Education Of A Wandering Man by Louis L'Amour

A great book begins with an idea; a great life, with a determination.

If I were asked what education should give, I would sat it should offer breadth of view, ease of understanding, tolerance for others, and a background from which the mind can explore in any direction.
Education should provide tools for  a widening and deepening of life, for increased appreciation of all one sees or experiences.  It should equip a person to live life well, to understand what is happening about him, for to live life well one must live with awareness.

When I left school at the age of fifteen I was halfway through the tenth grade.  I left for two reasons, economic necessity being the first of them.  More important was that school was interfering with my education.

The only way men or women can be judged is against the canvas of their own time.

Most young writers waste at least three paragraphs and often three pages writing about their story rather than telling it.  This was one of the many things I had yet to learn.

We do not at present educate people to think but, rather, to have opinions, and that is something altogether different.

A few people reason but all people feel.

In most cases, when a chief signed a treaty, he was signing for himself.  He had no authority to force other Indians to abide by it.  This most white men never understood.

There never was such a thing as a punch-drunk fighter until the boxing glove was invented, and increasing the size of the gloves has not protected the fighter more, only made boxing less scientific, as it now takes a larger opening for a punch to get through.

Ours has been called a materialistic society.  The Europeans love saying that of us, but I have never found a society that was not materialistic.  If you find one, you may be sure it will be dying.

Those who have never ventured away from the security of their cities, their diplomatic corps, or their business relationships must understand that there is a half-world out there, a place that lies beyond the pale of the law or fringing it: a world of people who move about, cross borders, lose themselves in crowds; a half-world that knows where illegal papers can be obtained, visas, licenses, whatever is necessary.

Upon the shelves of our libraries, the world's greatest teachers await our questions.

 


    

                                
                                            Louis L'Amour   (1908 - 1988)