Nature if observed will
reiterate her truths till they become convincing verities, while the
study of words and books alone produces a _quasi-knowledge_ which often
mistakes the symbol for the thing.
Having this thought in mind, _Comenius_, more than two and a half
centuries ago, said, "It is certain that there is nothing in the
understanding which has not been previously in the senses, and
consequently to exercise the senses carefully in discriminating the
differences of natural objects is to lay the foundation of all wisdom,
all eloquence, and of all good and prudent action. The right
instruction of youth does not consist in cramming them with a mass of
words, phrases, sentences, and opinions collected from authors. In
this way the youth are taught, like Aesop's crow in the fable, to adorn
themselves with strange feathers. Why should we not, instead of dead
books, open the living book of nature? Not the shadows of things, but
the things themselves, which make an impression upon the senses and
imagination, are to be brought before the youth."
There has always been a strong tendency in the schools to teach _words,
definitions, and rules_ without a sufficient knowledge of the objects
and experiences of life that put meaning into these abstractions.
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