Reading history makes people wise, reading poems makes people witty, mathematics makes people careful, science makes people deep, ethics makes people grave, and the study of logic and rhetoric makes people able to contend.
This is Francis Bacon's On Reading.
research report
bacon
Learning is for entertainment, decoration and talent growth. The main use of their happiness is solitude and seclusion; Decoration is in words; For the ability, it lies in the judgment and disposal of the business.
Experts and executors, perhaps the details of judges, one after another; But general advice, as well as the planning and arrangement of things, is best from those who are knowledgeable. It is lazy to spend too much time on study; Too much use of them as decoration is affectation; It is the humor of scholars to make judgments completely according to their rules.
Reading supplements the deficiency of nature, and experience makes it perfect: because natural abilities are like natural plants, they need to be cultivated through learning; And the research itself does give too many directions unless they are limited by experience.
Cunning people despise learning, simple people admire learning, and smart people use learning; Because they don't teach themselves to use it; But that is a kind of wisdom without them, and above them, it is wisdom gained through observation.
Reading is not for refuting and refuting; Don't believe and take it for granted; Don't look for talk and words; But to weigh and consider.
Some books can be tasted, some books can be swallowed, and a few books need to be chewed and digested; In other words, some books can only be read partially; Others read, but not curiously; A few books can be read completely, and they should be diligent and dedicated. Some books can also be read by others and extracted by others; But that will only appear in unimportant arguments and books; Otherwise, distilled books are just like ordinary distilled water, which are flashy things.
Reading enriches people; An alert person; Write about a real man. Therefore, if a person seldom writes, he needs to have a good memory; If he seldom discusses it, he needs to have a current wisdom; If he reads little, he needs to be cunning, as if he knows he doesn't know.
History makes people wise; Poet wit; Mathematics is subtle; Natural philosophy is profound; Moral grave; Logic and rhetoric can be argued. Morse's preliminary research.
People's intelligence is hindered, and all of them can be smoothed by appropriate books: just like all diseases of the body, they can be eliminated by appropriate exercise. Bowling is good for stones and reins; Shoot the lungs and chest; Walking gently for the stomach; Ride for the head; Wait a minute. Therefore, if a person's wisdom is wandering, let him learn mathematics; Because in the demonstration, if his wisdom has never been called so little, he must start over. If his intelligence is not good at distinguishing or finding differences, let him study scholasticism; Because they are small sectors. If he is not good at studying problems or proving and explaining another with one thing, let him study the lawyer's case. So every mental defect may have a special treatment.
Translation:
On learning
bacon
Translated by Wang Zuoliang
Reading is enough to make people happy, enrich colors and make people grow. When you are isolated from the world alone, its happiness is also the most obvious; Its welfare lottery is also the most common talk; Its talents are also the most common in judging things in life.
Although a sophisticated person can handle the details separately, he can also distinguish them one by one, but looking at the overall planning, the overall planning must be thirst for knowledge and deep thinking. Too much reading time is easy to be lazy, and there are too many literary talents and decorations. Judging things completely according to the provisions is a pedant's state.
Reading makes up for the deficiency of nature, and experience makes up for the deficiency of reading. Natural talent is like natural flowers and plants. After reading it, you will know how to trim and transplant. As the book shows, if you don't imitate experience, it will be too big and useless.
People with skills despise reading, ignorant people admire reading, and only smart people use reading. However, books don't tell people its usefulness, and the wisdom of using books is not in books, but outside them, all by observation.
When reading a book, don't deliberately question the reader, don't believe what the book says, and don't just search for chapters and sentences, but think carefully.
Some books can be tasted, some books can be swallowed, and some books have to be chewed and digested. In other words, some people only need to read part of it, some people just need to dabble in it, and a few people have to read it all. When reading, they must be absorbed and tireless. You can also ask someone to help you read this book, but only if the subject matter is inferior or the value is not high. Otherwise, the book classics are as tasteless as distilled water.
Reading makes a full man, discussion a witty man, and notes an exact man. Therefore, journalists who don't often write must have a strong memory, those who don't often discuss must be born smart, and those who don't often read must deceive the world. Only when they have skills can they be ignorant and obvious.
Reading history makes people wise, reading poems makes people witty, mathematics makes people careful, science makes people deep, ethics makes people grave, and the study of logic and rhetoric makes people able to contend. Everything you learn becomes a character.
A person's mental retardation can be alleviated by proper books, just as all diseases of the body can be eliminated by proper exercise. Rolling is good for the testicles and kidneys, archery is good for the chest and lungs, walking is good for the stomach, riding is good for the brain, and so on. If you don't concentrate, you can study math, and you need to concentrate on solving problems. If you are a little distracted, you must repeat it. If you can't argue, you can read the philosophy of scholasticism. Guy is a person who finds fault with past dynasties. If you are not good at seeking common ground while reserving differences and trying to prove one thing to another, you can look at the lawyer's file. In this way, whenever there is a defect in the mind, there are special effects that can be cured.