Volume 6 · The Unfinished Syllabus · Essay 99

Felicific Calculus

You may not know the name Felicific Calculus, but you know the thing. This page only introduces the two of you formally.

The idea is simple, and like most simple ideas it is easy to nod at and hard to use. The nod is free. The use costs attention, every day, in small change.

In every examination hall there are two kinds of silence: the silence of those who prepared, and the silence of those who are preparing excuses. The room can hear the difference.

Learning is the one wealth that survives every partition of fortune. Keep it like a good key: accessible, unlabelled, and used often.