Text | Luo Xiang
I believe that from childhood to adulthood, countless people have said to everyone that they should study well. Before coming to Fada, your parents certainly had similar teachings for you.
Perhaps, this kind of talk makes your ears cocoon. Then I would like to ask students to think carefully about three questions: Why do you want to read? What books to read? How to read?
Why should we read?
You will not hesitate to say that because reading books can gain knowledge.
Why did that man acquire knowledge?
I think the answer is nothing more than that, because knowledge can change people's destiny, knowledge can make you find a good job in the future, knowledge can get you rid of ignorance, and so on.
Zhao Heng, the emperor of the Song Dynasty, said it more bluntly than everyone else:
Rich families do not have to buy good land, and there are thousands of millets in the book
There is no need to build a high hall in the settlement, and there is a golden house in the book
When you go out, you don't hate no one to follow, and there are many cars and horses in the book
Marrying a wife does not hate the unscrupulous media, and there is a yan ruyu in the book
If the boy has fulfilled his life aspirations, he will read to the window diligently
You see, there are many benefits of reading, cars, tickets, houses, wives.
I do not deny that reading books brings these utilitarian values, but if we only focus on the utilitarian values of reading, then I am very sorry to tell you that many of the things we have in law school may not be useful in the future.
Being a lawyer can make a lot of money, so why should I learn high numbers, and should I use high numbers to count money? To be a great official, the ancestral tomb can smoke, so why should I study law, study relationship, and leadership.
Utilitarian reading inevitably makes you accept the values of successism, and the society we live in is pervasive with the philosophy of successism, you want to be successful, you want to be famous, you want to be a superior person. This dominates almost all of our values.
Successism takes success as a yardstick for assessing the value of everything, and in order to succeed, you can not compromise the means, you can sacrifice all interests.
You have seen the "Devil's Spokesperson", played by young and promising lawyer Kevin Kilo Reeves After the temptation of not being able to live in a high-paying mansion, he brought his wife from his hometown to New York to develop.
Devil's spokesman
Lost in one success after another, in order to pursue profits and win the case, he gave up his lawyer ethics, in order to chase after the victory, he did not hesitate to conceal evidence; he also sacrificed his family, for the sake of his career, he gave up his family, resulting in his wife committing suicide.
Finally, he discovered that he was actually the bastard son of the devil, and that all his success was due to the devil's manipulation. It is precisely through success that the devil is trying to make us give up the beautiful value of our own lives.
At the end of the film, the devil says something meaningful: Vanity is undoubtedly my favorite sin.
Utilitarian reading makes you just want to succeed and can't accept failure.
But I always believe that a person's true success is not in how much glory you achieve, but in the setbacks, whether you can bravely climb up. Only non-utilitarian reading can make you accept failure with ease.
In a large number of non-utilitarian literary works and celebrity biographies, the failure, hardship, and despair of the protagonist abound. So many great souls, they have also fallen when, why can't you fall.
Utilitarian reading makes you focus only on the external merit and neglect the inner richness.
The Seventy-two Sages of Confucius Gate are not lacking in erudite and capable people, and high-ranking officials and generous people, but the student whom Confucius most admires is a simple Yan Hui, "a piece of food, a scoop of drink, in the dark alley, people are overwhelmed, and they will not change their happiness."
Confucius said that Yan Hui is eager to learn, "Those who have Yan Hui are eager to learn, do not move anger, and do not pass the test." That is to say, Yan Hui has a peaceful mentality, emotional stability, is good at reforming himself, and pays attention to virtue.
This kind of inner richness cannot be learned in utilitarian reading.
Utilitarian reading can make people arrogant and arrogant. Knowledge often makes people proud and gives people a sense of intellectual superiority, making you look down on people and unable to establish normal interpersonal relationships with people. Cao Pi said, "Literati are light on each other, and they have been since ancient times."
Why Chinese literati always look down on each other may be the evil consequence of knowledge, because knowledge makes us feel different and superior.
Many intellectuals do not know how to cooperate, only know how to fight alone, for a long time, China has not appeared world masters, a very important reason, is that these people are too proud.
Will there be a master among the students here? I don't know, but I think that if you really want to contribute to the progress of humanity, you have to admit your ignorance and limitations, and you have to cooperate with others.
Therefore, the purpose of reading cannot be limited to utilitarianism, but must pursue non-utilitarian values.
In my opinion, the real purpose of reading is to pursue wisdom, not pure knowledge.
On the surface, reading is a paradox: it makes you feel more and more ignorant in the process of learning. This is like Socrates said, "Admitting your ignorance is the door to wisdom."
Zhuangzi said: My life also has an end, and knowledge has no end, and there is no end to it.
This sentence is misread by many people as an inspirational sentence. In fact, Zhuangzi's meaning is completely opposite, what Zhuangzi wants to say is that life is limited, and knowledge is infinite, and chasing infinite knowledge with a limited life will make yourself very tired.
King Solomon said something similar, "There are many books, but there is no end; there is much reading, and the body is tired."
These words are very negative on the surface, but he actually wants to tell us that knowledge is infinite, and in the process of seeking knowledge, we must maintain sufficient humility for infinite knowledge.
Therefore, reading books can first cultivate their own reverence for the unknown world. With the deepening of reading, you can know that the sea of knowledge has no boundaries, and what we know is really too limited.
Reading can inspire our exploration of the unknown world, although the ocean of knowledge is infinite, individual life is limited, but the misreading of Zhuangzi by future generations is reasonable.
It is precisely because human beings are intelligent, unlike other creatures, that we must use our wisdom to explore the mysteries of the unknown world, and then feel the wonder of the universe even more, so as to avoid human arrogance.
As we have just said, the purpose of reading is utilitarian and non-utilitarian.
The former is for success, the latter is to correct the former: in order to enrich one's heart and avoid being poisoned by successism, to admit one's own limitations through reading, to maintain enough humility in the face of the vast universe to constantly explore the mysteries of the universe.
Therefore, reading is also divided into utilitarian reading and non-utilitarian reading, the former is the book that everyone has grown up from childhood to adulthood, parents and teachers let everyone read well, there is not much to talk about.
Four years of college, utilitarian reading is of course essential, you have to study a good major, as a tool for making a living in the future, you have to learn English well, if you don't want to decouple from the world in the future.
But more importantly non-utilitarian reading, which can make you feel truly happy.
So, what books should you read?
I think it is still necessary to take a lot of money and accumulate thick and thin hair. First of all, we must "have a broad view", "accumulate thickly", and be widely involved.
As a liberal arts university, literature, history and philosophy are not separated, so we must at least read through important literary classics, in literature, we can enrich our life experience, literature comes from reality, although on the surface the protagonists are fictional characters, they are all refractions of reality.
Literature can let us know the diversity of life, the different outcomes of different paths in life, and it can tell us how to choose when facing the same situation.
Literary works can also greatly cultivate people's empathy, the sorrows and joys of countless individuals in literature are fateful, which can make us experience the suffering and impermanence of life, we will think that we are also flesh and blood, suffering will come to us at any time, so we will feel empathy, and we will deeply understand John Dorne's sermon:
No one is a self-contained, isolated island, and everyone is part of a vast continent. If the waves washed away a rock, Europe diminished. Like a cape lost a corner, like a friend or your own territory lost a piece. Everyone's death is my sorrow because I am a member of humanity. So, don't ask who the death knell is ringing for, it's for you!
Second, we have to understand history. If literature is a fictional character, then history is the real life of a real person.
Through the reading of history, we can more deeply understand the complexity of human nature, you will be admired by the nobility of human nature, but also shudder at the evil of human nature; through historical figures, we can also reflect on ourselves, sublimate ourselves, to show the brilliance of human nature, suppress the darkness of human nature.
In history, countless living individuals have made us realize the imperfections of human nature, and from then on we can reject artificial idols.
It is precisely because of my reading of the calendar that I have a deep understanding of the spirit of the rule of law, because man is imperfect, so any group of human beings has a corrupt nature, so it is necessary to maintain absolute vigilance against any power.
Power leads to corruption, absolute power leads to absolute corruption, and any power must be shackled by the rule of law.
Again, philosophy books should also be read. Philosophy is the discussion of the concept of life, the philosophy mentioned here is not the philosophy that everyone learned in the previous class, it is only a category of philosophy, but it is just a family.
Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Cicero, Martin Luther, Calvin, Montesquieu, Locke, Popper, Hayek, and so on. This series of lists, when the stars of mankind are bright, is enough for you to read for a lifetime, and through the reading of various philosophical works, you can trace the footsteps of the sages, to think about where people come from, where they belong, and what they should live in their lives.
If you are interested, you can start with the introduction, such as Durant's "Philosophical Story", after reading it, you may slowly fall in love with philosophy.
In addition to literature, history and philosophy, various art books such as art and music can be dabbled. A man who loves art should be closer to the path of goodness.
But in this regard, I am not qualified to talk about it, and I have very few artistic cells of my own. I have only read a few books on art history, and I feel very comfortable, and I will make up for it in the future.
Of course, after "Boguan" and "thick accumulation", it is about to take. Mencius said that it is better to believe in books than to have no books, and reading is an understanding of the experience of predecessors, there must be a screening process, and we must never follow the clouds, and we must pay attention to comparative identification and distinguish between right and wrong.
"I love my teacher, I love the truth more", reading is like a means of transportation on the road of truth, some means of transport go faster, some means of transport go slower, planes fly faster than trains, but flights are often delayed, and can not reach small villages, all kinds of means of transport have their own pros and cons, so any book can be read, can not be favored.
In addition, if the best means of transportation go in the wrong direction and go in the opposite direction, it will be trouble. Through reading, you can slowly establish the right values, just like choosing the right driving route.
So how do you read these books?
This first involves where to look for these books, teachers will have their own favorite book list will be recommended to everyone during class, every year during the holidays, I will also recommend to you, if you are interested, you can also pay attention.
During college, students should make full use of the resources of the library, although the university is not large, but the library is still good, at least the main books that college students should read.
In addition, if you want to see new books, you can visit the bookstore, if the economic conditions permit, it is best to go to the bookstore to buy books. Otherwise, they all buy books online, and the physical bookstores will close down.
Recommend several bookstores to everyone, one is the Halloween Book Park located between Peking University and Tsinghua University, call three or five confidants on the weekend, sit in All Saints, and read books. Students who are in love can talk about love in the wake-up coffee next to the bookstore, and read the book by the way, which is very romantic, very warm and elegant.
Another slightly farther away, in the main store of the Sanlian Bookstore near the art museum, is also very good, to the Forbidden City, Jingshan Park is to stop by. The websites of these two bookstores have new book recommendations every month, which you can refer to.
Secondly, you can also participate in or organize reading groups, many people read together, read one or two good books every month, not too many people, five or six people can be, each time by one or two classmates as the main speaker, other students participate in the discussion, in the interactive discussion, you will have a lot of gains.
The reading group on Douban can also participate, but I still tend to have face-to-face contact with people in the real space, which can not only read books, but also read people.
Again, regarding the method of reading, general books can be read extensively, do not hold the mentality of how much to learn after reading a book, otherwise you will return to the path of utilitarianism.
Many students often complain to me that the teacher can't remember reading, and after reading, I forget the front.
In fact, why remember? Is it to write an article, or is it to show off in front of others?
Reading is to read for the sake of reading, Tao Yuanming said:
Good reading, not seeking much understanding; whenever there is a will, it gladly forgets to eat.
In the process of reading, there is a moment when you can achieve the state of having fun with the book and happily forgetting to eat, then you will achieve the purpose of reading. Your heart is slowly being washed in the subtlety.
Of course, if you think that after a book is read extensively, it is very good, then you can read intensively, for the sentences in the book that make you moved, you can record it, and you can even post it on Weibo, everyone, let everyone share your experience.
There are many books that can be read repeatedly. As you get older and more experienced, the same book will give you different impressions at different times.
In the four years of college, I think you should have at least a few books on the bedside, turn them over when you have nothing to do, just like old friends, talk when you have time, and when the books are turned over, you may have a deeper understanding of this old friend.
Finally, many books can be read in bits and pieces, such as when taking the bus to the subway and the train and the plane, on the way to the Halloween bookstore on weekends, and so on.
I remember when I read Linda's "Closer look at america series," a book that law students must read, as if they were all reading it while doing the bus.
Some students will say that reading a book in the car hurts the eyes, or it is inconvenient, which may also make sense, but I see many students in the car no matter how crowded the car, they are still looking at mobile phones and playing games. If you spend that time reading, maybe you'll be more fulfilled.
Kafka said that a book must be a sharp axe that cuts through the sea of ice in our hearts.
Dear students, do you have a sea of ice in your heart? So, start reading now!
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