SECTION 22. OBSERVATION. 271 



act in conformity with the principles developed at length in 

 Conclusion 10, to which we accordingly refer the reader. 



Rapidity is a most desirable virtue. Consider, as an example, 

 the late Lord Avebury. He was during his life-time president 

 of some fifteen learned societies; he wrote over twenty volumes 

 on almost as many topics, a number of them of marked scienti- 

 fic value ; he contributed over a hundred memoirs to the Trans- 

 actions of the Royal Society ; he was a well-known constructive 

 politician and a supporter of many causes; and at the same 

 time he acted as one of the heads of a great banking firm and 

 was the chairman of the London Bankers and the president 

 of the Central Association of English Bankers. Darwin wrote 

 a dozen large works of the first order, though he was far from 

 robust in health. John Stuart Mill, whilst busy as an official 

 of the East India Company all his life, published a quantity of 

 classic treatises. Aristotle's intellectual output was no less re- 

 markable for its variety than for its quality. Consequently, 

 there is good reason for surmising that a colossal preventable 

 wastage of energy is the rule with most scholars. Those who 

 are quick, no doubt compass what they desire with the ex- 

 penditure of a minimum of energy. Lord Avebury, whom the 

 author had the privilege of knowing, certainly appeared neither 

 feverishly preoccupied nor engaged in a breathless race. On 

 the contrary, he was one of the most lejsurely scholars he 

 has been acquainted with. 



He who has really a rooted desire to be swift will also tend 

 to be resourceful. Accordingly we shall state some of the rules 

 conducing to resourcefulness: 



(a) Take for granted that most minor difficulties are easily resolved; 

 that most ordinary difficulties are really minor difficulties; and that 

 ready adaptability is the chief secret of resourcefulness. 



(b) Be well acquainted with your subject: this will enable you to meet 

 many difficulties, since most present contingencies contain no novel 

 element. 



(c) Hold fast, adapt, and generalise to the furthest degree for future 

 use, any ingenious method or idea, positive or critical, suggested by ac- 

 cident or otherwise. 



(rf) Heed the manifold lessons of experience: this will frequently help 

 you to remember solved difficulties identical or similar to the one which 

 perplexes you. 



(e) Be guided also by the lessons taught by the experience of others, 

 especially of those who are resourceful. 



(/) To meet a particular case freely exploit (1) every cranny of the 

 past for relevant recollections and (2) near and distant analogies relating 

 to past and present. 



(g) Ascertain the precise problem and find any method which will 

 resolve it. Example: Should the birds keep you awake in the early 

 morning, or the traffic at night, deal with the precise problem loud 

 sounds,* to which one simple solution might be cotton wool in the ears. 



1 In connection with the nightly rest, this is a social problem of the first 

 magnitude in towns, to which it would be highly desirable to find a simple 

 solution. Neither closed windows nor living in suburbs offers the ideal 



