40. Money is said to be power, which is, in some cases, true; and the same may be said of knowledge; but superior sobriety, industry and activity, are a still more certain source of power; for without these, knowledge is of little use; and, as to the power which money gives, it is that of brute force, it is the power of the bludgeon and the bayonet, and of the bribed press, tongue and pen.  Superior sobriety, industry, activity, though accompanied with but a moderate portion of knowledge, command respect, because they have great and visible influence.  The drunken, the lazy, and the inert, stand abashed before the sober and the active.  Besides, all those whose interests are at stake prefer, of necessity, those whose exertions produce the greatest and most immediate and visible effect.  Self-interest is no respecter of persons:  it asks, not who knows best what ought to be done, but who is most likely to do it:  we may, and often do, admire the talents of lazy, and even dissipated men, but we do not trust them with the care of our interests.  If, therefore, you would have respect and influence in the circle in which you move, be more sober, more industrious, more active than the general run of those amongst whom you live.

41.  As to EDUCATION, this word is now applied exclusively to things which are taught in schools; but education means rearing up, and the French speak of the education of pigs and sheep.  In a very famous French book on rural affairs, there is a Chapter entitled ’Education du Cochon,’ that is, education of the hog.  The word has the same meaning in both languages; for both take it from the Latin.  Neither is the word LEARNING properly confined to things taught in schools, or by books; for, learning means knowledge; and, but a comparatively small part of useful knowledge comes from books.  Men are not to be called ignorant merely because they cannot make upon paper certain marks with a pen, or because they do not know the meaning of such marks when made by others.  A ploughman may be very learned in his line, though he does not know what the letters p. l. o. u. g. h mean when he sees them combined upon paper.  The first thing to be required of a man is, that he understand well his own calling, or profession; and, be you in what state of life you may, to acquire this knowledge ought to be your first and greatest care.  A man who has had a new-built house tumble down will derive little more consolation from being told that the architect is a great astronomer, than this distressed nation now derives from being assured that its distresses arise from the measures of a long list of the greatest orators and greatest heroes that the world ever beheld.