The School of the Future 1 1 1 



the business is so* difficult for the unresource- 

 ful man. 



(4) The farm boy's life is simple. Usually 

 he has only the essentials. No doubt he has 

 been confined too closely to the bare necessities ; 

 but in adding the luxuries we must be careful 

 not to eliminate the educating power of a mod- 

 erate and plain life. Superfluities are dissipating 

 of one's energies, and weakening of the moral 

 fiber, whereas simplicity is economy, and makes 

 for straightforwardness and therefore for power. 



One's amusements have much to do with his 

 power, for they force their own example on the 

 mind and they either divert or conserve one's 

 energies. And here is where the farm lad has 

 a great advantage : he is not diverted with too 

 many side interests by being consumed in 

 social affairs. He is able to go at his work 

 with singleness of purpose, and it is no part of 

 his thinking that he must be forever amused 

 and entertained. 



Too much entertainment is a serious fault 

 with our time. The things that strike me 

 most, as a countryman, when I go to the city 



