In order to learn we must _attend_: in order to profit by what we have
learnt, we must _think_--_i.e._ reflect. He only thinks who
_reflects_.[14]
[14] The indisposition, nay, the angry aversion to _think_, even in
persons who are most willing to _attend_, and on the subjects to which
they are giving studious _attention_--as Political Economy, Biblical
Theology, Classical Antiquities, and the like,--is the phenomenon that
forces itself on my notice afresh, every time I enter into the society
of persons in the higher ranks. To assign a _feeling_ and a
determination of _will_, as a satisfactory reason for embracing or
rejecting this or that opinion or belief, is of ordinary occurrence,
and sure to obtain the sympathy and the suffrages of the company. And
yet to me, this seems little less irrational than to apply the nose to
a picture, and to decide on its genuineness by the sense of smell.