1. Without accuracy,common sensecan not be satisfactorily developed,because it finds itselfcontinually shocked by incoherency,resulting froma lack of exactnessin the expression of opinions.If we wish to knowwhat the principal qualities arewhich form common sense,we shall turn overa few pagesand we shall read:Common senseis the synthesisof many sentiments,all of whichconverge in forming it.The first ofthese sentiments is reason.Then follows moderation.To these one may add:The faculty of penetration;The quality consistency.Then, wisdom,which permits usto profit by Click on anywhere on the white space to start this page, 2 seconds per phrase Next slide That was 105 words per minute the lessons of experience.

2. A number of other qualitiesmust be added to these,in order to completethe formation of common sense;but, although important,they are only the satellitesof those we have just named.Reason is really indispensableto the projectionof healthy thoughts.The method of reasoningshould be the exhaustive studyof minute detail,of which we shall speak later.For the momentwe shall content ourselvesby indicating,along the broad linesof argument,what is meantby this word reason.Reasoning is the artof fixingthe relativeness of things.It is by means of reasoningthat it is possibleto differentiate eventsand to indicateto what category they belong. Click on anywhere on the white space to start this page, 1 second per phrase That was 236 words per minute Next slide

3. It is the habit of reasoningto determine that whichit is wise to undertakethus permitting us to judgewhat should be set aside.How could we guide ourselvesthrough lifeof social ignorance,It pierces the darknessit helps us to distinguishvaguely objectsheretofore plunged in obscurity,and which will alwaysremain invisible to thosewho are unprovidedwith this indispensable accessory--the gift of reasoning.He who venturesin the darknessand walks haphazard,finds himself suddenly confrontedby obstacleswhich he was unable to foresee.He finds himself frightenedby forms whose naturehe cannot define,and is often temptedto attribute silhouettes of assassinsto branches of trees,instead of recognisingthe real culpritwho is watching himfrom the corner of the wild forest. Click on anywhere on the white space to start this page, 1 second per phrase That was 247 words per minute Next slide

4. Life, as well asthe wildest wilderness,is strewn with pitfalls.To think ofexamining it rapidly,without the aidof that torch called reason,would be imitatingthe man of whomwe have just spoken.Many are the mirages,which lead us to mistakedim shadowsfor disquieting realities,Certain incidents,we examinethem critically,for otherwise we cannever ascribe to themtheir true value.which seem at first sightto be of small importance,assume a primordial valuewhen we have explainedthem by means of reasoning. Click on anywhere on the white space to start this page, 0.5 seconds per phrase That was 437 words per minute Next slide

5. To reason about a thing is to dissect it,examine it from every point of viewbefore adopting it, before deferring to itor before rejecting it;in one word, to reason about a thingis to act with conscious volition,which is one of the phases essentialto the conquest of common sense.This principle conceded,it then becomes a question of seriously studyingthe method of reasoning, which we proposeto do in the following mannerbut first it is necessaryto be convinced of this truth.Without reason there is no common sense.Yoritomo teaches us that,although moderation is only of secondary importance,it is still indispensablethe attainment of common sense.It is moderation which incites usto restrain our impatience,to silence our inexplicable antipathies Click on anywhere on the white space to start this page, 0.5 seconds per phrase That was 741 words per minute and to put a break on our tempestuous enthusiasms.