Progress and Achievements of the Colored People: Containing the Story of the Wonderful Advancement of the Colored Americans—the Most Marvelous in the History of Nations—Their Past Accomplishments, Together With Their Present-day Opportunities and a Glimpse Into the Future for Further Developments—the Dawn of a Triumphant Era. A Handbook for Self-improvement Which Leads to Greater Success
John Stuart Mill · en
The food of the mind, the drink of the mind, means all the other
pleasures of the flesh resolved into the spiritual body through
education and learning, and the more education, the more learning, the
higher the enjoyment.
A great lawyer once said: “The pleasure of learning may be likened to a
bucket in a deep well of clear, cool water. It is easy to move the
bucket about if it is kept beneath the water, but when we attempt to
raise it above the surface, then comes a tug and a hard pull.” Whence he
derived the conclusion that the deeper we plunge into the clear, cool
depths of education and learning the more pleasure there is and the
easier it is to remain there.
One of our poets says:
“Drink deep or taste not the Pierian spring.”
In these modern days every man must have some sort of an education,
preferably that for the occupation or profession which he selects for
his life work.
If he goes in for a commercial business, then he must learn all about
the rules and laws governing his business or the branch of it he aspires
to learn. He must know all about the nature of the goods he purposes to
sell; the markets; the prices; the demand; the production; the
consumption, and other matters connected with the business.
If he does not learn these things he will fail in business, and if he
does not learn some of them he can not get a job in any business house.
The rule is the same in every trade and profession. The modern man is
exacting. He demands the best service, because his customers or clients
demand better goods, better qualities, and better treatment.
The time has gone by when a tradesman, for instance, could offer goods
to his customer with a “take it or leave it” air. Competition is too
keen to permit that, and prices are too liable to be cut to enable him
to say, “That’s my price,” for there are others who will say, “I will
knock off ten per cent.”
An education that does not fit in with a man’s occupation is a
relaxation, and aids him to rise in his business and profession, so that
nothing is lost by keeping up with the times, but there is everything to
be gained. This is refinement and a valuable asset. Everything that can
be learned is worth something sometime.
How to tell a fresh egg from a stale one is a matter of education, but
to give the reason why a stale egg is not so good as a fresh one is a
matter of learning.
You can distinguish one man from another by his facial differences. That
is education, but when you can tell a good man from a bad one by a study
of his characteristics, that is learning.
To learn how to do things is education, but to learn the nature of the
things you make or the reasons why involves learning.