弗朗西斯·培根/Francis Bacon
Studies serve for delight,for ornament,and for ability.Their chie f use for delight,is in privateness and retiring;for ornament,is in d iscourse;and for ability,is in the judgment and disposition of busines s.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 jud gment wholly by their rules,is the humor of a scholar.They perfect nat ure,and are perfected by experience:for natural abilities are like nat ural plants,that need pruning by study;and studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large,except they be bounded in by experie nce.Crafty men contemn studies,simple men admire them,and wise men us e them;for they teach not their own use;but that is a wisdom without t hem,and above them,won by observation.Read not to contradict and conf ute;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 s wallowed,and some few to be chewed and digested;that is,some books ar e to be read only in parts;others to be read,but not curiously;and so me few to be read wholly,and with diligence and attention.Some books a lso may be read by deputy,and extracts made of them by others;but that would be only in the less important arguments,and the meaner sort of bo oks;else distilled books are like common distilled waters,flashy thing s.
Reading maketh a full man;conference a ready man;and writing an ex act man.And therefore,if a man write little,he had need have a great memory;if he confer little,he had need have a present wit;and if he r ead little,he had need have much cunning,to seem to know that he doth not.Histories make men wise;poets witty;the mathematics subtle;natur al philosophy deep;moral grave;logic and rhetoric able to contend.Abe unt studia in morse.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 m athematics;for in demonstrations,if his wit be called away never so li ttle,he must begin again.If his wit be not apt to distinguish or find differences,let him study the schoolmen;for they are cymini sectores.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 defe ct of the mind may have a special receipt.
讀書可以怡情，可以博采，可以增智。讀書的主要用途，就怡情而言，體現在獨處幽居的時候；就博采而言，體現在交談的時候；就增智而言，體現在判斷處理事物的時候。專家學者能有條不紊地處理事情，辨析事物的微妙之處，而深思好學者能統籌策劃，全盤考慮大小事務的計劃安排。讀書耗時過多是懶散；文采太過浮躁華麗是矯情；完全循規蹈矩則是學究怪僻。讀書可以使人的性格趨於完美，而親自體驗則能補充完善書本知識：因為自身的資質猶如自然生長的植物，需要借助書本知識得以修整。要想把這種修整做得盡善盡美，就必須把書本知識與實踐相結合。手藝人鄙視讀書，無知的人羨慕讀書，明智的人學以致用。因為書本不會教人如何運用，學以致用的智慧不在書中，而在其外，全憑經曆體驗才能獲得。不要為了吹毛求疵而讀書；不要盡信書中所言；不要隻是從書中摘文引句，而應該思量斟酌。有些書淺嚐即可，有些書吞食即可，隻有少數的書需要細嚼慢咽地消化掉。也就是說，有些書隻需摘選其部分內容來讀，有些書隻需粗略瀏覽，隻有少數的書必須仔細認真地閱讀。有些書可以請人代讀，並取其所做的摘要，但隻有那些題材不太重要或價值不高的書籍才適合這樣做，否則從這類書中提煉的就像蒸餾水一樣，寡淡無味。
閱讀使人充實，交談使人敏捷，寫作使人嚴謹。因此，很少寫作的人必須有很好的記性，很少與人交談的人必須天生靈敏，讀書不多的人必須非常狡猾得看起來沒有知識也像有知識一樣。曆史使人明智，詩歌使人聰穎，數學使人精細，自然科學使人深沉，倫理學使人莊重，邏輯和修辭學教人雄辯。讀書可以陶冶性情，正如運動可以治療生理疾病一樣，適宜的讀書可以治療心理上的弊病。打保齡球有益於睾腎，射箭有益於胸肺，慢走有益於腸胃，騎馬有益於大腦，如此等等。倘若是精神不集中的人，就讓他學數學，因為在演算時稍一走神，就得重做；倘若是不善辨別異同的人，就讓他學科院哲學，因為那些哲學家都喜歡條分縷析；倘若是不善洞察事物、不善於推理的人，就讓他研究律師的案卷。所以，智力上的種種瑕疵都有專門的處方來彌補。