Shouldn't I be doing homework? ;)
In the second chapter of Reading the Classics with C.S. Lewis, I stumbled across these interesting paragraphs. Descriptions like these were what inspired me to want to be like CSL in the first place.
"In the material about Lewis as a tutor, three of his characteristics seem predominant and can be rightly called constants.
"First, Lewis had extraordinary intelligence. A precocious storywriter in childhood; a brilliant translator of Greek plays and a mature, original literary critic in his youth; a top-notch English scholar in his college years -- all these abilities point to an uncommon mind. In describing his mental powers, his students seize upon superlatives: 'I found Lewis the most impressive mind I had ever seen in action,' and he had 'perhaps the most powerful and best trained intellect in the world.'
"The second constant was his dedication to a lifetime of learning. Among his most worthwhile and pleasurable times were those spent in the study or library. Once he started to read, he never stopped. 'I am a product...of endless books,' he has told us. In his boyhood home, Little Lea, books were everywhere, and he took full advantage of the resources. His lengthy correspondence (1914-63) with his friend Arthur Greeves shows that, wherever he happened to be, he immersed himself in books, not just to cover academic requirements, but out of sheer love for reading, analyzing, critiquing, and expounding.
"'Born with the literary temperament,' Lewis was as compulsive about writing as he was about reading, and his mastery over both gave him an 'aura of learning.' One of his few female students describes him as 'a man of formidable learning' who 'also possessed a Johnsonian power of turning knowledge into wisdom.' The words of a male student also show the basis of Lewis's reputation: 'He was superhuman in the range of his knowledge and in the height of his intellectual vision...' ...
"Behind Lewis's astounding productivity was the third constant: his disciplined work habits. He harnessed his talents and will to a daily schedule....
"Lewis's...schedule would have been less productive had he not learned how to cope with interruptions. And he had plenty of them.... Warren Lewis reports that his brother, having completed his chores, could return to his writing without losing his train of thought. Dame Helen Gardner, a colleague who had observed him at work in the Duke Humphrey Library of the Bodleian, depicts Lewis as 'an object lesson in what concentration meant.' Quite simply, he did not waste time. He focused intently on what he had to do, did it, though often interrupted, and then moved on to the next task." (p.35-36)
"In the material about Lewis as a tutor, three of his characteristics seem predominant and can be rightly called constants.
"First, Lewis had extraordinary intelligence. A precocious storywriter in childhood; a brilliant translator of Greek plays and a mature, original literary critic in his youth; a top-notch English scholar in his college years -- all these abilities point to an uncommon mind. In describing his mental powers, his students seize upon superlatives: 'I found Lewis the most impressive mind I had ever seen in action,' and he had 'perhaps the most powerful and best trained intellect in the world.'
"The second constant was his dedication to a lifetime of learning. Among his most worthwhile and pleasurable times were those spent in the study or library. Once he started to read, he never stopped. 'I am a product...of endless books,' he has told us. In his boyhood home, Little Lea, books were everywhere, and he took full advantage of the resources. His lengthy correspondence (1914-63) with his friend Arthur Greeves shows that, wherever he happened to be, he immersed himself in books, not just to cover academic requirements, but out of sheer love for reading, analyzing, critiquing, and expounding.
"'Born with the literary temperament,' Lewis was as compulsive about writing as he was about reading, and his mastery over both gave him an 'aura of learning.' One of his few female students describes him as 'a man of formidable learning' who 'also possessed a Johnsonian power of turning knowledge into wisdom.' The words of a male student also show the basis of Lewis's reputation: 'He was superhuman in the range of his knowledge and in the height of his intellectual vision...' ...
"Behind Lewis's astounding productivity was the third constant: his disciplined work habits. He harnessed his talents and will to a daily schedule....
"Lewis's...schedule would have been less productive had he not learned how to cope with interruptions. And he had plenty of them.... Warren Lewis reports that his brother, having completed his chores, could return to his writing without losing his train of thought. Dame Helen Gardner, a colleague who had observed him at work in the Duke Humphrey Library of the Bodleian, depicts Lewis as 'an object lesson in what concentration meant.' Quite simply, he did not waste time. He focused intently on what he had to do, did it, though often interrupted, and then moved on to the next task." (p.35-36)
posted by Ben at 7:56 AM
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