Ageless Advice for the Student

Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha, sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to him, learning of the kingdom of God from his very words.  Hugo of the Monastery of St. Victor in Paris, wrote on the subject of learning in his essay (d. 1141), “On the Way to Speak and Meditate”:

“Humility is necessary for one who wishes to learn.  The beginning of learning is humility.  Much can be learned from humility, but there are three principles that pertain to the student.  The first is that he should hold no knowledge or teaching as beneath contempt.  Second, that no one should be ashamed to learn.  The third is that when one subject has been learned, others should not be spurned.  There are many who wish to seem learned before they have studied and so they are embarrassed to learn from others.  But you, my child, learn gladly from others what you do not know.  If you learn from all, you shall be wiser than all.  Those who take from all, shall be richer than all.  Do not hold any knowledge beneath contempt, because all knowledge is good.  Even if a book or a law is idle, do not hold it in contempt.  If you gain nothing, at least you do not lose anything.  As the Apostle said: ‘Test all things: hold to that which is good’ (1 Thessalonians 5, 21).  A good student should be humble and meek.  He should be entirely foreign to worldly cares and the enticements of the flesh.  He should be willingly attentive so that he may learn from all.  He should not presume on his knowledge, appear learned, but to be as one who seeks the words of the wise, always holding them before the eyes of his mind – as though before the image of his face – that he may ardently study them. 

“Three qualities are necessary for the student: nature, skill, and discipline.  The nature is necessary so that the student may perceive easily through hearing and to retain the perception firmly.  In regards to his skill, he should develop his natural understanding by his labor and attentiveness.  In regards of his discipline, he should combine his good behavior with his knowledge.

“He should strengthen his natural talent and his memory.  He who devotes himself to studies should strengthen his natural talent and his memory.  These two should so adhere to each other that if one ceased, no one could attain perfection: he strengthens a receptacle in vain, if he has not that with which to fill it.”