An Important Aspect of College Life

It is perfectly possible to organize the life of our colleges in such a way that students and teachers alike will take part in it; in such a way that a perfectly natural daily intercourse will be established between them and it is only by such an organization that they can be given real vitality as places of serious training, be made communities in which youngsters will come fully to realize how interesting intellectual work is, how vital, how important, how closely associated with all modern achievement — only by such an organization that study can be made to seem part of life itself. Lectures often seem very formal and empty things; recitations generally prove very dull and unrewarding. It is in conversation and natural intercourse with scholars chiefly that you find how lively knowledge is, how it ties into everything that is interesting and important, how intimate a part it is of everything that is interesting and important, how intimate a part it is of everything that is "practical" and connected with the world. Men are not always made thoughtful by books; but they are generally made thoughtful by association with men who think.

参考译文： 大学生活的一个重要方面

　　完全有可能把我们的大学生活组织得使学生和教师都参与其中, 使师生间产生完全自然的日常交流; 只有通过这样的组织, 才能使大学这种严格地培养人的地方真正充满朝气, 才能使他们成为共同生活的团体, 年轻人在其中会充分认识到脑力劳动是多么有趣味, 多么充满活力, 多么重要, 并且与一切现代成就有着多么紧密的联系——只有通过这样的组织，才能使学习成为生活的一部分。课堂讲授常常显得很一本正经而空洞无物；背诵往往非常枯燥而收效甚微。主要是在与学者们的谈话和自然的交往中，你才能懂得知识是多么生气蓬勃，知识与一切有趣和重要的事物是多么紧密相连，它是这些事物的不可分割的一部分，是一切“实用的”以及与当今世界有关的事物密切联系的一部分。读书并不一定能使人变得善于思考；但是，一般说来，与善于思考的人们交往能使人好学善思。