Oxford eagle., 1905-01-05
BOOKS AND SUCCESS
HABIT OF MUCH SUPERFICIAL
READING LEADS TO HALF
DOING OTHER THINGS.
impairs Mental Power-Great Think
ers Always Thorough Readers
-Macaulay's Rule for
Concentration.
By Or. orison SWEET Marden.

~ III Oilson SNett Mafurns
editor Success Magazine. New York;
DEwARE Of the man OF one book"
ID said Dr. johnson. Beware OF
the man who knows one thing we'll He
is a dangerous antagonist"
Thoroughness is the foundation of
worthy achievement in any direction.
In reading Il is foundation. solid con.
tents. apex everything.
smattering Of books. no matter
how extensive. will never strengthen
the intellect or enlarge the mind. The
mere book faster is as ignorant OF lit
erature. as unappreciative OF the true
riches OF books as the globe trotter is
of the countries through which he
rusEes. merely tn be able TO say that
he has been in them.
Mental Dissipation.
Life may be crippled by a habit OF
superficial or desultory reading. for
such reading weakens the mind. i'm.
pairs the memory. undermines the pow.
ers Of application and persistence. and
destroys that desire for completeness,
for wholeness OF life. which is the
crown OF character
People who read with half a mind.
who turn from one book to another.
skimming here and there. and no, read.
ing any thoroughly or TO the close. will
soon begin to half do other things or
leave them unfinished. The habit will
manifest itself in every phase OF their
lives.
The temptation TO reading of this
kind is greatly increased by the enor.
nous recent multiplication OF litera-
ture. and Is a menace TO depth of cul.
ture. especially to dwellers in cities.
Anxious TO be able to say that they
have read the latest "best-seling books
OF the month" and desirous OF being
regarded as aufait in literary matters.
many people are silly enough to try to
skim through a hundred books and
magazines in a month. without any
effort or wish 20 appropriate and make
their own the thoughts they contain
that Is any Of them that contain
thought worth remembering. which
cannot be said OF many OF our best
selling books
This is the worst sort of mental dis
sipation and the most pernicious in its
results. II Is the kind of "multifa
rious reading" which Rev. F. W. Rob
ertson says 'weakens the mind more
than doing nothing. for II becomes a
necessity at last, like smoking. and is
an excuse for the mind to lie dormant
while thought is poured in. and runs
through clear stream. over unproduc-
tive gravel, on which not even moses
grow"
No superficial reader ever became an
exact or great scholar or an authority
on any subject. No matter how many
school and college diplomas YOU NAV
hold. II you are not educated. for IL is
ihoroughness in reading that gives
breadth and solidity to education. as 1t
Is thoroughness in work that gives
strength and stability to character.
Desultory Reading Bad.
One good book thoroughly read. oi-
gested and assimilated until it becomes
like the iron atoms in our blood a part
OF ourselves, Is worth more to a reader
than the thoughtless skimming over of
thousands of volumes
Edward Everett Hale SAYS that IL
person will take up some subject and
study II thoroughly he will have better
knowledge OF it in one month than any
one else but specialist So. IL YOU alb
sorb and make apart of your life a few
great books. instead of squanderlne vour
time and demoralizine your mental fac
ulties by attempting to swallow. with
out digesting, every volume that comes
in your way, you will be a better read
man or woman than any but a specialist
in literature
Probably not one reader In a hundred
to-day could give an intelligent synopsis
of book he has just read. The matter
lies a confused heap and underlined.
nebulous mass in his mind.
Whatever is taken into the mental
chamber, without any attempt at classi-
fcation or systematic arransement
merely induces mental dyspepsia. After
a while the mind becomes so clogged
with unassimilated material that it is un-
able to act with quickness or certainty
II losses confidence and elasticity. The
very power to think actively and de-
hnitely is destroyed by the habit of su.
perficial reading.
II is to many an unpleasant task. after
reading a book or listening to a sermon
OF lecture. TO write out an analysis of il
But 1t is by the expercise of such palms.
taking thoroughness that the websters.
the Choates. the Lineolns. the Claws and
the Gladstones are made.
Make Notes as You Read.
Those who have gotten the most ont of