Asking Questions. A STORY FOR MOST PEOPLE
[The following is an excerpt from The Manufacturer and Builder Volume 0001 Issue 1 (January 1869) . I came across this in my woodworking research, and want to preserve it here because its centrally relevant across all of the domains I'm interested in.] Once there was a young man whose name was John. That is to say, not knowing what his name was, and taking all the chances. I think it was probably John. For the same reason I take the liberty of presuming that his other name was Smith. Having previously been a boy, like the generality of young men. John had learned during that period an art which was almost the only thing that distinguished him from other Johns. He knew how to ask questions; and the object of this brief sketch of his life is to show how he acquired this accomplishment, and what came of it. He used to say that his father, who was a farmer gave him the first lessons in asking questions; and putting together what his father to...