Training Jedi is a most rewarding pursuit, but one ringed with many unseen perils. Never, Oh master Jedi, rest easy when your pupil begins to grow anxious to learn at a pace greater than that which you have set for him. Such impatience is natural in the young and inexperienced, and a commendable trait in a student. But it also signals a time when the pupil is most open to temptation of stepping onto the broad path of instant gratification and easy advancement that leads to the dark side. Beware, Jedi Master, lest through carelessness and inattention you loose on the galaxy a monster...
- Bodo Baas, Jedi Holocron
The ancient Jedi masters knew that Jedi training must proceed at a slow pace. Too much power gathered too quickly can corrupt even the most selfless and devout apprentice. A Jedi student must be properly humble in his powers, and mature enough to embrace the tremendous responsibility that comes with wielding the Force.
A student impatient with the slow pace of tutorship, a gifted student eager to dispense with "pointless exercises" and embrace the "true" powers of the Force misses the entire point of being a Jedi. The Jedi does not crave power, but seeks to serve others, without the expectation of becoming "great in the Force." The true Jedi is cautious, and reluctant to learn too much too quickly. Overeager students run a fearful risk of opening themselves up to the temptations of taking the deceptively easy path of the dark side.
In the days of the Old Republic, the Jedi teachers kept a careful watch on their apprentices, ever alert for the telltale signs of the headstrong apprentice who wanted more than he was ready for. Every Jedi disciple soon heard of the dreadful cautionary tale of the gifted Jedi Exar Kun, and how he was lost to the dark side by an arrogant belief that he could embrace Sith teachings and not be dominated. If a great Jedi Master could fall, their teachers told them, they themselves must thread with special care.
