The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-09-04

Merely gathering knowledge that other men have required may become the work a man can do. The only standard by which ac- cunlulated knowledge may be judged is knowledge Are you capable of learning it? If you are capable you intelligent person. If you are not capable, If this sub ject submitted to you to be learned vou could learn it, not because you incapable learning it, simply because it is not the kind of knovI edge that your life genius requires.
 Here is a man who knows great about sea-sheIls. learned man is so Interested in sea shells. and has gathered much knowledge about them, that he has written large volumes on the subject But how many even of our learned roan know anything about sea-sheIIs? How many want to know? And yet-here is the point-they are cana bIe of knowing they would learn mighty ouick if knowledge of sea-shells were of any use to them
 All of learn quickly things we are inter ested the things which we need in order to do work in the world
 Everybody is a specialist The baker is spe- calst In doughs and yeasts and ovens. The moulder is specialist in sands and molds and iron The horseshoer is specialist hoofs and bellows and welding compounds. Our mothers used learn written in many pages. Everybody is a specialist
 Now just how much knowledge be held in common by everybody else is matter of fashion. It is largely matter of the class people you want to associate with. If trot in class you discover that you are expected to be able about art. and music and poetry and similar jects Thousands of people are chatterng about those things who don't anything about them at all. but they have learned the phrases, they pass for "educated." A scholar of wide fame said just a little while ago-"It is now possible in best society to express opinions about book without having read it. to gabbel about art without know a
 People do this because it is expected o them be- it is the fashion Most of the of society intellectual fads which change like the style hats
 Of course, il you want to gather knowledge like pebbles and exhibit it, all right. That form of human vanity. But flater yourself that are learned, while the who does low your fad unearned, o a vicious flavor to seIf-flattery.
 There is young fellow, standing before you. His skin is clear, his bright, he under stands what he and his mind is
 
 nowadays he may know" comparatively little. That is. his head may yet be unburdened by a of facts
 look at him, you his comprehendng gaze, mark the cool glance of his this thought comes to you: "He doesn't know everything, but there Is nothing that he could not know if he ed to; and when he chooses his life learn it clear through the beyond"
 He doesn't have much knowledge but he has lot of
 And Hsten!-if you given a choice tween brains and knowledge, choose brains.
 With brains you can get any form of knowl- edge you need But better than that with brains you can any kind of knowledge that you have. without brains amount of gathered knowledge will amount to
 thing a a him think.
 .Sn't what you get of book but what book pulls out of you, that makes books useful.
 A man is like well. There is a lot fr him, if he only get it out. Sometimes book, versation. a of instruction acts him like prinning a pump-it brings is n him. And that all that Education
 is like wood stone. Some kinds of stones you bring a high degree of polish. Some rough and cannot be brought to polish So with kinds of wood. All men do not take pol ish did, Lincoln didn't And it is a big say that polish counts for all It is the texture counts. the texture of a is his vitality energy, his character, his and his rock-bottom brain-power.