.
guages may be acquired to the
point of reading, or speaking,
history may become a rounded
string of dates and events, geog-
raphy net work, in which every
mesh is known, chemistry and
physics may offer up their phenom-
ena to curios gaze and retentive
memory, yea, even algebra, geom-
etry and allied branches of math-
ematics may be pursued without in
any degree contributing to de-
velopment of mental power; it is
possible to carry district school
methods through whole college
career and to become graduate
devoid of force through never
having attempted to convert men,
tai food into mental fibre. Wo-
fully mistaken, indeed, is the
student, who believes he is doing
all that is necessary or all that he
can, when he attends faithfully to
his classes and prepares his. lessons
mechanically and listlessly; if he
acquire a language by repetition,
as he does his mother tongue, call.
ing for aid and explanation as soon
as difficulties appear in sight upon
the.teacher or friend, or that com.
mon foe to mental development, g
superabundantly annotated edition,
he may acquire an ornamented
feather to his cap, but he has
wasted the opportunity of his life
Instead, he should, after mastering
the forms, give his whole mind to
the comprehension of the text in
hand, and, not content with gen
eral idea of its meaning, which
usually covers multitude of sins
apply himself the more arduously
the more difficult and obscure 6
sentence, until he has penetrated
into and mastered it's meaning
every day thus spent brings its re
ward; every new difficulty over
come adds new fibre to the 'mint
or seasons one already in exist
ence, until at the end of a cOlleg,
career the student has become
man OF conscious power, self
sustained and equal to any emerg
ency in which life may place him
In a similar way chemistry O.
physics should be studied in thes,
the formal or phenomenal part
demand at the outset greater ment
al exertion than language; n,
mere memory work suffices; al
the powers of observation compar
ison, generalization are called int,
action and taxed sAvArelv N.