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You may also learn some naughty things,
but God protect you! I shall give you a terrible spanking if you
do. If you smoke tobacco I'll cut your lips off."
"Remember God, Fomushka," said the aunt. "See that you don't
forget our Lord."
"That's true! Honour God and your father. But I wish to tell you
that school books are but a trivial matter. You need these as a
carpenter needs an adze and a pointer. They are tools, but the
tools cannot teach you how to make use of them. Understand? Let
us see: Suppose an adze were handed to a carpenter for him to
square a beam with it. It's not enough to have hands and an adze;
it is also necessary for him to know how to strike the wood so as
not to hit his foot instead. To you the knowledge of reading and
writing is given, and you must regulate your life with it. Thus
it follows that books alone are but a trifle in this matter; it
is necessary to be able to take advantage of them. And it is this
ability that is more cunning than any books, and yet nothing
about it is written in the books. This, Foma, you must learn from
Life itself.


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