Study Usefulness

How much better it is to have the walls covered with books with which we are establishing friendly relations, than with pictures of passing interest which we have happened to obtain. Eventually pictures may lose their interest, whereas books never lose their fascination.
— Dr. William J. Mayo, Aphorisms of Dr. Charles H. Mayo and Dr. William J. Mayo, #8, p. 47.

It is easy to philosophize; the philosopher is said to be one who bears with equanimity the sufferings of others.
— Dr. William J. Mayo, Ibid., # 89, p. 70.

Half of us are blind, few of us feel, and we are all deaf.
— Sir William Osler, Aphorisms From His Bedside Teachings and Writings, collected by R.B. Bean, M.D., and edited by W.B. Bean, M.D., #8, p. 33.

Acquire the art of detachment, the virtue of method, and the quality of thoroughness, but above all the grace of humility.
— Sir William Osler, Ibid., # 105, p. 68.

Look wise, say nothing, and grunt. Speech was given to conceal thought.
— Sir William Osler, Ibid., # 267, p. 126.

                                TWO KINDS OF FAITH
     Why do we say: "Our God and the God of our fathers"?
     There are two kinds of people who believe in God. One believes because he has taken over the faith of his fathers, and his faith is strong. The other has arrived at faith through thinking and studying. The difference between them is this: The advantage of the first is that, no matter what arguments may be brought against it, his faith cannot be shaken; his faith is firm because it was taken over from his fathers. But there is a flaw in it: he has faith only in response to the command of man, and he has acquired it without studying and thinking for himself. The advantage of the second is that, because he found God through much thinking, he has arrived at a faith of his own. But he who unites both kinds of faith is invincible. And so we say, "Our God" with reference to our studies, and "God of our fathers" with an eye to tradition.
     The same interpretation has been given to our saying, "God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob," and not "God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," for this indicates that Isaac and Jacob did not merely take over the tradition of Abraham; they themselves searched for God.
— Martin Buber, Ten Rungs: Collected Hasidic Sayings, pp. 13-14.

                                EVERYWHERE
     God says to man as he said to Moses: "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet" — put off the habitual which encloses your foot and you will recognize that the place on which you happen to be standing at this moment is holy ground. For there is no rung of being on which we cannot find the holiness of God everywhere and at all times.
— Martin Buber, Ibid., p. 15.