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Messages to Young People
Thorough Mastery of Fundamentals
Never rest satisfied with a low standard. In attending school, be
sure that you have in view a noble, holy object. Go because you desire
to fit yourselves for service in some part of the Lord’s vineyard. Do all
that you can to attain this object. You can do more for yourselves than
any one can do for you. And if you do all that you can for yourselves,
what a burden you will lift from the principal and the teachers!
Before attempting to study the higher branches of literary knowl-
edge, be sure that you thoroughly understand the simple rules of
English grammar, and have learned to read and write and spell cor-
rectly....
Do not spend time in learning that which will be of little use to
you in your after life. Instead of reaching out for a knowledge of the
classics, learn first to speak the English language correctly. Learn
how to keep accounts. Gain a knowledge of those lines of study that
will help you to be useful wherever you are.—
Counsels to Parents,
Teachers, and Students, 218-219
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