Jasper County Democrat, Volume 14, Number 91, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 February 1912 — Educated Man [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Educated Man

Begins With Life and is Never Finished

By GEORGE H. MARTIN

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ROM time immemorial a man who has been to school has been, called educated, and one who has been to college has been thought to be highly educated. Education has been supposed to begin when school life began audio end with school or college graduation. After that a new existence began, called “life.” According to the modem idea, education is life., of which the school work is but a part. It begins with life; it is never finished. It is a gradual change wrought in the mind by the

of the mind itself and can never cease. The world of things and of people is the chief means of education. The flowers, the birds, the changing of the seasons, the experiences of life and the people we meet set at work the powers of thought and feeling and will, and by this work a man is educated. The necessities of life by stimulating to thought and exertion educate. Because a man must have food and clothes and shelter he must think and plan and work. Hand and eye and brain are trained together. Therefore the skilled artisan is an educated man. The unknown in nature stimulates some men. To uncover nature’s secrets requires keen and patient observation and a genius for hard work. Hence, discoverers and inventors are educated men. But the most important part of education comes from intercourse with people. From this side comes the education in love and duty and service. . " • : x The actions of people stimulate imitation and emulation. By these men grow in power and skill. From observat ion of the character of people men form ideals of character for themselves and are transformed thereby. Herein lies the consummate educative power in Christianity—the transforming power of the Divine Man.

According 'to this new idea s education is not merely receiving but giving; not learning alone but doing. The educated man is open-eyed and openminded, quick to respond to influences from without, learning from all his experiences and growing in power as he grows in knowledge. Education is an individual matter. No two men can be educated alike in manner or degree. They respond to different influences and grow in - different, ways. One becomes educated by •way of schools and colleges and life, another by life alone. The measure of a man’s education is the measure of his use in the' world.