98 THE ALUMNI JOURNAL 



are incapable of talking about anything else. One reason for the 

 lack of intercourse in the profession is, in my opinion, our ignor- 

 ance of general literature ; we haven't a common meeting ground. 

 Such a meeting ground is useful if only as a place to start from. 

 Let me, therefore, urge upon you the importance of reading the 

 great books of the world and the more important of the newer 

 books. I urge this not merely because it will furnish material for 

 conversation, because it will facilitate intercourse between the pro- 

 fession, but because it will make possible the understanding of the 

 life and works of men in other professions and occupations ; it will 

 make it possible for members of the profession to adapt their serv- 

 ice to the changing needs of men in other fields of human activity. 



I need not here discuss the value of the world's great books. 

 We all know their importance as a revelation of the past, of the 

 world beyond our horizon and of the world to come. They revive 

 for us the age of wonder, the age of heroes ; they open to us the 

 best society of all the ages, Plato and Dante and Goethe will admit 

 us to their company. We may share too, in the adventures of Marco 

 Polo and in the travels of Washington. In books of science we 

 become spectators of the world of creation, in technical books we 

 become partners in its labors; in political literature we converse 

 with kings and statesmen. Works of travel, biographies, history, 

 discover to us the life, the thought and the feeling of our fellows, 

 and what is true of all these classes of literature combined is true 

 of the newspaper. I am one of those who believe that no reading is 

 more important than the reading of the newspaper. The only thing 

 about it that I deplore is the belief that the reading of the news- 

 paper is sufficient, the reading of the morning paper or the evening 

 paper is too often the end of wisdom. It should be only the be- 

 ginning. 



In urging the importance of more professional and general 

 reading I do not wish to be understood as urging it at the expense 

 of other things. The man who stands around with a book in his 

 hand trying to do things is to me one of the most pitiable objects 

 in the world. We must recognize from the beginning that for the 

 able man there is little or no time for reading during business hours ; 

 indeed, I am inclined to believe that reading is scarce respectable 

 until night has come; but just as it is important to recognize that 

 there are times when we should not read, so it is important, equally 



