The learning methods and training details of Harvard's top students

Chapter 18 Always learn from outstanding people in order to improve the speed of excellence
(Harvard Representative: Lippmann) 80% of the knowledge Harvard students learn at Harvard comes from their classmates.

——Harvard Famous Quotes
【Wonderful Guide】

Biography of Lippmann

Walter Lippmann (1889-1974) is the most famous columnist in the United States.Lippmann was born in a wealthy German-Jewish family in New York. He entered Harvard University in 1906 and studied under famous professors such as Sandayana, Erwin Babbitt, and William James.He had studied socialist doctrine, read Shaw, Wells, and Marx.At first he wrote some news articles covering the business world in the "Everyone" magazine, and in 1914 he became the editor of the "New Republic" magazine.

From his participation in the founding of "New Republic" at the age of 24 to his death at the age of 85, his writing activities continued for more than 60 years. He wrote tens of thousands of articles on current affairs with a total of 1000 million words in his life, and published more than 30 books.His "Today and Tomorrow" column published in the New York "Herald Tribune" and later in "Newsweek" lasted for 36 years (1931-1967). column.Lippmann's achievements are not limited to publishing articles in newspapers and periodicals. He also directly participated in and indirectly affected many major state affairs and diplomatic events in the history of the United States in his life. All the presidents of the United States from the old Roosevelt to Johnson have attached great importance to it. his position and point of view.In addition, he had direct contact with leaders such as Churchill, de Gaulle, Adenauer, Khrushchev, Nehru, and Mussolini.The famous American columnist James Reston called him "the greatest journalist of our time".

【Character Story】

Surround yourself with the best

When he was studying at Harvard, Lippmann's classmates and debaters included the famous "leftist" journalist John Reid who died for the revolution in the Soviet Union (he became famous as "Ten Days That Shocked the World"), and later opened the modern poetic style. Elliott, the famous poetry master, was a brother of the same school. He was taught by the famous esthetician George Santayana and met the famous philosopher Henry James. The educator Elliott and the studious Lippmann, from Wells and Shaw to Nietzsche and Schopenhauer, span many disciplines and see everything. The breadth and speed of their reading are astonishing.

One morning in the fall of 1908, Lippmann, who was a sophomore at Harvard, suddenly heard someone knocking on his door.He opened the door and found an old man with silver beard and white hair standing in front of him.He froze because he found out that the old man was Harvard's most famous tutor, the philosopher William James.

William James smiled at him and said, "I thought I'd stop by and see you and tell you how much I appreciate your writing about Wendell."

It turned out that an article about Wendell published by Lippmann in the Harvard University Journal was seen by Professor William James, and he came to express his appreciation to Lippmann.

Since then, Lippman, a sophomore, has become a frequent visitor to Professor James' house. Every Thursday at 11 o'clock in the morning, he comes to the professor's house to drink tea with him. Their witty conversations involve politics, society, ethics, religion, etc. field.James once taught him: "A writer should write at least a thousand words a day, whether he wants to or not, even whether he has anything to write."

Conversing with such a wise man gave Lippman great encouragement and spiritual gain. He wrote to his father: "This (conversation with James) is the most amazing thing in my life at Harvard. .”

Another teacher of Lippmann is the free thinker and esthetician Santayana. Santayana's rigorous and meticulous way of doing things, his sharp and sophisticated critical attitude, his arrogant views of different customs and his way of being a person all make Lippmann's spiritual Follow his steps.Santayana's detached attitude, and the belief that "the function of reason is to control experience", and the extended view that "excessive democracy may lead to the tyranny of the masses"-"this is the cruelest and most cruel of all rule The Most Anti-Progressive Reign"—a surprising influence on Lippmann's journalism and political writing throughout his life.

Regarding his two teachers, Lippmann once said bluntly: "Among the greatest people I know, I love James the most, but I feel more and more that Santayana is something I can't get rid of."

【Harvard view】

humility is a great wisdom
Franklin is known as the "Father of America".When he was young, he went to visit a respectable old man.At that time, he was young and energetic, with his chest raised and his head raised, and he strode forward. As soon as he entered the door, his head hit the door frame hard, causing him to rub it with his hands in pain. cut the door.Seeing his appearance, the senior who came out to greet him smiled and said, "It hurts, right? But, this will be the biggest gain from your visit to me today. If a person wants to live in the world safely, he must always remember Say: 'Bow your head when it's time to bow your head.' That's what I'm going to teach you too."

Franklin regarded the teachings from this visit as the greatest harvest in his life, and listed it as one of his life principles. Franklin benefited from this principle throughout his life. Later, he made outstanding contributions and became a great man of his generation.He said in a conversation: "This inspiration helped me a lot."

Only when you understand the truth of bowing your head can you understand the true meaning of raising your head and being a human being.To bow your head is not to give in, it is not to admit defeat, to bow your head is to hide your aura of arrogance and be a down-to-earth person.

For a person, there are two main benefits of being humble: one is that being humble makes people progress.There is no limit to life but no limit to the ocean of learning. No matter how smart and knowledgeable a person is, his knowledge is just a drop in the ocean compared to the knowledge of human beings as a whole. "The sea is tolerant to all rivers and rivers is great." The more knowledgeable people are, the more they understand this truth, so the more open-minded and eager to learn, strict with self-discipline, and persevere, the more they can achieve great things.The second is to win favor with humility.Modesty people talk and behave in a courteous manner, without being arbitrary, arrogant, or self-righteous, and it is easier to gain the favor of others, advice, help, and sincere cooperation in communication.A person who is favored everywhere, his career ship is like sailing with the wind, and his success is self-evident.

A proud person likes to brag, is a giant of language, but a dwarf of actions. He often likes those who are attached to him or flatter him, but he often hates those who are stronger than himself.Proud people always underestimate the opponent's ability and be paralyzed and underestimate the enemy. Therefore, the tragedy of "proud soldiers must be defeated" has been repeated in history.

[Easy interaction]

Are you a humble person?
1. Before making a decision on a matter, do you usually seek other people's opinions?

A. yes B. possible C. no

2. Do you always think that your abilities are inferior to others?
A. yes B. possible C. no

3. Do you consider yourself attractive?

A. yes B. possible C. no

4. Do you have a sense of humor?

A. yes B. possible C. no

5. Are you calm in times of crisis?

A. yes B. possible C. no

Grading:

If you choose A, you get 3 points; if you choose B, you get 2 points; if you choose 0, you get 1 point.

Test Results:

If your score is 12 to 15 points, it means that you are extremely humble in life, but this is not your advantage, because you always hope to get advice from others, so you will show humility in life. Very unintentional.Therefore, for some things, you should learn to make up your own mind. Modesty is indeed a virtue, but everything has a limit, and it is not good to go too far.

If your score is 9-11, it means that you are very humble in life, and your modesty is just right.Therefore, your performance in life is that you fully respect others and at the same time have your own opinions. You are a very mature and rational person.

If your score is below 5-8, it means that you seem overconfident in yourself.In life, you make up your own mind about many things. Although it seems that you are very assertive, it also shows that you cannot listen to other people's good suggestions. Therefore, some of your decisions are not the best, so you are in the future. One's own arbitrariness in exchange for the lessons of failure.

【Parent-child total product】

Modesty is a good upbringing.A humble person knows that there are mountains beyond the mountains, and heaven beyond the sky. Therefore, there is room for speaking and keeping a low profile; doing things is down-to-earth, and they do not hesitate to put in [-] points of effort, for fear that things will not be done well.Humble people will warn themselves when they achieve success: one mountain is still higher, so they will continue to enrich themselves, make continuous progress in learning, and make their careers never stop; while proud people are often satisfied with just one achievement and a one-sided view.Just think, can a person who doesn't want to make progress make progress?Franklin once said: Lack of humility is lack of insight.German classical writer Lessing also said: Most of our pride is based on our ignorance.As Gorky said: The wider a person's knowledge, the more perfect he is.Because of rich knowledge, people will be humble.The richer the knowledge, the more humble a person is, and the more humble a person is, the less satisfied he is with the knowledge he possesses.

So how can teens maintain a humble attitude?
At least the following points should be achieved: admit that you don’t know what you don’t understand; don’t exaggerate what you have done; learn to accept new things; pay attention to your words and deeds in interpersonal communication, accept the fact that you are inferior to others in many aspects; cultivate a good Personality, the practice of self-esteem will not get everyone's support.

【Harvard view】

Make friends with excellent people to increase the chance of success
White was a new hire at the railroad telecommunications firm in a small town in Indiana, USA. At 16, he was determined to make a difference. At 27, he became director of the management office and later director of the Ohio State Railroad.

When his son went to school, his advice to him was: "At school, make friends with first-class people. Those who are capable will succeed in whatever they do..."

Friends are like books. Good friends are not only good companions, but also our teachers.

Friendships with great friends are as difficult as trying to make a million dollars for the first time, not because of their excellence, but because of our own tendency to be insecure.

The reason why young people fail easily is because they are not good at communicating with their predecessors.Field Marshal Foch of France in the First World War once said: "Young people must know at least one old man who is well-versed in the world and ask him to be an advisor."

Many teenagers are always willing to socialize with people who are worse than themselves, which is really worth masturbating.Because in this way, when communicating with friends, you can have a sense of superiority.But from people who are not as good as yourself, obviously you can't learn much.And making friends who are better than ourselves can make us more mature.

We may take solace in friends who are inferior to us, but we must also have the stimulus of good friends to encourage courage.

Most friends come by chance.Although it is accidental to make friends, friends have a great influence on personal progress, so it is advisable to make a decision after serious consideration.

In short, successful people rely on friends who are better than themselves, and constantly push themselves to the top.

[Easy interaction]

1. Think about it, are all the friends and teachers around you better than yourself?Make a list of them.

2. Write down the strengths and weaknesses of teachers and friends, and also write down your own strengths and weaknesses, compare them, and always motivate and remind yourself.

【Parent-child total product】

At the beginning of 1919, Chen Yinke arrived in the United States, and entered Harvard University at the beginning of the following year, where he studied Sanskrit and Pali under the tutelage of Professor Lanman.Professor Lanman is a Ph.D. in Buddhism graduated from Yale University in the United States. After obtaining the Ph.D., he went to Germany to receive further training in oriental paleography.Its high level of Sanskrit and Pali is second to none at Harvard University.He also has deep attainments in Indian philosophy and Buddhism.

Chen Yinke also discussed Buddhism with the famous American new humanism master and Professor Babbitt of the Department of Comparative Literature of Harvard University.Professor Babbitt also attached great importance to Chen Yinke and placed great hopes on him.

Not long after Chen Yinke arrived in the United States, through the introduction of Yu Dawei, he met Wu Mi, an international student studying under Professor Babbitt, who was also studying in the Faculty of Letters of Harvard University.The two dated more and more, and their friendship gradually became stronger. Until their later years, the deep friendship between them continued unabated.

Chen Yinke benefited a lot from being in the company of outstanding people. Because of his outstanding talents, he, Wu Mi and Tang Yongtong were called "Three Heroes of Harvard".

(End of this chapter)