by T. SHARPER KNOWLSON

To think is to live

CICERO, Tusc. Quast. v.38

1902

PREFACE

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

›› Chapter I

CHAPTER II—THE THINKING FACULTY

›› Chapter II

CHAPTER III—THOUGHTS, AND HOW TO GATHER THEM

›› Chapter III

CHAPTER IV—STUDIES IN PREJUDICE

›› Chapter IV

CHAPTER V—THOUGHT AS INFLUENCED BY EMOTION

›› Chapter V

CHAPTER VI—GENERAL RULES FOR CLEAR THINKING

›› Chapter VI

CHAPTER VII—CONSTRUCTIVE THINKING

›› Chapter VII

CHAPTER VIII—THOUGHT IN ITS MORAL ASPECTS

›› Chapter VIII

CHAPTER IX—CONCLUSION

›› Chapter IX