THOROUGHNESS IN STUDY

By J. A. Broadus  

            Two leading desires govern every real student. He desires to know truth. A thousand times one must remind himself  that truth, in every direction, is better than error---more powerful, more ennobling, more delightful. How can a human soul ever be satisfied without constant and diligent search for truth? Not the views of the text-books, nor even of the honored professor, not---what is often mightier far---the views that prevail among young associates; not the explanation that is easy, the theory that is famous, the side that will promote one’s social or political or financial interest; no, the question must always be, about everything, what is the truth? A thousand contemporaries may hold on, without inquiry, to what has been long established among men, and ten thousand may fling us their hats in honor of any real or supposed novelty that is nicknamed “science” or “modern thought”; the real student will strive independently, humbly, patiently, to find out what is the real truth. Youthful presumption and arrogance on the one hand, and on the other hand an indolent acceptance of fashionable opinion, are alike unfavorable to genuine study.

            The other great desire of a student is mental improvement. In seeking to know, he is seeking to be. Knowledge is nowhere to be regarded as an end, but only as a means: first, a means of discipline; secondly, a means of influence, and throughout incidentally a means of enjoyment. After all that is said upon this point, few youthful students half understand its importance. Even professional studies, which are often treated like learning a trade, should be so pursued as to develop and discipline one’s mental powers. For pray remember that not only development is needed, and symmetrical development of all our faculties, but also discipline. A man must learn to fix his mind upon a subject, and hold it there at will. The general who has to organize and discipline an army of recruits, so that he can send them forth to marshaled conflict whenever his trumpet sounds, and make them stand in line of battle till he bids them advance as conquerors or retreat in good order, presents but a faint illustration of the task every student ought to perform with his own faculties. Teachers and text-books may help, kind words from friends and secret dreams of ambition may stimulate, but the student must himself do the work of self-development and self-discipline. There is difference in advantages, and we cannot be thankful enough if we possess them in a high degree, but every educated man is self-educated.

            The student who is to amount to much must be capable of subordinating the present to the future. He must know how “to scorn delights, and live laborious days.” The importance of will in study is perhaps seldom appreciated. Regular tasks appointed by recognized authority, and shared with nobly emulous comrades, give extremely valuable assistance. Often in later life, when compelled to make some difficult acquisition or investigation, one feels lonely, and pines for the help of a teacher, or at least a single fellow-student. But it is utterly fatal to be merely passive, doing only what is required, and only because it is required, or stirred simply by passing emulation; the student must bring to bear a determined will. You can understand a thing far more quickly and more thoroughly, if you are really determined to understand it. You can remember far more readily and accurately, what you distinctly intended to remember when it was first acquired. And nowhere in practical life is there greater need than the student has of unconquerable perseverance. That original and able thinker, Dr. Tiberius Gracchus Jones, once spoke in a sermon, as reported by a thoughtful hearer, of “the love of completeness” as one of our most wholesome passions. When a young student has fairly undertaken to master a certain subject, or to perform any defined amount of mental work, he ought to feel a passionate desire to complete the task, for the sake of his mental habits, if for no other reason.

            (The Pulpit Treasury, July 1886, pp. 183-184).