Page:Convocation Addresses of the Universities of Bombay and Madras.djvu/517

 Trigonometry or Conic Sections. You will have to do more with the sections of Codes than of Cones! If you are to take up the medical profession, do not bestow too much of your time on Astronomy. Remember that much waste of time is entailed by frequent changes in your plan of life. Unless you have affluence and leisure, do not lay out too much of your time on mere ornamental accomplishments or in the reading of novels or other works of fiction. When you give your time, give it so as to obtain a fair return of pleasure or profit for yourself or for the community. Do not waste time in pursuits for which you have no natural aptitude. Do not waste time in undertakings which are impossible of accomplishment, or nearly so. I hardly like natives of India lavishly devoting time to excel in the composition of English or other foreign poetry. Considering that ideas are more important than words, do not spend too much time in the cultivation of mere literary graces. Do not squander time or brain-power in barren controversies or speculations, such as too many Pundits are fond of. If you want to acquire knowledge, acquire it as it is. Do not needlessly trouble yourself about its long past history. The lessons or deductions of history are far more worth time and study than the long dry details of historical events. A few select newspapers, local and general, you must, by all means, read regularly, in order to know current history. But avoid needless multiplicity and avoid the rubbish which is too often produced by impoverished incompetence.

This is an important principle. Get a general idea of all fields of knowledge. But you must study closely and Specially the particular field in which you are most interested. Plenty of books and advice are available for this purpose. Beware of a loose or superficial knowledge of subjects connected with your professional work. I am far from inculcating a strictly utilitarian principle in the choice of the fields of knowledge for your cultivation. All I urge is that you should take a rough survey of those fields, and select such as would yield you adequate pleasure or profit. Some fields may have to be rejected, because you lack the requisite aptitude; others, because you have not the requisite means or leisure; others again, because you have no opportunities to practically use the particular kind of knowledge. Be sure, gentlemen, no one will rejoice more than myself to see multitudes of graduates throughout India taking up multitudes of fields of knowledge and cultivating them with diligence, enthusiasm, and success. You have only to