of studies (On Reading) in Chinese and English

STUDIES serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for delight, is in privacy and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment, and disposition of business. For expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one; but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of affairs, come best, from those that are learned. To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the humor of a scholar. They perfect nature, and are perfected by experience: for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need proyning, by study; and studies themselves, do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience. Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them; for they teach not their own use; but that is a wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation. Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Some books also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them bothers; but that would be only in the less important arguments, and the meaner sort of books,

else distilled books are like common distilled waters, flashy things. Reading make a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. And therefore, if a man write little, he had need to have a great memory; if he confer little, he had need have a present wit: and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know, that he doth not. Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtitle; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend. Abeunt studia in mores. Nay, there is no stand or impediment in the wit, but may be wrought out by fit studies; like as diseases of the body, may have appropriate exercises. Bowling is good for the stone and reins; shooting for the lungs and breast; gentle

walking for the stomach; riding for the head; and the like. So if a man's wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called away never so little, he must begin again. If his wit be not apt to distinguish or find differences, let him study the Schoolmen; for they are cymini sectors. If he be not apt to beat over matters, and to call up one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him study the lawyers' cases. So every defect of the mind, may have a special receipt.

Translation:

Reading is enough for pleasure, enough for gambling, and enough for talents. His joyful mood is most seen when he is alone in seclusion; his richness is most seen when he talks loudly; his talent is most seen when he is dealing with the world and judging things. Although a skilled person can deal with the details individually or judge the details one by one, he is the only one who is willing to learn and think deeply when looking at the overall situation and planning the overall situation. If you spend too much time studying, you will become lazy; if you have too much literary talent, you will be pretentious; if you rely solely on articles to decide things, it will be the old school mentality. Reading makes up for the deficiencies of nature, and experience makes up for the deficiencies of reading. Innate talents are built up like natural flowers and plants. After reading, you know how to prune and graft them; and what is shown in the book is too big and useless if it is not modeled by experience. Skilled elders despise reading, ignorant people envy reading, but wise people use reading. However, books do not tell others about their usefulness. The wisdom of using books is not in the book, but outside the book. It can all be obtained by observation. When reading, you should not deliberately criticize the author, do not believe everything in the book, and do not just look for chapters and excerpts, but should think carefully. Some books can be tasted, some can be swallowed, and a few need to be chewed and digested. In other words, some people only need to read part of it, some people only need to dabble in general, and a few need to read it in full. When reading, you need to concentrate on it and work tirelessly. You can also ask someone to read the book for you and extract the summary, but only if the subject matter is inferior or the value is not high. Otherwise, the refining of the book will be like water distilled, which will be bland and tasteless.

Reading makes you enriched, discussion makes you witty, and taking notes makes you accurate. Therefore, those who do not often take notes must have a strong memory, those who do not often discuss must be naturally smart, and those who do not often read must have skills to deceive the world, so that they can show their knowledge from ignorance. Reading history makes people wise, reading poetry makes people smart, mathematics makes people thoughtful, science makes people profound, ethics makes people solemn, and the study of logic and rhetoric makes people eloquent: everything learned becomes character. If a person's intelligence is blocked, there is no need to read appropriate books to make it smoother. Just like all diseases in the body, they can be cured by appropriate exercises. Rolling a ball is good for the testicles and kidneys, archery is good for the chest and lungs, slow walking is good for the intestines and stomach, riding is good for the brain, and so on. If the intellect is not concentrated, it can be taught to read mathematics, and the performance questions must be concentrated, and if there is a slight distraction, it must be repeated; if it is not possible to distinguish differences, it can be taught to read scholastic philosophy, because this generation is full of fault-finding people; if it is not good at seeking common ground, it is not good at uniting. One thing can prove another thing by reading the lawyer's case file. In this way, any defect in the mind can be cured by special medicine.

Translated by Wang Zuoliang.

of studies was written by Francis Bacon. He is a representative figure of the English Renaissance, an outstanding philosopher, scientist and essayist.