Word: idea
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Dates: during 1880-1889
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...general idea men of other colleges have of Harvard, is that it is a place where no man should go unless he is abundantly supplied with cash, or has a fond and wealthy parent not too careful in examining his son's accounts, and that with this condition favorable, Harvard is a good place for a man to have a good time, and to see something of the world, but that he must do his studying elsewhere. Nothing is more erroneous than this idea. Harvard is a place where, in point of wealth, the extremes meet, and that is just...
...needful to discuss the uselessness of making a certain class of students go to a service, which does not accord with their honest religious views. Leaving this idea out of the question, daily public prayers might do great good to many. Under right conditions such a service may raise our standard of thinking and living. It may be made to turn our thoughts, from the almost unavoidable sordidness around us, to the higher, and finer things of life. That the so-called daily prayers at Harvard fail in this purpose, is too true. They stimulate few or none toward better...
...facts upon which they are equally able to pass criticism. The opinions set forth in a review may be most sincere, yet if the writer has poor knowledge of his subject, a sincere opinion is of slight worth. But second-hand views are still more worthless. You bolt an idea whole; and without assimilating it, try to make believe that it is your...
...laboring under the delusion that they are rowing simply for the fun of it, and that any work they may chance to do is so much to their credit as being not at all required of them. They are willing to work at odd times; but the idea of going up to the gymnasium day in and day out, and doing their level best, no matter how they may feel, is so appalling that as yet they have completely failed to grasp it. They all think that such little points as being sharp on time and keeping strict time while...
...proper study of mankind is man." The writer throughout is bright, entertaining, and incisive. But the immoderate application of well-known aphorisms detracts seriously from the freshness and value of the thought. The central idea of the paper is "The present lies four-square, and the sides are self, civilization, raw material, and fellow...