The cultivated mind
Publisher: Harper & Row
Published: 1963
Place of publication: New York; Evanston; London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 279
First sentence: In the unforgettable Overture to Swann's Way, Marcel Proust tells how, when he was a small boy, his family tried to ease his evening ordeal of separation from his mother by means of a magic lantern.
Description: [from front/back book flaps of cover]

In these days, when most of us who are employed work only 40 of the 168 hours in a week and look ahead to several years of leisure after retirement, the occupations of the cultivated mind are the only steadfast defense against the perils of boredom and of frittering away the best portion of our lives in unsubstantial and unproductive pursuits. 

THE CULTIVATED MIND
EDWARD HODNETT

This book holds out to the reader three chief qualities to be attained: a desire for understanding, a capacity for discrimination, and a central concern for mankind. They are the stuff of the cultivated mind. Without them there is no real satisfaction to be found in our daily encounter with living.  

These qualities are best achieved, says Edward Hodnett, through a continuing knowledge of science, literature, and the arts. 

Dr. Hodnett opens the way to an appreciation of the major figures and major works in each field through a series of explorations -- into biography with Plutarch and Strachey; the scientific vision with Newton, Darwin, Pasteur; the human predicament in the works of Homer,  Cervantes, Dostoyevsky, Faulkner; life as reflected on the stage of the Elizabethans or O'Neill; and music, the immortal discourse of a Bach or Beethoven.

Introducing the reader to the creative minds who have become the great teachers - companions who are warm, lively, sympathetic, inspiring - Dr. Hodnett makes the way to individual growth a rich and lively intellectual experience.
Notes: About the Author

Born on Long Island, N.Y., Edward Hodnett attended Columbia University, where he received his A.B. and Ph.D.  He taught English literature and creative writing, and served as an editor of the Columbia University Press and editor of the Columbia University Quarterly.  

He has had wide experience in university affairs, having served as the dean at the University of Newark (now part of Rutgers); vice-president of the University of Massachusetts; president of Fenn College in Cleveland; and professor of English at Ohio University.  He is currently assistant to the president and director of public relations of
the Dow Corning Corporation in Midland, Michigan.

Dr. Hodnett is the author of Early English Woodcuts; Poems to Read Aloud; The Art of Problem Solving; The Art of Working With People; Which College for You?;  So You Want to Go Into Industry; and Industry-College Relations.
Table of contents: pagenum: 1
label: 1
class: part
title: The Cultivated Mind; pagenum: 15
title: The Impact of Ideas
class: part
label: 2; pagenum: 51
title: The Scientific Vision
class: part
label: 3; pagenum: 85
label: 4
class: part
title: Biography and Other Revelations; pagenum: 112
label: 5
class: part
title: The Sanity of the Arts; pagenum: 128
label: 6
class: part
title: The Human Predicament In Fiction; pagenum: 156
title: Life on the Stage
class: part
label: 7; pagenum: 182
label: 8
class: part
title: The Poet's Trade; pagenum: 207
label: 9
class: part
title: Painting, Mirror of the Age; pagenum: 227
label: 10
class: part
title: Music, the Immortal Discourse; pagenum: 253
class: part
title: Epilogue; pagenum: 257
title: A Program for Growth
class: part
label: Appendix:; pagenum: 271
class: part
title: Index