That a man may attain perfection in any Art, Science, or Virtue, three things are requisite: 1) A natural ability, power, or capacity; 2) Art, or instruction; 3) Exercise and practice.  Capacity consists in 1) Fancy or Invention; 2) Memory; and 3) Judgment. . . .

The best Capacity, without Instruction by precepts and examples . . . is ready to spend itself upon low, mean, and many times vicious employments: as the best ground, except tilled and sowed with profitable seed, produces only ranker weeds.

Reading advances more, and sooner then practice alone. A Reader is more universal, better for many things -- more accurate and observant in his practice . . .   Reading is other men's experience, which by meditation and practice becomes our own. . . .

Capacity and Instruction are effectless without practice and exercise; which consists (according to the nature of the thing to be learned) in Meditation, thinking, or contriving; observing others practices; and actually trying and working.

Instruction, and Practice are comprehended in Education. There is but one way and manner of learning, be the subject what ever it will. In manual arts the Master first shows his Apprentice what he is to do; next works it himself in his presence, and gives him rules, and then sets him to work. The same is the way of breeding a Gentleman, or a Scholar. The Educator prescribes his end; gives him rules and precepts; presents him examples and patterns; and then sets him to act according to what was before taught him. And if the Educated apply himself seriously to meditate, contrive, observe his copy, and be content to be admonished and corrected when faulty, he will, no doubt, arrive to the intended perfection; which is to perform his duty with ease, readiness, and delight. . . .

When [young people who do not get a good education] should be ready for employment, they are learning the principles of it, and are surprised and at a gaze where to begin. The great inclination of Youth is to pleasures; and that, either to idleness and sleep; whence proceed inconsideration, carelessness, hatred of labor and thinking; or else to eating, drinking, or the other lusts of the flesh. And all these, indulged and accustomed, grow stronger, and at last inextirpable. For they end in habitual sin, darkness of understanding, and extinguishing the light both of Gods spirit, and reason. . .

Chapter 11: Of Invention, Memory, and Judgment

 There are three faculties to be cultivated, Wit, Memory, and Judgment.  . . . WIT [is] . . .  nothing else but a quicker apprehension of such notions, as do not usually enter into other men's imaginations.  . . . JUDGMENT is the deliberate weighing and comparing of one subject, one appearance, one reason, with another; thereby to discern and choose true from false, good from bad, and more true and good from lesser.  . . . MEMORY is the calling to mind or recollecting of what has been before known and apprehended. They that excel in it are . . . able to cite many Books, and Authors, and their Editions; can tell their opinions; and interlace their discourse with ends of gold and silver. Yet, if not managed by judgment, their opinion or learning is of little force or esteem amongst knowing men; who yet can gather many useful things out of their confusion. This faculty is necessary for Lawyers, whose learning lies in quotations, and records. . .  'Tis also proper for learning Languages, Criticisms, Philology, Antiquities. . . .

[On Memory,] we remember better those things 1) which we learn from our childhood; 2) which we are more attentive to; 3) which we exercise ourselves most in; 4) which we orderly apprehend; 5) which we can call to mind from the beginning; 6) which we conceive to be somewhat like; 7) and which is pleasing to us. . . . Because childhood and youth have their memory (tho not so excellent as men, yet) more useful then their understanding; therefore what ever they learn, let it be got by heart; that they may repose and store up in their memory what their understanding afterwards may make use of:  let them also frequently render it, and after several interstitiums; which will be a great help to their memory, to the perfecting of which nothing conduces so much as practice. Yet there is also an Artificial help to memory, which is variously and obscurely delivered by many Authors; the shortest and easiest is this: Make use of a sufficient number of places best known to you; as of Towns in the way to London, the Streets of London, or the Signs in one Street, such in fine as are well known to you. Keep their order perfectly in mind, which first, which second, &c. and when any word is given you to remember, place it in the first Town, Street, or Sign; joining them together with some fancy, tho never so extravagant, the calling to mind your known place will draw along with it the fancy, and that the word joined to it. And these you may repeat afterwards either in the same order as they were delivered, or backwards, or as you please. . . .

A succedaneum to [substitute for] memory is writing; and students are wont to serve themselves of Common-place-Books, excellent helps to ordinary memories.

The best way that I know of ordering them, is to write down confusedly what in reading you think observable. Young students commonly take notice of remarkable Histories, Fables . .  (such as are not in Aesop), . . . Histories of heathen Gods, Laws and customs of Nations, Wise and useful Sentences, Elegant Figures, Reasons and Causes, Descriptions and the like. Leave in your Book a considerable margin, marking every observation upon the page as well as the pages themselves with 1, 2, 3. &c. Afterwards at your leisure, set down in the margin the page of your Index, where the head is, to which such Sentence relates: and so enter into the Index under such a head the page of your Note-book, wherein such sentence is stored. These Note-books, if many, are to be distinguished by A, B, C, &c. your Index must be well furnished with heads; yet not too much multiplied, least they cause con∣fusion. Your own experience will continually be supplying what is defective. . . .

For Common-places and helping the Invention by them, many have written very copiously; others think it altogether un-useful. . . . [But] it must be acknowledged, that all the Ancients, Aristotle, Cicero, &c. made great account of this. . . . [Those] who governed in their days, made profession, out of these places [notes in commonplace books], to teach to discourse upon any subject pro & con, and to say all that could be spoken concerning it. . . .  That all conceptions are drawn out of these places [notes in commonplace books]; and if reason naturally as it were, and of herself, runs to them, it cannot but be very useful.