u--you mark yourself; the teacher
merely records the mark. Even if you fail in the examination, that
should indicate to you what you lack, and so be a benefit. Indeed, it
is better to fail than to scrape through.[1] There must be a line
somewhere. The man just above the line passes, and the man just below
the line fails. The former may not be as capable as the latter, but,
having passed, he does not remedy his faults; while the man who has
failed is required to remedy his. Huxley said that the next best thing
to being right is to be completely and wholesomely wrong.

{51}

(_d_) DRAW YOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS, WHENEVER POSSIBLE, BEFORE YOU KNOW
THOSE OF THE WRITER You ARE STUDYING.--When you read, "From the above
it is evident," stop, close the book, and see if you can state what is
evident. When you have written this down, compare with the result
reached by the writer. Practise such exercises in whatever form they
present themselves. If your conclusions are different from those of
the writer, in kind or in character, see which is right, or whether
both are right. If you are right, why did the writer not reach your
conclusion? Was it because it was not pertinent to his problem? Is it
simply a difference of expression?

The process of investigating any subject is a process of question and
answer. The student must first propound to himself a question, and it
must be the proper question. He must be able to perceive what the
proper question is, under the circumstances. Then he must give to
himself the proper answer out of all the possible answers that are
verbally correct, namely, the answer that affords a new vantage ground
from which another question may be asked; and so the problem may be
gradually unravelled.

Then again, many questions are indefinite, and {52} can only be
answered indefinitely; but to all questions a correct answer can be
given, and the student must give the most definite answer the case
admits of, and must gain the ability to qualify his answer or classify
possible cases in such manner as may be necessary.

(_e_) IF YOU CANNOT SEE HOW THE AUTHOR REACHES A STATED CONCLUSION,
BECAUSE HE DOES NOT INDICATE THE PROCESS WHICH HE FOLLOWS, DO NOT SPEND
TOO MUCH TIME TRYING TO FIND OUT HOW HE DID IT, BUT RATHER SEE IF YOU
CAN COME TO A CONCLUSION IN YOUR OWN WAY, THUS CULTIVATING YOUR OWN
POWER AND INITIATIVE RATHER THAN FOLLOWING THE AUTHOR.--A good textbook
should not make things too clear,