Daily Archives: April 6, 2006

Thomas Young Quote

Quote of the day: “Although I have readily fallen in with the idea of assisting you in your learning, yet [there] is in reality very little that a person who is seriously and industriously disposed to improve may not obtain from books with more advantage than from a living instructor… Masters and mistresses are very necessary to compensate for want of inclination and exertion: but whoever would arrive at excellence must be self-taught.” — Thomas Young, letter to his brother, 1798

I agree. My friend Richard disagrees. Anyone else?