Inaugural Address at St. Andrews
John Stuart Mill
Adapted for Modern Readers
First published 1867 · Lucid Classics edition 2026 · 69 pages
Original and Lucid edition, side by side
Original text
Education, in its larger sense, is one of the most inexhaustible of all topics. Though there is hardly any subject on which so much has been written, by so many of the wisest men, it is as fresh to those who come to it with a fresh mind, a mind not hopelessly filled full with other people's conclusions, as it was to the first explorers of it: and notwithstanding the great mass of excellent things which have been said respecting it, no thoughtful person finds any lack of things both great and small still waiting to be said, or waiting to be developed and followed out to their consequences.
Education, moreover, is one of the subjects which most essentially require to be considered by various minds, and from a variety of points of view. For, of all many-sided subjects, it is the one which has the greatest number of sides.
Lucid Classics
Education is one of those topics that never gets exhausted. More has been written about it, by more serious thinkers, than almost any other subject — and yet it stays fresh. Come to it with an open mind and you find it just as alive as it was for the first people who thought hard about it. There is no shortage of things left to say, large and small, and no shortage of ideas waiting to be pushed further than anyone has yet pushed them.
Education also happens to be the kind of subject that genuinely needs many minds approaching it from many directions. Of all the subjects that have multiple sides, this one has the most.
Original text
When I consider how very simple the theory of reasoning is, and how short a time is sufficient for acquiring a thorough knowledge of its principles and rules, and even considerable expertness in applying them, I can find no excuse for omission to study it on the part of any one who aspires to succeed in any intellectual pursuit. Logic is the great disperser of hazy and confused thinking: it clears up the fogs which hide from us our own ignorance, and make us believe that we understand a subject when we do not.
We must not be led away by talk about inarticulate giants who do great deeds without knowing how, and see into the most recondite truths without any of the ordinary helps, and without being able to explain to other people how they reach their conclusions, nor consequently to convince any other people of the truth of them. There may be such men, as there are deaf and dumb persons who do clever things, but for all that, speech and hearing are faculties by no means to be dispensed with. If you want to know whether you are thinking rightly, put your thoughts into words. In the very attempt to do this you will find yourselves, consciously or unconsciously, using logical forms.
Lucid Classics
Given how little time it actually takes to get a solid grasp of logic's principles and rules — and even to develop real skill in applying them — I cannot find any excuse for neglecting it on the part of anyone who hopes to succeed at intellectual work. Logic is the great disperser of hazy and confused thinking. It clears the fogs that hide our own ignorance from us and make us believe we understand a subject when we do not.
We should not be led astray by talk of inarticulate giants who accomplish great things without knowing how, who see into the deepest truths without any of the ordinary intellectual aids, and who cannot explain to anyone else how they reached their conclusions or convince anyone that those conclusions are true. Such men may exist, just as there are people who are deaf and mute yet manage clever things — but speech and hearing are not faculties we should therefore do without. If you want to know whether you are thinking correctly, put your thoughts into words. In the very attempt to do that, you will find yourself, consciously or not, using logical forms.