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The Intellectual Life: Its Spirit, Conditions, Methods

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I first read this book as an undergraduate and I have reread it several times over the years. I regard it as one of the most important books that I've read. Why? A. G. Sertillanges does more than provide advice about how to organize your life to have time to think and write, although he does that. He argues that research is a vocation to find the truth -- a great calling no matter how small one's own part. His suggestions for organizing your life follow from the seriousness of this vocation, advice that's far more useful than merely how to get the next paper written.

Originally published in French, the translator tells us in the preface that the book was widely distributed in France. The first chapter of the book, per se establishes the premise that the intellectual life is a calling from God, one that is sacred and to be held as a trust.
In the second chapter there is a section on the spirit of prayer, among other topics.
Chapter three develops the paradox of solitude and involvement with other people. An intellectual, as is the case with other creative individuals, does both.
Work is the topic for chapter four and the contexts include: continuity of work, work at night, mornings and evening, and moments of plenitude.
A creative scholar must be open to insights around him.
"Ideas emerge from facts; they also emerge from conversations, chance occurrences, theatres, visits, strolls, the most ordinary books" (p. 73).
The remainder of the book fleshes out this discussion of intellectual work.
A reader would leave this book a more thoughtful person from having been exposed to these ideas. I recommend spending time with this author.

Sertillanges delivers the reader a concentrated dose of sound advice on how to understand and obey the call to Christian scholarship. In addition to pragmatic material on life as an Academic, the author unfolds the truth that knowledge is "nothing more than a slow and gradual cure of our blindness." This insightful book is a must read for anyone who is feels a call to excellence in scholarship.

1998 reprint of 1987 edition, Catholic University of America Press, 296 pages (of which 260 pages form the main body of the book)
Translated from the French (1934 2nd edition) by Mary Ryan

I came across this unusual book when discussing with my most well read friend the problem of deciding how much to read. He told me this topic was covered in Sertillanges' book and suggested I read it.

The title makes it sound as if the book might be pretentious, but it is not. In the same way that Peter Drucker's superb The Effective Executive is a book for any knowledge worker rather than just for managers, Sertillanges' book should be helpful for anyone who wishes to work using their intellect, rather than just for rarefied intellectuals.

The 1998 reissue (the 1992 date listed on Amazon.co.uk is incorrect) of the 1987 edition has a new forward by James Schall. I think he captures the essence of Sertillanges' book very well:

"At first sight...this is a quaint book. At second sight it is an utterly demanding book."

The subtitle of The Intellectual Life describes its contents well: "Its Spirit, Conditions, Methods". For Sertillanges, intellectual work is not something done in isolation of the rest of a person's life. He believes strongly that in order to do intellectual work to one's capacity, one must order the whole of one's life with this goal in mind. And further, that this requires habits of simplicity, detachment, note taking, memory, writing and more. His book is thus a step-by-step manual that sets out these requirements from the general (virtues, character) to the specific (note-taking, writing).

For most people who are not already members of religious orders (Sertillanges was a Dominican friar) it would be terrifically demanding to follow all of Sertillanges' prescriptions - and involve major changes to one's life. Sertillanges does believe, however, that if one takes care with the rest of one's life then intellectual work can be done satisfactorily using only a couple of hours a day. His book is thus a mixture of the extremely demanding and eminently practical - particularly as much of his advice involves cutting out and eliminating habits that waste time and disturb thought (e.g. pointless correspondence and interactions with people, reading of novels and newspapers).

After reading Ben Franklin's autobiography and Charlie Munger's Poor Charlie's Almanack at the beginning of the year, I have become increasingly aware of the crucial role of habits in determining the outcome of peoples' lives. I was stupid enough to have spent a good proportion of my life testing out the truth of Franklin's maxim: "Experience keeps a dear school, yet Fools will learn in no other." I no longer have any doubt that forming good habits - and most especially avoiding forming bad ones - is terribly important. After all, reliability - which Munger considers the single most important determining characteristic for a person's life - is really just another habit.

Sertillanges understood this very well and the importance of habits that facilitate intellectual work is a topic that he brings up repeatedly - and in my view very wisely - in his book:

"One acquires facility in thinking just as one acquires facility in playing the piano, in riding, or painting.... The mind gets into the way of doing what is often demanded of it."

This is not the only resemblance between the advice in Sertillanges' book and that given by Charlie Munger (the best source for his ideas and the most useful book I have ever read is Poor Charlie's Almanack). The importance of a broad base of knowledge, the danger of over-specialisation and the critical importance of only a few ideas in each subject are all covered in this book.

Another striking similarity is Sertillanges' view of the importance of 'contact with genius' and how one goes about acquiring wisdom:

"...the principal profit from reading, at least from reading great works, is not the acquisition of scattered truths, it is the increase of our wisdom."

I was left with somewhat mixed feelings as I progressed through The Intellectual Life. At times Sertillanges' overt religiosity became a little much for me (I am not a religious person) and I found his prescriptions rather daunting.

As I neared the end of the book, however, my view changed and I found myself extremely grateful that Sertillanges' had written this book for us. It was partly because his section on writing answered with great clarity some problems that I had been wrestling with, and partly because I realised that one could simply take what one needed from his book - rather than the whole package.

My difficulty in deciding how much to read remains somewhat unresolved: there is a tension between Sertillanges' advice on reading and that of people like Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger on investment (my own profession/hobby). Sertillanges advises cutting down on excess (particularly undirected) reading, including, for example, newspapers:

"As to newspapers, defend yourself against them with the energy that the continuity and the indiscretion of their assault make indispensable. You must know what the papers contain, but they contain so little..."

Buffett, on the other hand, claims to read five newspapers a day and urges us to read everything in sight!

I suspect the different advice is due to the type of work. Firstly, I am not sure that investing is an inherently intellectual pursuit (Buffett has often said that after an average level of intelligence the right temperament is more important). Secondly, intelligent investment is just applied opportunism - and in order to take advantage of opportunities we must first be aware of their existence.

I did not find this an easy review to write. I have had to leave out various topics that I would like to have discussed more fully (such as Sertillanges' excellent advice on writing) and still feel this review may be overlong. However, I believe a review that does not attempt to set its subject firmly in context is of limited use. I'll leave the final word to Sertillanges:

"There are books everywhere and only a few are necessary."

I commend this unusual book to you as one of the necessary ones.

The French A.G. Sertillanges originally wrote The Intellectual Life: Its Spirit, Conditions, Methods in 1920. This edition was published by The Catholic University Press in 1987. The translation from the French is both warm, and serious. It reads as if you are sitting by a warm fire in the evening, in a quiet room full of books from all ages. An experienced friend is telling you the best way to go about spending your future time in this favorite room.

What first drew me to this book was its title. I wondered if it would give me some insight into the private thoughts of great thinkers. Besides, if the book has been around 90 years, and is still in print, certainly there would be something to be gleaned from its pages. The title may seem a little daunting at first, but the truth is that this book is a very heartfelt journey into the life and mind of the everyman thinker, whom Sertillanges calls "great men", but can be any man with the drive, desire, and discipline to think and produce something original.

While this book is male-centric, and considers women to be the "wife of the thinker", this was in no way a hindrance to my enjoyment of the book as a woman. This was simply a product of the time, and also very fair and right in its portrayal of the role of the wife. A wife, Sertillanges says, can be supportive of her thinking husband, and also help him by just being with him while he works, she also working on something she equally loves. This is right, proper, timeless, and in no way means that a woman can't just happen to love being a thinker also, as opposed to say for example, the family seamstress or gardener: both good hobbies and work in their own right. The point in it all is discipline more so than gender.

The major themes throughout this book are Faith, Discipline, and Balance. Sertillanges asserts that a blend of Roman Catholic tradition, a purposeful discipline, and a balanced life are the key to succesfull and fulfilling thought thereby generating great works for the benefit of all. I can't say that this formula is wrong as it is based on Biblical values, however, I do believe that Sertillanges places too much emphasis on Roman Catholic Tradition instead of pure Biblical Truth. As a Catholic author this shouldn't surprise his readers; Catholics hold both scripture and church tradition as equal as decreed by the Council of Trent, the documents of which Sertillanges suggests a learned man read. This is one main difference between Catholics and Protestants who hold a doctrine of Sola Scripture - "Scripture Alone". I fall in the latter camp, but since this book is not a book on theological doctrine, I simply took in this part of the book as informational. I can say that I was very appreciative of the fact that Sertillanges makes a strong case for the validity and importance of men of faith living the intellectual life in service to God. This is a point he makes well.

Sertillanges spends a large portion of the book explaining why the intellectual life is a calling, a vocation, and why a disciplined mindset is pivotal in fulfilling this calling effectively. His primary recommendations revolve around simplification of one's daily schedule, having a good understanding and practice of solitude, and preserving an interior mental silence. In later chapters, he described how to organize one's reading, research, note-taking, and writing. Some of the methods described are outdated but can be easily adapted to the computer age. Overall, the ideas and mindset transferred to the reader are of the type that stay with a person, reminding them of a better way when doing the work of the thinker.

A few key quotes:

"Slacken the tempo of your life. Receptions, visits that give rise to fresh obligations, formal intercourse with one's neighbors, all the complicated ritual of an artificial life that so many men of the world secretly detest - these things are for a worker. Society life is fatal to study."

"Vocation means concentration. The work and the conditions that further it are the whole thing. Money and attention squandered on trifles will be much better spent on collecting a library, providing for instructive travel or restful holidays, going to hear music which rekindles inspiration, and so on."

"Frequent only a few whose society is profitable; avoid, even with these, the excessive familiarity which drags one down and away from one's purpose; do not run after news that occupies the mind to no purpose; do not busy yourself with the saying and doings of the world , that is with such as have no moral or intellectual bearing [tabloids and gossip sites, anyone?]; avoid unless comings and goings which waste hours and fill the mind with wandering thoughts. These are the conditions of that sacred thing, quiet recollection. Only in this way, does one gain access to the royal secrets..."

My personal favorites:

"And you, thinker, why have you come to this life outside the ordinary life, to this life of consecration, concentration, and therefore solitude? Was it not because of a choice? Did you not prefer truth the the daily lie of a scattered life, or even to the noble but secondary preoccupations of action?"

"Thus the wise man, at all times and on every road, carries a mind ripe for acquisitions that ordinary folk neglect." [This is not about intellectual snobbery, this is about a choice that any person can make.]

Quoting Keyseling: "The truly wise man doed not dispute, he does not defend himself. He speaks, or he listens; he states or he tries to discover the meaning of things. [How is that for a lesson in internet etiquette, not to mention life?]

On variety of study: "You must cross your crops in order not to ruin the soil. And do not imagine that to carry this comparative study to a certain point is to overload yourself and to lose time about embarking on a special study. You will not overload yourself, for the lights thrown by one subject on another will, on the contrary, make everything easier; as you acquire breadth, you mind will grow more receptive, and less easily burdened. By approaching the center of all ideas, everything is simplified, and what better means is there of approaching then center than to try different paths, which all, like the radii of a circle, make us feel that we are converging on a common meeting place."

At this point, I am tempted a create a graph of this spoked circle of varied study, with God at its center, because to know anything truly, God must be at the core. Another picture of this is that to know anything truly, God must be at its foundation; the subject must be approached from a Biblical, Truthful worldview as its basis.

This leads well into a final quote, which will also serve as a fit conclusion:

"The man without some such equipment, is in the intellectual universe, like the traveler who easily falls into skepticism through getting to know many dissimilar civilizations, and contradictory doctrines. This lack of a coherent system of ideas is one of the great misfortunes of our age. To escape it, thanks to the intellectual balance afforded by a sure body of doctrine, is an incomparable benefit."

Indispensable for anyone desiring to become a genuine and disciplined scholar; it provides an outstanding roadmap for anyone aspiring to the intellectual life and its mastery. A few of Sertillanges' suggestions are antiquated due to the date of the book's publication. This, however, poses no difficulties for the reader as these patches of "elderly wisdom" are easily updated - substituting the era of the typewriter with the age of digital scholarship. The principles taught in this text remain unchanged over time. After all, it is the task of "one who would know" to refashion the specific, temporal elements of "BEING & DOING" in accordance with the essence and ideals which form the timeless core, indeed the heart, of a life lived in pursuit of the highest things. It is the journey that captivates and grips both spirit and mind with a particular awe; overwhelmingly humbling and dazzling the soul of those who bide the perils of such a life and are rewarded, if they do not succumb to their own pride, with the unexpected, dumbfounding flash of perceiving (or more accurately SEEING) an image, a fleeting shadow of "that which IS" - the act of knowing something for the first time which was not taught to you by another, nor derived as the end product of a line of reasoning.

This book would make an excellent gift for the student beginning university work and the tired student, professor, or independent researcher who needs a refresher. Sertillanges has advice for everything from being moral to staying healthy to taking good notes, all of it both persuasive and practicable.

It's a good guide for scholars of every discipline, so long as they are Christian or warm to Christian ideas. Sertillanges' arguments, especially in the first chapters, rely upon premises like the unity of God's creation and the incarnation of Christ. For instance, in a section entitled "The Intellectual Does Not Stand Alone", the author says "Jesus Christ needs our minds for his work, as on earth He needed His own human mind; we have that measureless honor. We are His members, therefore have a share in His spirit, are therefore His cooperators" (pp.13-14). If you aren't Christian and/or you refuse to listen to any arguments which assume the tenets of the Christian faith are true, then this may not be the book for you.

The little sample above gives an idea of Sertillanges' charming prose, and this entire book is full of captivating writing just like it. For some this book will be an edifying one-time read, but for others it can become the cornerstone for a truly fulfilling intellectual life.

Still a very good book about:
Why (a lot) and how (a little bit) to become a
good thinker. Very inspiring.

The original French version is available for free online
(among others at www.inquisition.ca).

Cheers!
Stefan

This is an incredible work, Fr. Sertillanges, O.P., being a faithful follower of the studious St. Dominic himself. It could be titled "The Introduction to the Intellectual Life" since it follows very much the same style as St. Francis de Sales's excellent An Introduction to the Devout Life.

There are some books that have the ability to change the way you look at things, and this is one of them. Written originally back in 1921, 'The Intellectual Life' by A.G. Sertillanges O.P. is a manual for those interested in the intellectual life of study. But is is much more than that, it is a manual on how to live. The book is based upon a Thomistic framework, explaining first what the intellectual life is and why one would engage in such work. The author makes it clear that there can be no real intellectual work without virtue, being regularly engaged in prayer, and of course being in the state of grace. Discipline of the body is also expressed. One who cannot control their appetite for example makes a poor intellectual. It is extremely important to have a regular schedule in life, having the same time each day to pray, to exercise, to study, and of course fulfill your regular obligations of work and family, etc. The author even touches upon getting proper sleep, not too much, yet not too little, and even gives advice on how to make your sleep productive.

The second half of the book explains how to actually engage in study. He talks about always using the methods of Saint Thomas to form one's intellectual foundation, starting first learning the basic principles of philosophy and logic. The book teaches you how to read and how to properly research the subjects you want to study. He teaches you how to take notes and how to write well. How you spend your time with others and how you engage with them is also talked about. In short, the author teaches you not really how to study or how to write as a separate work, but he teaches you what it actually means to be an intellectual in the true sense of the word. It is not something that you do, but something that you become. He teaches you how to integrate your daily work, your family life, your spiritual life and your study so that you can always be active in living "the intellectual life." If there is one book you should read before you read any others, this is it. It has changed the way I think about life, and it is rare that a book has this effect. It has made me think about what is important in life. I am now on a mission to remove any obstacles that will keep me from achieving a well ordered life towards God, and towards my studies.

The author also has another great book available titled, 'Thomas Aquinas, Scholar, Poet, Mystic, Saint'. It is an introductory book on Saint Thomas which gives a basic sketch of his life, his thought, his spirituality and his work. It is only 140 pages, but it is a great book to read along with 'The Intellectual Life.' I find it always rewarding to go back and read introductory works on Saint Thomas. There is always something to be learned from them. If you implement what these two books teach, then I believe that you will be made a better person in doing so.