Page:The Great Didactic of John Amos Comenius (1896).pdf/276

 tion, friendly converse, etc.), we have eight hours left for the serious work of life. We shall therefore have forty-eight working hours a week (setting aside the seventh day for rest). In one year this will amount to 2945 hours, and in ten, twenty, or thirty years to an immense number.

17. If, in each hour, a man could learn a single fragment of some branch of knowledge, a single rule of some mechanical art, a single pleasing story or proverb (the acquisition of which would require no effort), what a vast stock of learning he might lay by?

18. Seneca is therefore right when he says: “Life is long, if we know how to use it; it suffices for the completion of the greatest undertakings, if it be properly employed.” It is consequently of importance that we understand the art of making the very best use of our lives, and to this point we will now direct our investigation.