ReadingsOnThinkingAndLiving

When he was only 21 years old, in 1916, Henry Hazlitt wrote Thinking as a Science --- a still-fascinating book about learning, problem-solving, writing, and generally building a better life as an intelligent human creature. Among Hazlitt's suggestions for further study are several fun little works, including:

• by T. Sharper Knowlson, The Art of Thinking (1899)
• by Edward Howard Griggs, The Use of the Margin (1907) (see MarginAlia)
• by Arnold Bennett, How to Live on Twenty Four Hours a Day (1910) and Mental Efficiency (1911)

Later Bennett books (e.g., Self and Self Management (1918), How To Make the Best of Life (1923), and The Human Machine (1925)) are similarly thoughtful and inspirational. A selection of Arnold Bennett's essays appear together in one volume titled How to Live (along with Friendship and Happiness (1905); see BennettOnLife, BennettOnStoicism, ChristmasFaith, DearDiary, HumanNature, PersonalEnergy, and ZhurnalAnniversary2).

All of these books are available from online auctions and used-booksellers at embarrassingly low prices compared to the cost of current bestselling fluff. Some are free for the downloading.

Hazlitt concludes his new (1969) epilogue to Thinking as a Science:

The present generation has been privileged beyond all others in acquiring this great intellectual heritage. It is a cardinal sin for any individual to neglect to acquire at least some small part of it for himself. It is more than a sin; it is a folly. It is a failure to take advantage of one of the greatest sources of human enjoyment.

TopicThinking - TopicLife - TopicBennett - 2001-10-01

(correlates: MarginAlia, PracticalProductivity, MysteryReligion, ...)

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