My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org

SELF-EDUCATION IN SCIENCE, ETC. 113to us ?While so many of the laws which govern theuniverse and which influence our lives are, by us,unknown and uncared for ? And this not because wewant the power, but the will, to acquaint ourselveswith them. Can we think it right that, with the keyto so much that we ought to know, and that we shouldbe the better for knowing, in our possession, we seeknot to open the door, but allow this great store ofmental wealth to lie unused, producing no return tous, while our highest powers and capacities rust forwant of use ?" It is true that man is still, as he always has been,subject to error ; his judgments are often incorrect,his beliefs false, hisopinions changeable from age toage. But experience of error is the best guide totruth, often dearly bought, and, therefore, the moreto be relied upon. And what is it but the accumulatedexperience of past ages that serves us as abeacon light to warn us from error, to guide us in theway of truth ? How little should we know had theknowledge acquired by each preceding age died withit ! How blindly should we grope our way in thesame obscurity as did our ancestors, pursue the samephantoms, make the same fatal blunders, encounterthe same perils, in order to purchase the same truthswhich had been already acquired by the same process,and lost again and again in bygone ages ! But thewonder-working press prevents this loss ; truths onceacquired are treasured up by it for posterity, and eachsucceeding generation adds something to the stock ofacquired knowledge, so that our acquaintance withthe works of nature is ever increasing, the range ofour inquiries is extended each age, the power of mindover matter becomes, year by year, more complete.Yet our horizon ever widens, the limits to our advanceI