Soon I became wholly penetrated and absorbed by the thought that it must
be beyond everything else vital to man's culture and development, to the
sure attainment of his destiny and fulfilment of his vocation, to
distinguish these tendencies accurately and sharply not only in their
separate ascending grades, but also throughout the whole career of life.
Moreover, I made a resolution that for some time I would devote myself
to the study of the higher methods of teaching, so as to fit myself as a
teacher in one of the higher centres of education, as, for example, one
of the universities, if that might be. But it was not long before I
found a double deficiency, which quickly discouraged me in this design.
For, firstly, I wanted a fund of specially learned and classical
culture; and next, I was generally deficient in the preparatory studies
necessary for the higher branches of natural science. The amount of
interest in their work shown by university students was, at the same
time, not at all serious enough to attract me to such a career.
I soon perceived a double truth: first, that a man must be early led
towards the knowledge of nature and insight into her methods--that is,
he must be from the first specially trained with this object in view;
and next, I saw that a man, thus led through all the due stages of a
life-development should in order to be quite sure to accomplish in all
steadiness, clearness, and certainty his aim, his vocation, and his
destiny, be guarded from the very beginning against a crowd of
misconceptions and blunders.
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