Overall Comment

  This is a book to teach you how to make full use of 24 hours in a day.

  There is at least one fair thing in the world, which is what the authors call "the daily miracle"— everyone has only 24 hours in a day.

  The author point out that besides we make our living, there is another desire— intellectual curiosity.  Unable to meet it, we will begin to feel restless. (As far as I'm concerned, it seems to be the case, but sometimes when you are in degenerating, it is going numb, but when regain to your sences, you will regret.）

  So, we should have something to pursue. But don't be too raring. Before taking any action, the author wants us to know the following tips:

    1. The fact is: you never could "spend more time" because everyone has exact 24 hours a day.

    2. "Take advantage of 24 hours a day" this is a quite difficult matter, which requires us to make sacrifices and tireless efforts. But it doesn't matter if you fail once or twice, but to maitain our self-esteem and confidence, and stay motivated. Therefore, at the outset, not to burden too much. Faced with the potential risk of failure, you'd beeter choose small successes.

    3. Don't be excessively enthusiastic, because it may mislead you to make you think you have an extraordinary ability. Only try someting reachable.

    4. Suppose someone wants to jump into the icy pool. He asks you how to do it. Then, nothing else to say, just jump into it.

  The author points out that many people have a wrong notion of time—only the work hour is a day, while other time is the attachment. This notion will reduce our demand of energy and interest in that two-thirds time! The author wants us to pay attention to the two-thirds time, to make use of it.

  The author say human emotions stem from our thinking, therefore controlling thought is the most important thing. Attention is closely revelant to it, so we can train our attention to achieve the goal of controlling thought.

  Reflection is one of the essential things in a day mentioned by the authors. He said behavior consistent with the principles of life will make sense. Less reflection, more rational loss. Introspection can be aware of our negligence, in order to correct it. We will become more and more outstanding if we keep self-examining and corecting everyday.

  Later the author talked about some things about learning art and reading literature. But there is a constant criterion: no matter what you will learn, start from something you are interested in; next, learn systematically and orderly. Note that faced with the potential risk of failure, better to choose small  successes.

  In the terms of reading literature, the author exclude novel first for the reason that cheap novels are not worth reading, and good novels do not force readers to think. The author highly recommended the poetry as the prime alternative for reading literature, for it can be the greatest literary form, giving the greatest joy and the most profound wisdom.

  Finally, the author mentioned some dangers to avoid on our road to pursuit of wisdom:

    First, we must be careful not to be the unpopular people.

    Second, don't be bound by your plans. Only try something according to your might.

    Third, which is the riskiest, has been emphasized for many times previously. Don't let you well-prepared business fail at the beginning. Act with precaution. Even be satisfied with small gains.

2015-01-12

分享

喜欢(1)