Book details
Mental Efficiency, and Other Hints to Men and Women
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Stored record
Metadata
- Gutenberg ID
- 23347
- Title
- Mental Efficiency, and Other Hints to Men and Women
- Language
- en
- Book source
- Project Gutenberg
- Description max 80 words
-
Arnold Bennett's "Mental Efficiency" urges readers to cultivate their minds with the same discipline applied to physical fitness. Through essays on marriage, books, and contentment, Bennett argues that mental atrophy is a common vice curable by will-power, meditation, and a recognition of the unity of all life forces.
- Summary up to 500 words
-
In "Mental Efficiency, and Other Hints to Men and Women," Arnold Bennett addresses the modern tendency to prioritize physical culture over intellectual development. Observing that Americans and Britons obsess over bodily fitness while neglecting their minds, Bennett argues that the average person accepts mental laziness without shame, unlike the physical inefficiency they readily acknowledge. He proposes a "course of treatment" for the mind involving the cultivation of will-power and conditioning the mental apparatus. Bennett explicitly rejects quack solutions like hypnosis or tedious arithmetic drills, advocating instead for regular meditation on the indestructibility of the universal Force and the essential oneness of all humanity. This spiritual practice, he contends, cures discontent by replacing fear and anger with calmness and charity. The work also explores marriage not as a duty to the state, but as a high-stakes adventure. Bennett critiques petty social conventions as necessary symbols of respect that save time and preserve social bonds, suggesting that a life without such artificialities would be chaotic and impractical. Furthermore, he suggests that true happiness arises from accepting one's role as a servant to a higher, eternal self. By meditating on the unity of all life, individuals can transcend worldly accidents and develop universal sympathy. Bennett concludes that thinking people are more likely to be happy, urging readers to seize the opportunity to utilize their magnificent mental machines before time runs out, thereby avoiding the reproach of having lived without truly knowing anything.
- LLM editorial rating
- 4.2/5
- Download URL
- https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/23347.epub.noimages
- Local file path
-
data/epubs/pg23347.epub - Downloaded at
- 2026-07-06 13:54 UTC
People
Authors
- Arnold Bennett
Classification
Categories
- Psychology
- Conduct of Life