“It is not exactly my way, but I do think, as a general rule, that teachers talk too much!  A book is a very good institution!  To read a book, to think it over, and to write out notes is a useful exercise; a book which will not repay some hard thought is not worth publishing.  The fashion of lecturing is becoming a rage; the teacher shows herself off, and she does not try enough to develop her pupils.

“The greatest object in educating is to give a right habit of study....

* * * * *

“...  Not too much mechanical apparatus—­let the imagination have some play; a cube may be shown by a model, but let the drawing upon the blackboard represent the cube; and if possible let Nature be the blackboard; spread your triangles upon land and sky.

“One of my pupils always threw her triangles on the celestial vault above her head....

“A small apparatus well used will do wonders.  A celebrated chemist ordered his servant to bring in the laboratory—­on a tray!  Newton rolled up the cover of a book; he put a small glass at one end, and a large brain at the other—­it was enough.

* * * * *

“When a student asks me, ‘What specialty shall I follow?’ I answer, ‘Adopt some one, if none draws you, and wait.’  I am confident that she will find the specialty engrossing.

“Feb. 10, 1887.  When I came to Vassar, I regretted that Mr. Vassar did not give full scholarships.  By degrees, I learned to think his plan of giving half scholarships better; and to-day I am ready to say, ’Give no scholarships at all.’

“I find a helping-hand lifts the girl as crutches do; she learns to like the help which is not self-help.

“If a girl has the public school, and wants enough to learn, she will learn.  It is hard, but she was born to hardness—­she cannot dodge it.  Labor is her inheritance.

“I was born, for instance, incapable of appreciating music.  I mourn it.  Should I go to a music-school, therefore?  No, avoid the music-school; it is a very expensive branch of study.  When the public school has taught reading, writing, and arithmetic, the boy or girl has his or her tools; let them use these tools, and get a few hours for study every day.

“...  Do not give educational aid to sickly young people.  The old idea that the feeble young man must be fitted for the ministry, because the more sickly the more saintly, has gone out.  Health of body is not only an accompaniment of health of mind, but is the cause; the converse may be true,—­that health of mind causes health of body; but we all know that intellectual cheer and vivacity act upon the mind.  If the gymnastic exercise helps the mind, the concert or the theatre improves the health of the body.

“Let the unfortunate young woman whose health is delicate take to the culture of the woods and fields, or raise strawberries, and avoid teaching.