Man's primary natural goals are, therefore, to measure himself
against his environment, to discover in every object he sees those
sensible qualities which may concern himself, so his first study
is a kind of experimental physics for his own preservation. He is
turned away from this and sent to speculative studies before he
has found his proper place in the world. While his delicate and
flexible limbs can adjust themselves to the bodies upon which they
are intended to act, while his senses are keen and as yet free from
illusions, then is the time to exercise both limbs and senses in
their proper business. It is the time to learn to perceive the
physical relations between ourselves and things. Since everything
that comes into the human mind enters through the gates of sense,
man's first reason is a reason of sense-experience. It is this
that serves as a foundation for the reason of the intelligence;
our first teachers in natural philosophy are our feet, hands, and
eyes. To substitute books for them does not teach us to reason,
it teaches us to use the reason of others rather than our own; it
teaches us to believe much and know little.
Before you can practise an art you must first get your tools; and
if you are to make good use of those tools, they must be fashioned
sufficiently strong to stand use. To learn to think we must therefore
exercise our limbs, our senses, and our bodily organs, which are
the tools of the intellect; and to get the best use out of these
tools, the body which supplies us with them must be strong and
healthy. Not only is it quite a mistake that true reason is developed
apart from the body, but it is a good bodily constitution which
makes the workings of the mind easy and correct.
While I am showing how the child's long period of leisure should be
spent, I am entering into details which may seem absurd. You will
say, "This is a strange sort of education, and it is subject to
your own criticism, for it only teaches what no one needs to learn.
Why spend your time in teaching what will come of itself without
care or trouble? Is there any child of twelve who is ignorant of all
you wish to teach your pupil, while he also knows what his master
has taught him."
Gentlemen, you are mistaken. I am teaching my pupil an art, the
acquirement of which demands much time and trouble, an art which
your scholars certainly do not possess; it is the art of being
ignorant; for the knowledge of any one who only thinks he knows, what
he really does know is a very small matter. You teach science; well
and good; I am busy fashioning the necessary tools for its acquisition.
Once upon a time, they say the Venetians were displaying the treasures
of the Cathedral of Saint Mark to the Spanish ambassador; the only
comment he made was, "Qui non c'e la radice." When I see a tutor
showing off his pupil's learning, I am always tempted to say the
same to him.