Thursday, July 26, 2012

thoughtful thursday: the mark of a truly educated man

I think this applies to all sorts of media, not just books.

Today, with the abundance of books available, it is the mark of a truly educated man to know what not to read. … As John Wesley’s mother counseled him: ‘Avoid [1] whatever weakens your reason, [2] impairs the tenderness of your conscience, [3] obscures your sense of God, [4] takes off your relish for spiritual things, … [5] increases the authority of the body over the mind.

The fact that a book is old does not necessarily make it of value. The fact that an author wrote one good work does not necessarily mean that all his books are worthy of your time. Do not make your mind a dumping ground for other people’s garbage. It is harder to purge the mind of rotten reading than to purge the body of rotten food, and it is more damaging to the soul.

Benson, Ezra Taft. “In His Steps,” in Speeches of the Year, 1979 [Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 1980], p. 61

via here

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