In idling, the motor's running, but you're letting your mind take in anything. Things pop into it. Those are the gifts of subterranean conscious.
Mortimer AdlerRead
If you ask a living teacher a question, he will probably answer you. If you are puzzled by what he says, you can save yourself the trouble of thinking by asking him what he means. If, however, you ask a book a question, you must answer it yourself. In this respect a book is like nature or the world. When you question it, it answers you only to the extent that you do the work of thinking an analysis yourself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Books require personal effort and thinking to extract knowledge, unlike living teachers who provide direct answers.
This quote emphasizes the importance of active engagement in learning. Unlike a teacher who can clarify doubts immediately, a book requires the reader to think deeply and analyze the material to derive meaning. This involvement is similar to understanding nature or the world; one must actively ponder and explore to gain insight, reinforcing the idea that education is an interactive process where the learner must participate to truly comprehend the information presented.
Themes
EducationLearningThinkingBooksKnowledge
In practice
Example use cases
In a classroom setting to encourage students to engage with their reading materials.
More from Mortimer Adler
All quotes →The only standard we have for judging all of our social, economic, and political institutions and arrangements as just or unjust, as good or bad, as better or worse, derives from our conception of the good life for man on earth, and from our conviction that, given certain external conditions, it is possible for men to make good lives for themselves by their own efforts.
Mortimer AdlerRead
A good book can teach you about the world and about yourself. You learn more than how to read better; you also learn more about life. You become wiser.
Mortimer AdlerRead
If you are reading in order to become a better reader, you cannot read just any book or article. You will not improve as a reader if all you read are books that are well within your capacity. You must tackle books that are beyond you, or, as we have said, books that are over your head. Only books of that sort will make you stretch your mind. And unless you stretch, you will not learn.
Mortimer AdlerRead
In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but how many can get through to you.
Mortimer AdlerRead
If your friend wishes to read your 'Plutarch's Lives,' 'Shakespeare,' or 'The Federalist Papers,' tell him gently but firmly, to buy a copy. You will lend him your car or your coat - but your books are as much a part of you as your head or your heart.
Mortimer AdlerRead
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