Whichismoreimportantinlife,knowledgefromthebooksyouread,orpersonalexperienceyougaininreality?Theanswermayvaryfrompersontoperson.Theyoung,educatedmayemphasizetheformer,andtheoldmaystressthelater.Butinmyopinion,theyareofthesameimportance.
Experienceispriceless.Howtobecomeanefficientsecretary?Howtoprepareforyourfirstchildtocomeintotheworld?Thereissomuchexperienceweneedincareers,inlifeandeveninacademicstudies.Ithelpsonedealwiththeproblemswitheaseandconfidence.Especiallyactivitiesandtoaccumulateexperienceofdifferentkindsismorecrucial.
Experience,however,islimitedintermsoftimeandspace.Foronething,itisimpossibleforanyonetoexperiencealltheimportanteventsandmeetallthefamouspeople.Foranother,asthespeedwithwhichskillsareobsoleteandnewproblemscropupisunprecedentedbecauseofthefastdevelopmentofsociety,experienceisfarlessadequate.Dependingtoomuchonitonlyleadstonarrow-mindednessandprejudice.
Onewaytocompensateforitistoreadbooks.Booksofvariouskindscanbringusalmostunlimitedadditionalexperience.Frombooksyoucannotonlytracebacktothewisdomofourantecedents,butkeepupwiththelatestdevelopmentsofscienceandtechnology.Tobesure,it'ssecondhandexperience.Butitistheidealsupplementtoourownlimitedexperience.Fewofuscantravelaroundtheworld,orlivelongbeyondonehundredyears,butallofuscanlivemanylivesbyreadingbooks.
Bothbookknowledgeandpersonalexperienceareessential.Whileexperiencemakesonemoreresourceful,bookknowledgemakesonemorelearned.