The Art of Thinking (A Fawcett Premier Book)

...and that says it all. As one other reviewer, I first read this book in the early 60's. I still have my frayed, tattered, underlined, spine-taped, and annotated paperback edition which I bought for less than a dollar thru a book program at my high school. It was the best purchase of my young life. I have read and re-read this book, in whole and in parts for over 40 years.

When I first read this book, back about the time I started college in the 60's, it was still in print. I bought copy after copy, underlining and marking until the book was overmarked and I needed a new one, which I would then buy and start marking anew. It would not be much of an exaggeration to say that I would hardly be the person I am or anything like it without this book and the influence that it's had on me. One example: the power of altruism (any high ideal) actually lived in action. (Living One's Life on a Higher Plane: Moral Elevation a condition of high thinking.) Who would have thought that to sacrifice for a goal higher than one's self helps one to think? And yet, I have found from experience that it does. The richness and practicality of this book are amazing. Single phrases or sentences have echoed and re-echoed in thought for decades--just indeed as recommended by the author as just one way of richening one's thought. If Dimnet quotes it, I don't remember it, but "to thine own self be true" (source?) might be one way of summing up the whole book. But not as a catchy aphorism--rather as a whole approach to thought and life studded with so many gems of practical advice and wisdom that one has a constant tendency to start quoting the book verbatim. Here's one that I've always loved (approximate): "Know what you want! say the newspapers, we have it ready for you! Wise counsel indeed, for the whole art of thinking is in it." It would be easy to write a whole book on that one piece of advice. Another: to think about something, populate your mind with favorable images and keep them there awhile. (Sound cryptic or superficial?: read the book; it's not.) There are dozens, scores more. Perhaps for many people the single most important thing to learn is that thinking can be learned, that it is an art like any other with definite rules and dos and don'ts. Read this book. If you're not a barbarian, you'll be glad you did.

I guess everyone has a story about how they came across "The Art of Thinking," by Dimnet. For me, I found it on a friend's bookshelf a dozen or so years ago. I have seen other books similar to this (and much larger and more "hip") in used bookstores. Such books are pure fluf compared to the jewel Dimnet produced in this very small book. It presents the author's ideas on the nature of true creativity in any given field and how to unclutter your mind to be able to get at your own thoughts. But the book goes well beyond this to be a showcase of writing and eloquence. Here is Dimnet, a Frenchman and a Latin scholar, and, of course, an excellent writer of English who, conveniently for us, directs his comments to Americans. To give a hint of more of the contents: All children under the age of nine are poets and philosophers. When they notice their elders, they (all, without almost a single exception) begin to imitate them. In this one action is lost all their brilliance; and for most people, they never get back to what fired up their minds as children. Also, he says, being forced to fill a blank paper with an essay, when one has nothing to say, is one of the most powerful experiences school-age children go through, which forever turns them off to writing, and actually helps to kill their ability to think. This book is worth more than just a read-through.

I first found this book over 20 years ago, and make it a practice to re-read it every few years. It starts as a comparison between American and French education systems, but cleverly guides the reader down an irreversible and compelling path of intellectual criticism into the "land" of intellectual integrity. In essence it tells you to "think your own thoughts" and "be aware of the flimsy foundation upon which your knowledge/belief system is based." In a world cluttered with data, this book guides us towards the essentials. (Good to be read in concert with "The Little Prince" by Saint-Exupery)

I found this strange book in a West Seattle book store called "The Tiny Bookstore". After reading this book and following Father Dimnet's instruction, I have discarded my whiskey bottle to become a painfully sober and tidy person who chooses to think only for and to himself on trains and buses, and through cluttered corridors and laundromats. Rather than read and think the thoughts of others, I now refrain from such activity, and from showing my teeth when I smile (per his instruction). I have also stopped saying 'basically', 'the thing about it', and 'blah blah blah'. Thank you Father Dimnet.