assuming
that he does not think or that he does
not want to think. Because he seems to
take some of his opinions ready-made from
newspapers or from other people, why should
we conclude that he has no ideas of his
own? As a matter of fact, as soon as I
fall in with this notion that he does
not think, I am falling into the very
shortcoming of which I am accusing him.
And when I do that, I prove only one thing:
that I am just like him, that I think
clearly about some subjects and muddily
about others. Why? Because I am interested
in some subjects and not in others.
It is frequently said by people who profess to have studied the subject that thinking is an exceedingly difficult and unattractive job. We accuse average folks of dodging the task of thinking whenever they can. This charge is not true. If you and I do not choose to think about one subject, it is because we prefer to think about another. But think we do--and get out of it not merely most of our fun but all the fun we have.
You will probably grant that a boy is as natural a specimen of the human, family as we can choose for an example. If your boy does not show any aptitude for study in school, you and his teachers are prompt to unite in declaring that he finds it hard and distasteful to think. But try him; give him something that vitally concerns him, and he will think--original thoughts.
Suppose your boy gets interested in a printing
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