This is great advice for reading proofs. In particular, the bit about never diving into a proof until you know why you expect it to be true is a big one. I find

This is great advice for reading proofs. In particular, the bit about never diving into a proof until you know why you expect it to be true is a big one. I find it very helpful, after I've understood a proof, to try to put together the informal version of why it works, and try to explain that informal version to someone else.