Observe, record, tabulate, communicate. Use your five senses. Learn to see, learn to hear, learn to feel, learn to smell, and know that by practice alone you can become expert.
William OslerRead
It is much simpler to buy books than to read them and easier to read them than to absorb their contents.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Acquiring knowledge is easier than truly understanding and integrating it into oneβs life.
This quote emphasizes the difference between merely purchasing or reading books and actually understanding and applying the knowledge contained within them. It suggests that while access to information is easy, the true challenge lies in absorbing and utilizing that knowledge effectively, which requires deeper engagement and effort.
Themes
BooksReadingKnowledgeUnderstandingEducation
In practice
Example use cases
This quote would be great to include in a presentation about the importance of critical reading.
More from William Osler
All quotes βThere is no more difficult art to acquire than the art of observation, and for some men it is quite as difficult to record an observation in brief and plain language.
William OslerRead
One of the first duties of the physician is to educate the masses not to take medicine.
William OslerRead
No bubble is so iridescent or floats longer than that blown by the successful teacher.
William OslerRead
The young physician starts life with 20 drugs for each disease, and the old physician ends life with one drug for 20 diseases.
William OslerRead
Let each hour of the day have its allotted duty, and cultivate that power of concentration which grows with its exercise.
William OslerRead
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I went out of my way to play games I didn't like or find interesting. Those ended up being a lot more informative for me. At home, I have literally thousands of games, and I think of them as pearls of wisdom from my predecessors.
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Schools are designed on the assumption that there is a secret to everything in life; that the quality of life depends upon knowing that secret; that secrets can only be known in orderly successions; and that only teachers can properly reveal these secrets. An individual with a schooled mind conceives of the world as a pyramid of classified packages accessible only to those who carry the proper tags.
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I always knew from that moment, from the time I found myself at home in that little segregated library in the South, all the way up until I walked up the steps of the New York City library, I always felt, in any town, if I can get to a library, I'll be okay. It really helped me as a child, and that never left me. So I have a special place for every library, in my heart of hearts.
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We still raise girls to look to other people for assurance they are attractive and smart, while boys are raised to determine their own value. Many girls are still made to feel it's not feminine to be good at science or math.
Eileen PollackRead
It is the nurse that the child first hears, and her words that he will first attempt to imitate.
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