Standard Rules For The Student

By Chief/Oloye Fela Sowande (1906-1987)

1. Never be overawed by authority. Not at any time whatever, nor for
any reason whatsoever, can any one with safety or profit permit his faculty of
thought to take a 'sabbatical least of all when that individual's mind is expose
d to the thoughts of other people.
2. Be open to conviction, but refuse to be convinced until convictio
n becomes a necessity. In other words, do not imprison your mind in the padded c
ell of the comfortable rut of your own preferred beliefs, prejudices, biases, or
egocentricity.
3. Read little, think deeply and much. Avoid acquiring the grasshopp
er mind. Books are highly suggestive, therefore, choose your authors with care.
Take time to think through the full implications and connotations of
what you read, testing its validity from as many angles as you can. Even nouris
hing food leads to indigestion if swallowed whole. Avoid mental indigestion at a
ll costs. It is not to be cured merely by going to the Drug Store!
4. Seek TRUTH and pursue it, to the extent of remaking your own mind
no matter the cost should it become necessary. Never forget that the "superstit
ions" of today were the "truths" of yesterday; the "truths" of today will be the
"superstitions" of tomorrow. Do not allow them "permanent residence" in your mi
nd. Seek not mere "knowledge" but UNDERSTANDING. Perchance WISD0M may follow. On
e thing is certain: Only when the rational mind is stilled can the ears of Under
standing open to the voice of 'Wisdom.
5. If you must lie, lie to others; they will find you out and know y
ou for the fool that you are. But if you lie to yourself, you are a lost fool.
6. Learn to "think beyond the thoughts of men that lean on things th
ey see." Inevitably they become "obsessed by the perceptible" to such an extent
that, for them, thinking has become synonymous with repeating parrot-fashion the
cast off -thoughts of others, with less intelligence than the (so-called) "dumb
" animals. On no account should you visit that Club, much less join it.
7. Make it your golden rule, never to be broken, NOT under any circu
mstances to consult any author on any subject until you shall first have thought
deeply about it a meditative ac and shall have reached some conclusions, no mat
ter how tentative.
Remember at all times: NOTHING BELONGS TO YOU EXCEPT YOUR MIND HAS H
AD A HAND IN ITS FORMULATION. The moral is obvious " ensure by every means at yo
ur disposal, that your mind is actively functioning on oiled wheels, and that it
functions as your servant and not your enslaver.
8. Heed well the words of Herbert Spencer: "There is a principle whi
ch is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments, and w
hich cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance: That principle is conte
mpt prior to investigation."
Author's Copyright Howard University, 1969, revised at the Universit
y of Pittsburgh, 1973, and restructured at Dartmouth College, July 1975.