The Washington herald., 1921-06-09

ute of its practical experience. its
intimate knowledge, its discipline
and disappointments. to complete
the equipment. We can learn much
from books. but il we learned only
from books We would learn only
the wisdom Of the past. NobodS
Will ever live long enough or be
wise enough to equip himself with
all the wisdom of the past, to say
nothing of projecting il into the
future The student who has
learned the art of learning. Of ap-
plicstion, of concentration upon
the particular problem before him
will find that he is better qualified
for the practical affairs of life than.
the one who has merely slowed
eve ma very great array of facts
in his brain. Books are tremen-
dously useful il they be made the
servtctors of the inquiring mind:
they may be deadening and worse
than useless IL they become the
master OF the too receptive mind.
He who has learned how to use
books, how to find what he re-
qutres in them and then to amply II.
without the necessity of overload
ing his mind with unnecessary de-
tail, is the one who has made his
educational preparation most use
full As a mere storage warehouse
for facts, beliefs. impressions. the
human mind is an unsatisfactory
plant. 1t is too liable to error and
too limited in its capacity. But. on
the other side. when il is used as a
macerator of information. a mold
ing, developing, forming. and re-
forming mechanism, IL does its best
work. To do that work, il must
possess the qualities of boIdness.
originality, confidence. 1t must be
capable of sustained and well-di-
rected effort.
So. to the young men and women
in cap and gown. gathered here and
on thousand other platforms to
receive the testimonies that they
have completed their allotted
academic courses, / would plead
that they recognize that. after all,
the effectiveness of their educa
tanal effort will at last be in pro-
portion to their recognition that IL
is only preparation and not con-
clusion.
Not n Finished Education.
There is no such thing as finished
eoucation. The wisest person that
ever lived took his last observation
OF lie and living into a mind which
was still in the processes of prep.
aration.
1t is. / think. a part Of our ma
tiora al good fortune that we have
viewed culture from this stand
point. 1 think the college graduate
who imagines himself at the COM
pietion of his education is one of
the most pathetic human spectacles
we have to view. Fortunately, he
Is not nearly so numerous as the
humorous paragraphers would have
us believe. Fortunately, also. in case
ne may be too well endowed with
selt-esteem and confidence. the
world has special facilities for
rapidly and efficaciously reducing
the excess of assurance
Its democracy is one o< the fine
things about our American system
of higher education. 1t is almost
Invariably true that any young man
or woman, who earnestly wishes II,
may attain the privileges OF the best
educational Preparation. There is.
tnank God, no caste system here.
All kinds of experience. Of social
background. of ancestry, of tradi-
ton, OF training are brought to-
gether In the melting pot of the
american college or university.
Neither social nor intellectual snob-
berry Is likely very long to survive
such experience, That Is why, edu-
cation, when II is of the right sort,
is the greatest leveling and democ-
ratizing influence we oan find. II
inculcates realization Of true
standards. an appreciation OF the
fact that differences in estate and
fortune are, after all, but the super
localities of life as compared to the
fundamentals of character, ambition
and determined purpose. To what
ever extent II fails to impress this
conception Of democracy Of intellect.
education will brand itself a failure.
seeks .csuraeeous Leaders.
The young men and women who
are coming upon the worlds stage
today. equipped to take their parts
as leaders. will hnd themselves well
coined as their predecessors have
not always been in other times.
Humanity is seeking. as IL never
sought before. for those who can see
widely. clearly. feariessiy. who will
be capable of Determining what is
sound and what ls riaht and cour-