48 Teachings of ThomasHuxley 



said in the world. Classical studies teach that 

 which is, not that which ought to be. It is 

 perfectly possible for a man to run the entire 

 gamut of Greek and Latin and Hebrew and 

 Persian and a score of other tongues, ancient 

 and modern, and still be the veriest boor in 

 thought, speech, and deed. It is also possible 

 for a man to know intimately none of these 

 tilings, yet to evidence his love of the humani- 

 ties in a thousand other ways that bespeak re- 

 finement and culture in every gesture. 



Professor Huxley holds very strongly by 

 two opinions: "The first is that neither the 

 discipline nor the subject-matter of classical 

 education is of such direct value to the student 

 of physical science as to justify the expendi- 

 ture of valuable time upon either ; and the sec- 

 ond is, that for the purpose of attaining real 

 culture, an exclusively scientific education is 

 at least as effectual as an exclusively literary 

 education." 



The classics are undoubtedly desirable, and 

 especially so to the appreciative; but to the 

 unappreciative and essentially practical mind 

 they are a waste of time. Literature is beyond 

 doubt the basis of culture, for it contains the 

 finest products of the finest minds. It is, how- 

 ever, so accessible in these davs that no one 

 need of necessity be illiterate ; and certainly 

 if culture does not depend upon a knowledge 

 of the grammar of unfamiliar languages, some- 



