Of Studies Studies serve for delight 1, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for delight, is in privateness and retiring 2 ; for ornament, is in discourse 3 ; and for ability, is in the judgment, and disposition of business 4. For expert men 5 can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one; but the general counsels, and the plots 6 and marshalling 7 of affairs, come best from those that are learned. Notes: 1. delight: personal satisfaction 2. privateness and retiring: solitude and retreat 3. discourse: conversation 4. disposition of business: the administration and management of the affairs of the world 5. expert men: men rich in practical experience 6. plots: plans 7. marshalling: arrangement 8. sloth: laziness

Of Studies To spend too much time in studies, is sloth 8 ; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation 9 ; to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the humour 10 of a scholar 11. They perfect 12 nature, and are perfected by experience: for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning 13, by study; Notes: 8. sloth: laziness 9. affectation: unnatural manners or behavior 10. humour: (archaic) temperament. Here it refers to peculiar character. 11. scholar: person who is scrupulous and critical in learning 12. perfect: make perfect 13. pruning: cultivation

Of Studies and studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large 14, except 15 they be bounded in 16 by experience. Crafty men 17 contemn 18 studies, simple men 19 admire them, and wise men use them; for they teach not their own use 20 ; but that is a wisdom without them 21, and above them, won by observation. Notes: 14. too much at large: too general and not to the point 15. except: unless 16. bounded in: limited or restricted 17. crafty men: men with practical skill 18. contemn: despise 19. simple men: ignorant men, unlearned men 20. they teach not their own use: studies do not tell you how to use them 21. that is a wisdom without them: how to use studies is a wisdom that is gained outside studies. that: their own use; without: outside

Of Studies Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously 22 ; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Notes: 22. curiously: carefully, attentively

Of Studies Some books also may be read by deputy 23, and extracts 24 made of them by others; but that would be 25 only in the less important arguments 26, and the meaner sort of books; else 27 distilled books are like common distilled waters, flashy 28 things. Reading maketh a full man 29 ; conference 30 a ready man 31 ; Notes: 23. deputy: person appointed to act for another 24. extracts: excerpts 25. that would be: that ought to be 26. arguments: themes, subjects 27. else: or else 28. flashy: brilliant but empty 29. a full man: a man with rich knowledge 30. conference: conversation 31. a ready man: a witty man, a man who is quick and witty in conversation or writing

Of Studies and writing 32 an exact man 33. And therefore, if a man write little, he had need have 34 a great memory; if he confer 35 little, he had need have a present wit 36 ; and if he read little, he had need have much cunning 37, to seem to know that he doth not 38. Notes: 32. writing: taking notes 33. an exact man: a man who is accurate in detail 34. had need have: ought to have 35. confer: converse 36. present wit: ready mind 37. cunning: cleverness in deceiving 38. that he doth not: what he does not (know)

Of Studies Histories make men wise; poets, witty; the mathematics, subtile 39 ; natural philosophy, deep; moral, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend: Abeunt studia in mores 40. Nay, there is no stond 41 or impediment in the wit 42, but 43 may be wrought out 44 by fit studies: like as 45 diseases of the body may have appropriate exercises. Bowling is good for the stone and reins 46 ; Notes: 39. subtile: (archaic) subtle, able to make fine distinctions 40. Abeut studia in mores: (Ovid: Heroides) Studies turn themselves into character. 41. stond: hindrance, stoppage 42. in the wit: in the mind 43. but: but what 44. wrought out: got rid of, solved 45. like as: as 46. stone and reins: testicles (or bladders) and kidneys

Of Studies shooting for the lungs and breast; gentle walking for the stomach; riding for the head; and the like. So if a man's wit be wandering 47, let him study the mathematics; for in demonstrations 48, if his wit be called away never 49 so little, he must begin again. Notes: 47. be wandering: can not concentrate on something 48. demonstrations: process of proving certain conclusions from given premises in mathematics 49. never: ever

Of Studies If his wit be not apt to distinguish or find differences, let him study the schoolmen 50 ; for they are cymini sectores 51. If he be not apt to beat over matters 52, and to call up one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him study the lawyers' cases. So every defect of the mind may have a special receipt 53. Notes: 50. the schoolmen: scholastic scholars, who adhere to the method or subtleties of the Medieval schools 51. cymini sectores: (Latin) hair-splitters 52. beat over matters: make thorough study of matters 53. receipt: recipe