"
With such,
"Nothing goes for sense or light
That will not with old rules jump right;
As if rules were not in the schools
Derived from truth, but truth from rules."
And Butler, in his satirical description of Sir Hudibras, ascribes to
his hero more practical philosophy than he appears to have intended, and
more, certainly, than is found in some modern systems of education:
"In mathematics he was greater
Than Tycho Brahe or Erra Pater;
For he, by geometric scale,
Could take the size of pots of ale;
Resolve by sines and tangents straight,
If bread or butter wanted weight;
And wisely tell what hour o' th' day
The clock does strike, by algebra."
Another prerequisite of wisdom is intellectual humility, Solomon, says,
"Before honor is humility;" and humility is before wisdom, and even
before learning. We ought not to be ashamed of involuntary ignorance.
Franklin, when asked how he came to know so much, replied, "By never
being ashamed to ask a question."
It is idle for any one to imagine that there is nothing more for him to
learn. Indeed, such a theory is good evidence of defective education and
limited attainments, if not of a defective mental and moral structure.
Naturalists delight and instruct their pupils and auditors with the
wonderful truths folded in the flower, garnered in the plant, or
imprisoned in the rock.
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