PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION A SHORT time ago one of our most distinguished statesmen, in giving an address on education, said: "What you want to develop in your race is the art of thinking, and thinking is an art which stands a very good chance of perishing from amongst us altogether. The risks to which independent thinking is exposed, when you come to reckon them up, are manifold and dangerous. I think the Press, with all its merits, is one of the greatest enemies of independent thinking." If by the Press we are to understand newspapers, magazines, and cheap literature, then we shall be in substantial agreement with this opinion. People read a great deal more than they used to do-there is more to be read-but they think less. The chief danger to-day is that of intellectual apathy. Life is so complex, the struggle for existence so keen, and pleasures of various kinds are so cheap and abundant, that men and women seem to live entirely on the surface of things. What we need is a call to independent thought. It is as a small contribution to supply this need that the author puts forth this little volume. In every other respect it will, he hopes, explain itself. CONTENTS CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Time for Thinking - Thinking for Thinking's Sake- pp. 1-9 CHAPTER II THE THINKING FACULTY Unity of Mind-Feeling, Intellect, Will-Innate Know- Observation in Fiction Writing-The Culture of Obser- CHAPTER IV STUDIES IN PREJUDICE Active Prejudice-Passive Prejudice-Prejudice of Birth 1x pp. 34-58 CHAPTER V THOUGHT AS INFLUENCED BY EMOTION - The Twofold Influence of Emotion Fear Pride- -- Solution-Character Studies CHAPTER VI pp. 59-82 GENERAL RULES FOR CLEAR THINKING The Nature and Value of Method-The Art of Concen- CHAPTER VII CONSTRUCTIVE THINKING pp. 83-106 The Art of Classification - Constructive Imagination - CHAPTER VIII THOUGHT IN ITS MORAL ASPECTS The Substance of Thought-The Art of Happiness CHAPTER IX pp. 126-134 THE COMMERCIAL VALUE OF TRAINED INTELLIGENCE Intelligence, i.e. Brain and Senses-Training the Mind and pp. 135-141 CHAPTER X CONCLUSION Thought Revival-Thought Production-General Rules pp. 142-146 THE ART OF THINKING CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION "It is not erudition that makes the intellectual HAMERTON: The Intellectual Life. "AND friend, when dost thee think?" was the reply made by a Quaker lady to whom Southey had explained with no little satisfaction Time for how he spent the day. He told her thinking how he studied Portuguese grammar whilst he was shaving, how he read Spanish for an hour before breakfast, how, after breakfast, he wrote or studied till dinner; how in a word, his whole time was filled by writing, reading, eating, talking, taking exercise and sleeping; and she replied with the very pertinent |