Great learning seems to be
Made of three things—
Each harder than the one before.
The first is in gathering
The bits and pieces of fact
That anyone can collect
Along the way though life.
The second is learning to reason out
The truth of how the bits and pieces
Are connected—and how they aren’t—
And of which pieces are yet missing
And in need of discovery.
And the third is in caring
About both the quality of oneself
And of how he conducts
The first and second.
And I should tell you:
By the time one reaches the third—
If he gets that far—
He may realize how much better
Things would have turned out
Had he begun there.
But if he were so very fortunate—
So utterly blessed—
As to have been taught the last
From the beginning,
He will not often make the mistake
Of thinking himself finished
With his learning too early.
