STUDIES serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for delight, is in privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment, and disposition of business. For expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one; but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of affairs, come best, from those that are learned. To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the humor of a scholar. They perfect nature, and are perfected by experience: for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need proyning, by study; and studies themselves, do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience. Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them; for they teach not their own use; but that is a wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation. Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Some books also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others; but that would be only in the less important arguments, and the meaner sort of books, else distilled books are like common distilled waters, flashy things. Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. And therefore, if a man write little, he had need have a great memory; if he confer little, he had need have a present wit: and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know, that he doth not. Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtile; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend. Abeunt studia in mores. Nay, there is no stond or impediment in the wit, but may be wrought out by fit studies; like as diseases of the body, may have appropriate exercises. Bowling is good for the stone and reins; shooting for the lungs and breast; gentle walking for the stomach; riding for the head; and the like. So if a man's wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called away never so little, he must begin again. If his wit be not apt to distinguish or find differences, let him study the Schoolmen; for they are cymini sectores. If he be not apt to beat over matters, and to call up one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him study the lawyers' cases. So every defect of the mind, may have a special receipt.
Study offers pleasure, adds polish to conversation, and develops ability. It gives the most pleasure in private moments of retreat. It adds polish in conversation and develops ability in judging and managing business. Experienced people can carry out tasks and perhaps judge individual matters, one by one. But broad advice, planning, and organizing affairs are best handled by well-read people. Spending too much time studying is laziness. Using learning too much for show is pretentious. Judging entirely by its rules is a scholar’s weakness. Study improves natural ability, and experience improves study. Natural abilities are like plants that need pruning through study. Study itself offers guidance that is too broad unless experience sets its limits. Cunning people scorn study, simple people admire it, and wise people use it. Study does not teach people how to use it. That requires wisdom beyond and above study, gained through observation. Do not read to contradict and disprove, to believe and take things for granted, or to find conversational material. Read instead to weigh and consider. Some books should be tasted, others swallowed, and a few chewed and digested. That is, some books need only be read in parts. Others should be read, but not closely. A few should be read fully, with care and attention. Some books may also be read by others, who can prepare extracts from them. But this should be done only with less important subjects and lesser books. Otherwise, condensed books are like ordinary distilled waters, thin and without substance. Reading makes a person well-stocked with knowledge, conversation makes a person quick to respond, and writing makes a person precise. Anyone who writes little therefore needs an excellent memory. Anyone who talks little with others needs a quick mind. Anyone who reads little needs considerable cunning to appear to know what they do not. History makes people wise, poetry makes them inventive, mathematics makes them precise, and natural philosophy makes them deep thinkers. Moral philosophy makes them serious, and logic and rhetoric make them skilled in argument. Studies shape character. Indeed, no mental blockage or difficulty is beyond correction through suitable study. In the same way, physical ailments can have appropriate exercises. Bowling is good for kidney stones and the kidneys, archery for the lungs and chest. Gentle walking is good for the stomach, riding for the head, and so on. So anyone whose mind wanders should study mathematics. In mathematical proofs, even the slightest lapse of attention means starting again. Anyone who struggles to make distinctions or recognize differences should study the medieval Scholastic thinkers. They are experts at splitting hairs. Anyone who struggles to examine matters thoroughly and use one thing to prove and illustrate another should study legal cases. Thus every weakness of the mind can have its own specific remedy.