You should branch off from the trunk of knowledge, and
flourish mainly in one direction, when you will find it will take all
the time you can give to grow into any size, and blossom into one kind
of fruitage.
There are so many things to learn in any department of knowledge, and
the amount increases so rapidly, year by year, that, after a certain
measure of general information has been acquired in the schools, it
is almost necessary to make rigid choice of what we shall study, or
of what we shall read. This may be narrowing, and even superficial,
in one sense, since it confines our information within one channel,
and prevents it from mingling with the ebb and flow of broader human
interests. It may make us too regardless of any pursuit aside from
our own, and bring us to the condition which many a foreigner finds
himself in,--that of holding a complete knowledge about his own trade,
but utter ignorance of every other. But I think not. If we are really
intelligent, and comprehend the difficulties of the department of
knowledge we are working in, I believe we have respect for the
department another fills, though we know nothing of it. Of course, we
are always to consider that the study we have chosen is best for us,
and, therefore, to be lovingly and jealously followed. I think the
method of choosing special studies is the only way of acquiring thorough
and accurate knowledge.
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