News

Garber Announces Advisory Committee for Harvard Law School Dean Search

News

First Harvard Prize Book in Kosovo Established by Harvard Alumni

News

Ryan Murdock ’25 Remembered as Dedicated Advocate and Caring Friend

News

Harvard Faculty Appeal Temporary Suspensions From Widener Library

News

Man Who Managed Clients for High-End Cambridge Brothel Network Pleads Guilty

"FOLLOW THE MAN."

NO WRITER ATTRIBUTED

Recently the editors of a well-known magazine compiled a list of college graduates who had made a notable success in the world. They asked these men to tell what studies had best trained them for future life. Stewart Edward White wrote in answer "What I studied in college I don't remember, but I do remember the men who taught me."

An undergraduate is too often apt to regard his professors as machines to shovel knowledge into his head. He forgets the human element. But if he glances back over the courses he has taken, he will realize that the ones he liked best were given by men he admired. The characteristics of the instructor impress themselves on a student's mind. From one he gets a touch of humor; from another a new and broadening outlook on the questions of the day.

When one is carried away by the sheer force of another's personality, he begins to believe that there must be something in what that other is teaching. The biggest men generally try to find out what one does know instead of what one does not know. Under such conditions it is a poor student indeed who does not respond to the stimulant.

In future life as well as in college, as President Lowell so often has said, "Don't follow the course; follow the man."

Want to keep up with breaking news? Subscribe to our email newsletter.

Tags