Talks to Young Men, II: Education

TALKS TO YOUNG MEN

11.— EDUCATION.

No man need leave his work one hour in order to gain an edu- cation; he can educate himselj while he works. — H. W. Maibie.

Education in a broad sense, may be defined as a pjrowth toward divinity; technically, it is a process of development, an un- folding of latent powers, physical and mental. The advantages of an education are so patent that argument seems needless; but, notwithstanding this, the inducements are not suiRcient to call forth the efforts of many young people who have both ability and opportunity. Considering it from a ma- terial point, which is far from being the best criteria by which to

measure its value, an education pays a handsome dividend on the price necessary to obtain it. Economically, the individual is most valuable who can do the largest amount of the highest kind of work in a given time. There is too great a tendency among the young men to seek the lighter employments. Politics, law, medicine, trade, clerking, bank- ing, are all needful and good in their place, but we need builders, mechanics, Jarmers, and men who can use their powers to produce — something for the use oj man. Joseph F. Smith.

Invariably the one who can do technical work, who can man- ipulate delicate tools, receives a higher compensation than one not able to do this. Perhaps the point can be better illustrated by comparison: Mr. Walker, in his excellent work on Political Economy, gives the following figures: One dollar's worth of pig iron — iron in its crude form —manufactured into rails, is worth $1.10; manufactured

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into horse-shoes, $2.55; into wood-saws, $14.28; into scissors, $446.94; and manufactured into pen-knives, $657.14. Thus, by a refining and developing process, the raw material is made six hundred and fifty-six times more valuable than before. The hair- springs of watches are, when ready for the market, worth more than their weight in gold. If this be true of the cruder elements, is it not proportionately true of the human soul, which possesses in embryo, all the faculties and attributes which shine in their fullest perfection in Deity.

Each man determines Jor himself how large or how small a man he will be. The time has come when to he master in any line, it re-

quires long years of careful training and preparation. He who would succeed must not only work, but educate himself as he works.

The writer has in mind a case of two brothers, who, in youth, to all appearance, had equal opportunities. One came under the influence of a great teacher who awakened the boy's ambition, stirred his intellect, and aroused within him a determination to ob- tain an education. To this end, the boy toiled on, permitting nothing to deflect him from his high purpose. Step by step, he climbed to positions of dignity and honor. His less fortunate brother, reckless of the future, pursued a different path, spent much of his precious time in the idle and illusory pleasures of youth. Advancing years brought to him the hard responsibilities of life, and he found himself but poorly prepared to wrestle with these great problems. Scarcely ten years had elapsed, when a sad circumstance brought these- brothers together. In their youth, they walked side by side, now their diverging paths had led them a long way apart. One was obliged to toil for a paltry wage per day, honorable of itself, but unfortunate for one of his ability and opportunities. The other filled with honor a position of trust and emolument, had a rounded and liberal education for a man of his years, lived in respectability, and contributed to the happiness and enlightenment of a large circle of friends. Setting aside all other considerations, he received, in money, twelve times as much as his toiling and disappointed brother. One was com- fortable and happy, and looked toward a future full of promise

the other lived in squalid poverty; before him the avenues of

prosperity seemed closed. The result was not a matter of money nor of ability, but of neglected opportunities, on the one hand, and, on the other, the reward of a constant devotion to a high purpose.

Every accomplishment, every polished grace, every useful at- tainment in mathematics, music, and in all science and art, belong

to the Saints, and they should avail themselves as expeditiously as possible oj the wealth of knowledge the sciences offer to every diligent and persevering scholar. —Brigham Young. Educated men have always walked in the van of civilization.

Of the fifty-five illustrious representatives who met in Philadel- phia in May, 1787, and gave to us the Constitution of the United States; twenty- nine were college bred. The venerable and patriotic Benjamin Franklin, who for mental grasp and practical wisdom surpassed all the others, was a self-educated man. The brave and benevolent Washington, who presided over that august body, had not the advantages of a college training, still he became a master of both political and military science. The preservation and per- petuation of the American Union was due in no small measure to his calm courage and unerring judgment.

"The only hope of the man who would stand on that high plane of spiritual, mental and physical manhood jor which he was created is to keep pace with enlightened progress, to read, to study, to think, to observe, and to develop soul and body to their highest powers."

Dr. William T. Harris, in a well-prepared paper, shows conclu- sively the advantages of an education in this day of business com- plication. After a careful investigation and comparison, he arrived at the startling conclusion that the ratio is two hundred and fifty to one — in favor of the trained man. Is it an exaggeration to say, that, within the broad confines of Utah, there is not an ambi- tious young man too poor to acquire the essentials of a good edu- cation? There may be many who have not at their command the .

means necessary to take a training in some institution of higher education, for a number of consecutive years, but there are none so poor that they cannot cherish a love for learning, none too busy to spend a few odd minutes in reading some good book.

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One of the hardest tasks is for a mature hut illiterate mind to learn to love reading. Ihis must be learned before the age oj thirty.

The writer made a test, in a large class of students whose average age was less In this test, it was than twenty ^ears. shown that the ordinary boy can read, at least twenty pages in an hour. At this rate, reading only one hour per day, he could read twelve volumes of six hundred pages in a year, and this continued for ten years would mean the equivalent of a college course. There are none too poor to do it. The great mistake is failing to keep constantly at it, failing to do a little each day, refusing to turn regularly to the task. Persistent work, along a well defined line, is certain to produce the most satisfactory and surprising results.

An education furnishes the reserve force that most men must rely upon to meet the emergencies of life.

An education is a common heritage of the children of this great republic. Our national prosperity shall depend in no small degree upon the training received by the men and women of the future. Benevolent and far-seeing statesmen, recognizing this,

have, through wise legislation, made liberal provision for the edu-

cation of the youth. The age demands men with skilled hands and cultivated intellects. The jack-of-all trades is gone. The day of the specialist is upon us. Those who are ambitious to march with the army of successful men and women must bring to life's labor some special fitness. In a free land, there is but one poor man — a man without a righteous ambition.