"Reading makes a full man" is a saying of the famous English philo sopher Francis Bacon.It means that anyone who wants to be a full man must keep on reading.
A full man may be defined as one who has a mind filled with ideas,o r one who is stocked with knowledge.Certainly school education can fill the young minds with a certain amount of ideas and knowledge.But to thi nk that the ideas and knowledge thus taught make a full man is a mistake.Evidently,no one can say that he is a full man because he is a gradua te of a middle school or even a university.
Then can such ideas and knowledge be obtained through experience.In deed,from experience we get new ideas and knowledge.But to suppose tha t ideas and knowledge thus acquired make a full man is also a mistake.A carpenter's experience is different from a smith's and a smith's is d ifferent from a barber's.Obviously,the statement that experience can make a full man does not hold water,either.
Thus,we see that the real factor by which a full man is made includ es not only education and experience,but also reading.By reading scien tific books,we are informed of many facts;by reading geography,we kno w the earth's surface,forms,physical features,etc.;by reading histo ry,we are told of the growth of the nations.It is by reading that we c an learn many things without actually seeing or hearing them.
Therefore,no matter how high our education may be or how much exper ience we may have,we cannot become a full man unless we keep reading.
著名的英国哲学家弗兰西斯·培根曾说过“读书使人充实”。这就意味着任何人要想成就充实就要不断地读书。
充实之人或许可以这样定义：一个头脑充满思想的人，或者是一个满腹经纶的人。当然，学校的教育可以用一定数量的思想和知识充实年轻人的头脑，但是如果认为，学校教授的那些思想和知识就能使一个人充实的话，那就大错特错了。显然，没有人能仅仅因为他中学或者大学毕业就说自己是个充实的人。