算術似是我唯一不喜愛的學習；從一開始，這種數量的學科我就不感興趣。蘇利文老師嘗試讓我計數一串串珠子，然後用幼稚園教材的空心管讓我學習加和減。我每一遍只做五、六次，從未超過；我沒耐性。每天，我這樣敷衍了事，卻覺心安理得，然後立刻就會出門找人玩。 

關於動物學和植物學，我的學習態度也是這樣閒散。 

有一次，一位我已忘了他大名的熱心人士送我一堆化石標本，有很漂亮的小貝殼、印有鳥爪痕跡的小塊沙岩，以及蕨類植物的淺浮影；這些鑰池，為我打開了上古世界的寶藏。有幾種可怕的動物，名字很粗野很難唸；蘇利文老師對我描述牠們的時候，我的手指邊摸著邊顫抖。在不知名的世紀裡，牠們沉重的腳步曾經踐踏大地，在太古森林中漫遊；牠們從巨大的樹木撕下樹枝，吞噬為食，最後死在陰森黑暗的沼澤中。有很久的一段時間裡，這些不可思議的生物常以噩夢困擾我；在我現在…充滿陽光、玫瑰和小馬蹓躂的迴盪聲，這樣的愉快後面隱蔽有陰鬱的背景，就是在這段陰暗時期形成。 

另一次，有人給我一個漂亮貝殼：以一個兒童的驚奇和歡喜，我學到一個微小的軟體動物如何建造光亮的曲折繞盤做為居所；學到在寂靜的印度洋夜裡，海面沒有和風推波逐瀾的時候，鸚鵡螺如何乘著晶瑩的珍珠船航行。我學習了很多有趣的關於海洋子女的生活和習性之後….渺小的珊瑚蟲如何在太平洋雄偉華麗的海浪中建築美麗的珊瑚礁島，浮游的微生有孔蟲類如何沉積成現在許多陸地中的白堊堆層….蘇利文老師一邊教我「有隔間的鸚鵡螺」這個詞彙，一邊開示說軟體動物建造貝殼的過程是心智發展和進化的象徵。鸚鵡螺造化材料巧奪天工的套膜，是汲取水造就自己；正像這樣，我們吸收知識，點滴累積，經歷相似的轉化，終能思想成熟圓融閃亮發光。 

Arithmetic seems to have been the only study I did not like. From the first I was not interested in the science of numbe s. Miss Sullivan tried to teach me to count by stringing beads in groups, and by arranging kindergarten straws I learned to add and subtract. I never had patience to arrange more than five or six groups at a time. When I had accomplished this my conscience was at rest for the day, and I went out quickly to find my playmates.  

In this same leisurely manner I studied zoölogy and botany. 

Once a gentleman, whose name I have forgotten, sent me a collection of fossils–tiny mollusk shells beautifully marked, and bits of sandstone with the print of birds' claws, and a lovely fern in bas-relief. These were the keys which unlocked the treasures of the antediluvian world for me. With trembling fingers I listened to Miss Sullivan's descriptions of the terrible beasts, with uncouth, unpronounceable names, which once went tramping through the primeval forests, tearing down the branches of gigantic trees for food, and died in the dismal swamps of an unknown age. For a long time these strange creatures haunted my dreams, and this gloomy period formed a somber background to the joyous Now, filled with sunshine and roses and echoing with the gentle beat of my pony's hoof.  

Another time a beautiful shell was given me, and with a child's surprise and delight I learned how a tiny mollusk had built the lustrous coil for his dwelling place, and how on still nights, when there is no breeze stirring the waves, the Nautilus sails on the blue waters of the Indian Ocean in his "ship of pearl." After I had learned a great many interesting things about the life and habits of the children of the sea–how in the midst of dashing wave s the little polyps build the beautiful coral isles of the Pacific, and the foraminifera have made the chalk-hills of many a land–my teacher read me "The Chambered Nautilus," and showed me that the shell-building process of the mollusks is symbolical of the development of the mind. Just as the wonder-working mantle of the Nautilus changes the material it absorbs from the water and makes it a part of itself, so the bits of knowledge one gathers undergo a similar change and become pearls of thought.