Rules for thinking are wholly unnecessary even to a young student. The normal human mind, always knows how, as part of its normality. Possibly no other animal knows how, but man knows how, and so do all normal boys and girls. The only explicit rule for thinking is, it seems, Acquire the habit! In plain language it is laziness, that more than anything else prevents this habit of thought, for with all its interest and delight to learn to think, to become a thinker, is not always easy in this resistless world which never stops its hurry. Some really do not know how to think, but only, we may be certain, because they have never tried to learn. The vast majority are just simply too lazy to put their thinkers in order and to use them. And this is so, curiously enough, notwithstanding that constructive mental action is a great delight as well as by far the most practically productive process of the mind. A few of my readers may here be "thinking" or even saying in annoyance, "I did not buy this book to be accused of laziness." No indeed, you did not, but some of you did buy it to learn how to learn easily, and one of the most essential things to be learned for this purpose is the utter incompatibility of learning and indolence. Were
