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"The only difference between a man and a turtle," said President Lowell, in his address to the Freshman Class in New Lecture Hall yesterday morning, "is that a man is capable of educating himself. It is just as foolish to go up to a teacher and say to him, 'You are the educator and I am the educatee; try to educate me!'" This was one of President Lowell's last addresses to undergraduates during his term as President of the University.
Throughout his speech, which was on "The Value of Concentration," President Lowell emphasized his oft-repeated assertion that the only sort of education that is of any value is that which is self-acquired. "Furthermore," he stated, "to obtain such an education it is absolutely essential that the student be interested in his work, and that is the reason why I urge you to choose a field which interests you, rather than one which you think would be easy."
Diligence Necessary
Continuing, he pointed out that an undergraduate who does not learn to apply himself diligently, and to exercise his mind while in college, can hardly hope to be a success in business, nor, for that matter, in any graduate school.
On the subject of the graduate schools, he admonished the Freshmen not to major in some subject which would merely help them in graduate study, for "to have but one interest is far from the ideal."
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