The Llano colonist. [volume] (Llano, Calif.) 191?-1937, 1922-05-06
Character Building Essential
to Successful Cooperation

Concern yourself with but to-day,
Woo it, and teach it to obey
Your needs and will. Since time began
To-day has been the friend Of man;
But in his blindness, to his sorrow,
He looks to yesterday and tomorrow. !"
Coming from the swimming pool,
April %, passing thru the vegetable
garden, | met Doc. Thurman looking at
the truck. He pointed out spots where
some vegetables did not show up well.
while elsewhere they made a splendid
showing. ''Waterlogged,' was his la
CONC explanation. Through expert
ence and experiment and study the
agricultural department of the Colony
has learned just how TO handle the
Colony lands in order to get the max
imum results. The process of learning
this was the method of inductive rea-
soning, real matter-of-fact thinking.
The orderly and systematic building Of
knowledge into the mind with the de-
finite object of finding the right way
of living and doing. results in character
building and efficiency.
What person does for and by him
self is what educates him. This be-
ing the fact, he can only learn by ex-
ercising his own mind on concrete OBJ
jects or actions-on facts. These fur
nish him with ideas. He cannot teach
himself by distractions, rules and de
finitions, arranged for him in words
by others; for these do not furnish him
with ideas of his own. In all that he
has to learn he must begin with facts
that is, with personal experience
And he adds to his knowledge only as
he extends his observation and expert.
ence. Truth in its fullness means the
correct comprehension Of all things
While it is practically impossible fol
any one man to grasp and encompass:
all truth, nevertheless it is quite posi-
but as we'll as necessary, yea, absolute
ly indispensable, that everyone shoulc
acquire comprehensive understand
ing of facts and affairs that have di
rect bearing upon and connection witt
his own veal or woe. We are tolc
that "one of the concomitants of the
efficient man is the habit of straigh
thinking. past superficialities, down t.
everyday fundamentals, clear reach
ing through to underlying causes; ;
constant, habitual, Analysing attitude
an ability to see, not the whole, but tn,
SUM OF ALL ITS DETAILS, and il
imagination to marshal widely separat
facts and wildly visualize them into
whole
There is no better method Of menta
conduct than that of conforming to tn
practice of the most efficient individ
uals or principles, and always sea~cI
out the processes that always and ev
>erywhere onrrate in cause and effect
at is of the greatest interest to know
the way in which the mind of g-ea
man works. On this point Poincare ha
given us some most Illuminating in
formation. There appear to be tire
stages in the solution of problem
first period of intense mental effor
usually unsuccessful; secondly, CON
-plete mental rest from that particula
problem; and thirdly. a sudden revels
ton of the solution, followed by per
cd of conscious effort, trying to fin
the proofs of the answer revealed.
say, CONSCIOUS effort, because Poir
care himself believes that the perio
of apparent rest is in reality perio
of intense activity, the activity of til
subconscious self.
"The first period of intense ment;