1. Never be overawed by authority. Not at any time whatever, nor for any reason whatsoever, can any one with safety or profit permit his faculty of thought to take a 'sabbatical least of all when that individual's mind is expose d to the thoughts of other people. 2. Be open to conviction, but refuse to be convinced until convictio n becomes a necessity. In other words, do not imprison your mind in the padded c ell of the comfortable rut of your own preferred beliefs, prejudices, biases, or egocentricity. 3. Read little, think deeply and much. Avoid acquiring the grasshopp er mind. Books are highly suggestive, therefore, choose your authors with care. Take time to think through the full implications and connotations of what you read, testing its validity from as many angles as you can. Even nouris hing food leads to indigestion if swallowed whole. Avoid mental indigestion at a ll costs. It is not to be cured merely by going to the Drug Store! 4. Seek TRUTH and pursue it, to the extent of remaking your own mind no matter the cost should it become necessary. Never forget that the "superstit ions" of today were the "truths" of yesterday; the "truths" of today will be the "superstitions" of tomorrow. Do not allow them "permanent residence" in your mi nd. Seek not mere "knowledge" but UNDERSTANDING. Perchance WISD0M may follow. On e thing is certain: Only when the rational mind is stilled can the ears of Under standing open to the voice of 'Wisdom. 5. If you must lie, lie to others; they will find you out and know y ou for the fool that you are. But if you lie to yourself, you are a lost fool. 6. Learn to "think beyond the thoughts of men that lean on things th ey see." Inevitably they become "obsessed by the perceptible" to such an extent that, for them, thinking has become synonymous with repeating parrot-fashion the cast off -thoughts of others, with less intelligence than the (so-called) "dumb " animals. On no account should you visit that Club, much less join it. 7. Make it your golden rule, never to be broken, NOT under any circu mstances to consult any author on any subject until you shall first have thought deeply about it a meditative ac and shall have reached some conclusions, no mat ter how tentative. Remember at all times: NOTHING BELONGS TO YOU EXCEPT YOUR MIND HAS H AD A HAND IN ITS FORMULATION. The moral is obvious " ensure by every means at yo ur disposal, that your mind is actively functioning on oiled wheels, and that it functions as your servant and not your enslaver. 8. Heed well the words of Herbert Spencer: "There is a principle whi ch is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments, and w hich cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance: That principle is conte mpt prior to investigation." Author's Copyright Howard University, 1969, revised at the Universit y of Pittsburgh, 1973, and restructured at Dartmouth College, July 1975.