,,the ,,simple ,,life    ,by ,,charles  
,,wagner   ,author of ,the ,better ,way 
,translated from the ,french by ,mary   
,louise ,hendee     ,,grosset  ,,dunlap 
,publishers1 ,new ,york     ,copyright1 
#aija1 by   ,mc,c,l,u,r,e1 ,,phillips   
,,co4       ,,contents                  
,page       ,i4 ,,our ,,complex ,,life  
#a      ,,ii4 ,,the ,,essence ,,of      
,,simplicity                            
#ae     ,,iii4 ,,simplicity ,,of        
,,thought                               
#bb      ,,iv4 ,,simplicity ,,of        
,,speech                                
#ci       ,v4 ,,simple ,,duty           
#eb      ,,vi4 ,,simple ,,needs         
#fh     ,,vii4 ,,simple ,,pleasures     
#hj    ,,viii4 ,,the ,,mercenary        
,,spirit ,,and ,,simplicity             
#if      ,,ix4 ,,notoriety ,,and ,,the  
,,inglorious ,,good                     
#aaa       ,x4 ,,the ,,world ,,and ,,the
 ,,life ,,of ,,the ,,home               
#abh      ,,xi4 ,,simple ,,beauty       
#aci     ,,xii4 ,,pride ,,and           

,,simplicity ,,in ,,the ,,intercourse   
,,of ,,men      #aea    ,,xiii4 ,,the   
,,education ,,for ,,simplicity          
#afg     ,,xiv4 ,,conclusion            
#ahh     ,,the ,,simple ,,life  ,i      
,,our ,,complex ,,life   ,at the home of
 the ,blanchards1 everything is         
topsy-turvy1 and with reason4 ,think of 
it6 ,mlle4 ,yvonne is to be married     
,tuesday1 and to-day is ,friday6        
,callers loaded with gifts1 and         
tradesmen bending under packages1 come  
and go in endless procession4 ,the      
servants are at the end of their        
endurance4 ,as for the family and the   
betrothed1 they no longer have a life or
 a fixed abode4 ,their mornings are     
spent with dressmakers1 milliners1      
upholsterers1 jewelers1 decorators1 and 
caterers4 ,after that1 comes a rush     
through offices1 where one waits in     
line1 gazing vaguely at busy clerks     
engulfed in papers4 ,a fortunate thing1 
if there be time when this is over1 to  
run home and dress for the series of    

ceremonial dinners--betrothal dinners1  
dinners of presentation1 the settlement 
dinner1 receptions1 balls4 ,about       
midnight1 home again1 harassed and      
weary1 to find the latest accumulation  
of parcels1 and a deluge of             
letters--congratulations1 felicitations1
 acceptances and regrets from           
bridesmaids and ushers1 excuses of tardy
 tradesmen4 ,and the contretemps of the 
last minute--a sudden death that        
disarranges the bridal party2 a wretched
 cold that prevents a favorite          
cantatrice from singing1 and so forth1  
and so forth4 ,those poor ,blanchards6  
,they will never be ready1 and they     
thought they had foreseen everything6   
,such has been their existence for a    
month4 ,no longer possible to breathe1  
to rest a half-hour1 to tranquillize    
one's thoughts4 ,no1 this is not living6
  ,mercifully1 there is ,grandmother's  
room4 ,grandmother is verging on eighty4
 ,through many toils and much suffering1
 she has come to meet things with the   

calm assurance which life brings to men 
and women of high thinking and large    
hearts4 ,she sits there in her          
arm-chair1 enjoying the silence of long 
meditative hours4 ,so the flood of      
affairs surging through the house1 ebbs 
at her door4 ,at the threshold of this  
retreat1 voices are hushed and footfalls
 softened2 and when the young fiancs    
want to hide away for a moment1 they    
flee to ,grandmother4  ,poor children6  
is her greeting4 ,you are worn out6     
,rest a little and belong to each other4
 ,all these things count for nothing4   
,don't let them absorb you1 it isn't    
worth while4  ,they know it well1 these 
two young people4 ,how many times in the
 last weeks has their love had to make  
way for all sorts of conventions and    
futilities6 ,fate1 at this decisive     
moment of their lives1 seems bent upon  
drawing their minds away from the one   
thing essential1 to harry them with a   
host of trivialities2 and heartily do   
they approve the opinion of ,grandmamma 

when she says1 between a smile and a    
caress3  ,decidedly1 my dears1 the world
 is growing too complex2 and it does not
 make people happier--quite the         
contrary6  99       99       99       99
       99  ,i also1 am of ,grandmamma's 
opinion4 ,from the cradle to the grave1 
in his needs as in his pleasures1 in his
 conception of the world and of himself1
 the man of modern times struggles      
through a maze of endless complication4 
,nothing is simple any longer3 neither  
thought nor action2 not pleasure1 not   
even dying4 ,with our own hands we have 
added to existence a train of hardships1
 and lopped off many a gratification4 ,i
 believe that thousands of our          
fellow-men1 suffering the consequences  
of a too artificial life1 will be       
grateful if we try to give expression to
 their discontent1 and to justify the   
regret for naturalness which vaguely    
oppresses them4  ,let us first speak of 
a series of facts that put into relief  
the truth we wish to show4  ,the        

complexity of our life appears in the   
number of our material needs4 ,it is a  
fact universally conceded1 that our     
needs have grown with our resources4    
,this is not an evil in itself2 for the 
birth of certain needs is often a mark  
of progress4 ,to feel the necessity of  
bathing1 of wearing fresh linen1        
inhabiting wholesome houses1 eating     
healthful food1 and cultivating our     
minds1 is a sign of superiority4 ,but if
 certain needs exist by right1 and are  
desirable1 there are others whose       
effects are fatal1 which1 like          
parasites1 live at our expense3 numerous
 and imperious1 they engross us         
completely4  ,could our fathers have    
foreseen that we should some day have at
 our disposal the means and forces we   
now use in sustaining and defending our 
material life1 they would have predicted
 for us an increase of independence1 and
 therefore of happiness1 and a decrease 
in competition for worldly goods3 they  
might even have thought that through the

 simplification of life thus made       
possible1 a higher degree of morality   
would be attained4 ,none of these things
 has come to pass4 ,neither happiness1  
nor brotherly love1 nor power for good  
has been increased4 ,in the first place1
 do you think your fellow-citizens1     
taken as a whole1 are more contented    
than their forefathers1 and less anxious
 about the future8 ,i do not ask if they
 should find reason to be so1 but if    
they really are so4 ,to see them live1  
it seems to me that a majority of them  
are discontented with their lot1 and1   
above all1 absorbed in material needs   
and beset with cares for the morrow4    
,never has the question of food and     
shelter been sharper or more absorbing  
than since we are better nourished1     
better clothed1 and better housed than  
ever4 ,he errs greatly who thinks that  
the query1 ,what shall we eat1 and what 
shall we drink1 and wherewithal shall we
 be clothed8 presents itself to the poor
 alone1 exposed as they are to the      

anguish of morrows without bread or a   
roof4 ,with them the question is        
natural1 and yet it is with them that it
 presents itself most simply4 ,you must 
go among those who are beginning to     
enjoy a little ease1 to learn how       
greatly satisfaction in what one has1   
may be disturbed by regret for what one 
lacks4 ,and if you would see anxious    
care for future material good1 material 
good in all its luxurious development1  
observe people of small fortune1 and1   
above all1 the rich4 ,it is not the     
woman with one dress who asks most      
insistently how she shall be clothed1   
nor is it those reduced to the strictly 
necessary who make most question of what
 they shall eat to-morrow4 ,as an       
inevitable consequence of the law that  
needs are increased by their            
satisfaction1 the more goods a man has1 
the more he wants4 ,the more assured he 
is of the morrow1 according to the      
common acceptation1 the more exclusively
 does he concern himself with how he    

shall live1 and provide for his children
 and his children's children4           
,impossible to conceive of the fears of 
a man established in life--their number1
 their reach1 and their shades of       
refinement4  ,from all this1 there has  
arisen throughout the different social  
orders1 modified by conditions and      
varying in intensity1 a common          
agitation--a very complex mental state1 
best compared to the petulance of a     
spoiled child1 at once satisfied and    
discontented4         99       99       
99       99       99  ,if we have not   
become happier1 neither have we grown   
more peaceful and fraternal4 ,the more  
desires and needs a man has1 the more   
occasion he finds for conflict with his 
fellow-men2 and these conflicts are more
 bitter in proportion as their causes   
are less just4 ,it is the law of nature 
to fight for bread1 for the necessities4
 ,this law may seem brutal1 but there is
 an excuse in its very harshness1 and it
 is generally limited to elemental      

cruelties4 ,quite different is the      
battle for the superfluous--for         
ambition1 privilege1 inclination1       
luxury4 ,never has hunger driven man to 
such baseness as have envy1 avarice1 and
 thirst for pleasure4 ,egotism grows    
more maleficent as it becomes more      
refined4 ,we of these times have seen an
 increase of hostile feeling among      
brothers1 and our hearts are less at    
peace than ever4,a  ,after this1 is     
there any need to ask if we have become 
better8 ,do not the very sinews of      
virtue lie in man's capacity to care for
 something outside himself8 ,and what   
place remains for one's neighbor in a   
life given over to material cares1 to   
artificial needs1 to the satisfaction of
 ambitions1 grudges1 and whims8 ,the man
 who gives himself up entirely to the   
service of his appetites1 makes them    
grow and multiply so well that they     
become stronger than he2 and once their 
slave1 he loses his moral sense1 loses  
his energy1 and becomes incapable of    

discerning and practicing the good4 ,he 
has surrendered himself to the inner    
anarchy of desire1 which in the end     
gives birth to outer anarchy4 ,in the   
moral life we govern ourselves4 ,in the 
immoral life we are governed by our     
needs and passions4 ,thus little by     
little1 the bases of the moral life     
shift1 and the law of judgment deviates4
  ,for the man enslaved to numerous and 
exacting needs1 possession is the       
supreme good and the source of all other
 good things4 ,it is true that in the   
fierce struggle for possession1 we come 
to hate those who possess1 and to deny  
the right of property when this right is
 in the hands of others and not in our  
own4 ,but the bitterness of attack      
against others' possessions is only a   
new proof of the extraordinary          
importance we attach to possession      
itself4 ,in the end1 people and things  
come to be estimated at their selling   
price1 or according to the profit to be 
drawn from them4 ,what brings nothing is

 worth nothing3 he who has nothing1 is  
nothing4 ,honest poverty risks passing  
for shame1 and lucre1 however filthy1 is
 not greatly put to it to be accounted  
for merit4  ,some one objects3 ,then you
 make wholesale condemnation of         
progress1 and would lead us back to the 
good old times--to asceticism perhaps4  
,not at all4 ,the desire to resuscitate 
the past is the most unfruitful and     
dangerous of ,utopian dreams1 and the   
art of good living does not consist in  
retiring from life4 ,but we are trying  
to throw light upon one of the errors   
that drag most heavily upon human       
progress1 in order to find a remedy for 
it--namely1 the belief that man becomes 
happier and better by the increase of   
outward well-being4 ,nothing is falser  
than this pretended social axiom2 on the
 contrary1 that material prosperity     
without an offset1 diminishes the       
capacity for happiness and debases      
character1 is a fact which a thousand   
examples are at hand to prove4 ,the     

worth of a civilization is the worth of 
the man at its center4 ,when this man   
lacks moral rectitude1 progress only    
makes bad worse1 and further embroils   
social problems4  ,a ,the author refers 
to the unparalleled bitterness of the   
conflict in ,france between ,dreyfusards
 and anti-,dreyfusards4          99     
99       99       99       99  ,this    
principle may be verified in other      
domains than that of material           
well-being4 ,we shall speak only of     
education and liberty4 ,we remember when
 prophets in good repute announced that 
to transform this wicked world into an  
abode fit for the gods1 all that was    
needed was the overthrow of tyranny1    
ignorance1 and want--those three dread  
powers so long in league4 ,to-day1 other
 preachers proclaim the same gospel4 ,we
 have seen that the unquestionable      
diminution of want has made man neither 
better nor happier4 ,has this desirable 
result been more nearly attained through
 the great care bestowed upon           

instruction8 ,it does not yet appear so1
 and this failure is the despair of our 
national educators4  ,then shall we stop
 the people's ears1 suppress public     
instruction1 close the schools8 ,by no  
means4 ,but education1 like the mass of 
our age's inventions1 is after all only 
a tool2 everything depends upon the     
workman who uses it4444 ,so it is with  
liberty4 ,it is fatal or lifegiving     
according to the use made of it4 ,is it 
liberty still1 when it is the           
prerogative of criminals or heedless    
blunderers8 ,liberty is an atmosphere of
 the higher life1 and it is only by a   
slow and patient inward transformation  
that one becomes capable of breathing   
it4  ,all life must have its law1 the   
life of man so much the more than that  
of inferior beings1 in that it is more  
precious and of nicer adjustment4 ,this 
law for man is in the first place an    
external law1 but it may become an      
internal law4 ,when man has once        
recognized the inner law1 and bowed     

before it1 through this reverence and   
voluntary submission he is ripe for     
liberty3 so long as there is no vigorous
 and sovereign inner law1 he is         
incapable of breathing its air2 for he  
will be drunken with it1 maddened1      
morally slain4 ,the man who guides his  
life by inner law1 can no more live     
servile to outward authority than can   
the full-grown bird live imprisoned in  
the eggshell4 ,but the man who has not  
yet attained to governing himself can no
 more live under the law of liberty than
 can the unfledged bird live without its
 protective covering4 ,these things are 
terribly simple1 and the series of      
demonstrations old and new that proves  
them1 increases daily under our eyes4   
,and yet we are as far as ever from     
understanding even the elements of this 
most important law4 ,in our democracy1  
how many are there1 great and small1 who
 know1 from having personally verified  
it1 lived it and obeyed it1 this truth  
without which a people is incapable of  

governing itself8 ,liberty8--it is      
respect2 liberty8--it is obedience to   
the inner law2 and this law is neither  
the good pleasure of the mighty1 nor the
 caprice of the crowd1 but the high and 
impersonal rule before which those who  
govern are the first to bow the head4   
,shall liberty1 then1 be proscribed8    
,no2 but men must be made capable and   
worthy of it1 otherwise public life     
becomes impossible1 and the nation1     
undisciplined and unrestrained1 goes on 
through license into the inextricable   
tangles of demagoguery4  99       99    
99       99       99  ,when one passes  
in review the individual causes that    
disturb and complicate our social life1 
by whatever names they are designated1  
and their list would be long1 they all  
lead back to one general cause1 which is
 this3 the confusion of the secondary   
with the essential4 ,material comfort1  
education1 liberty1 the whole of        
civilization--these things constitute   
the frame of the picture2 but the frame 

no more makes the picture than the frock
 the monk or the uniform the soldier4   
,here the picture is man1 and man with  
his most intimate possessions--namely1  
his conscience1 his character and his   
will4 ,and while we have been           
elaborating and garnishing the frame1 we
 have forgotten1 neglected1 disfigured  
the picture4 ,thus are we loaded with   
external good1 and miserable in         
spiritual life2 we have in abundance    
that which1 if must be1 we can go       
without1 and are infinitely poor in the 
one thing needful4 ,and when the depth  
of our being is stirred1 with its need  
of loving1 aspiring1 fulfilling its     
destiny1 it feels the anguish of one    
buried alive--is smothered under the    
mass of secondary things that weigh it  
down and deprive it of light and air4   
,we must search out1 set free1 restore  
to honor the true life1 assign things to
 their proper places1 and remember that 
the center of human progress is moral   
growth4 ,what is a good lamp8 ,it is not

 the most elaborate1 the finest wrought1
 that of the most precious metal4 ,a    
good lamp is a lamp that gives good     
light4 ,and so also we are men and      
citizens1 not by reason of the number of
 our goods and the pleasures we procure 
for ourselves1 not through our          
intellectual and artistic culture1 nor  
because of the honors and independence  
we enjoy2 but by virtue of the strength 
of our moral fibre4 ,and this is not a  
truth of to-day but a truth of all      
times4  ,at no epoch have the exterior  
conditions which man has made for       
himself by his industry or his          
knowledge1 been able to exempt him from 
care for the state of his inner life4   
,the face of the world alters around us1
 its intellectual and material factors  
vary2 and no one can arrest these       
changes1 whose suddenness is sometimes  
not short of perilous4 ,but the         
important thing is that at the center of
 shifting circumstance man should remain
 man1 live his life1 make toward his    

goal4 ,and whatever be his road1 to make
 toward his goal1 the traveler must not 
lose himself in crossways1 nor hamper   
his movements with useless burdens4 ,let
 him heed well his direction and forces1
 and keep good faith2 and that he may   
the better devote himself to the        
essential--which is to progress--at     
whatever sacrifice1 let him simplify his
 baggage4     ,,ii  ,,the ,,essence ,,of
 ,,simplicity   ,before considering the 
question of a practical return to the   
simplicity of which we dream1 it will be
 necessary to define simplicity in its  
very essence4 ,for in regard to it      
people commit the same error that we    
have just denounced1 confounding the    
secondary with the essential1 substance 
with form4 ,they are tempted to believe 
that simplicity presents certain        
external characteristics by which it may
 be recognized1 and in which it really  
consists4 ,simplicity and lowly station1
 plain dress1 a modest dwelling1 slender
 means1 poverty--these things seem to go

 together4 ,nevertheless1 this is not   
the case4 ,just now ,i passed three men 
on the street3 the first in his         
carriage2 the others on foot1 and one of
 them shoeless4 ,the shoeless man does  
not necessarily lead the least complex  
life of the three4 ,it may be1 indeed1  
that he who rides in his carriage is    
sincere and unaffected1 in spite of his 
position1 and is not at all the slave of
 his wealth2 it may be also that the    
pedestrian in shoes neither envies him  
who rides nor despises him who goes     
unshod2 and lastly1 it is possible that 
under his rags1 his feet in the dust1   
the third man has a hatred of           
simplicity1 of labor1 of sobriety1 and  
dreams only of idleness and pleasure4   
,for among the least simple and         
straightforward of men must be reckoned 
professional beggars1 knights of the    
road1 parasites1 and the whole tribe of 
the obsequious and envious1 whose       
aspirations are summed up in this3 to   
arrive at seizing a morsel--the biggest 

possible--of that prey which the        
fortunate of earth consume4 ,and to this
 same category1 little matter what their
 station in life1 belong the profligate1
 the arrogant1 the miserly1 the weak1   
the crafty4 ,livery counts for nothing3 
we must see the heart4 ,no class has the
 prerogative of simplicity2 no dress1   
however humble in appearance1 is its    
unfailing badge4 ,its dwelling need not 
be a garret1 a hut1 the cell of the     
ascetic nor the lowliest fisherman's    
bark4 ,under all the forms in which life
 vests itself1 in all social positions1 
at the top as at the bottom of the      
ladder1 there are people who live       
simply1 and others who do not4 ,we do   
not mean by this that simplicity betrays
 itself in no visible signs1 has not its
 own habits1 its distinguishing tastes  
and ways2 but this outward show1 which  
may now and then be counterfeited1 must 
not be confounded with its essence and  
its deep and wholly inward source4      
,simplicity is a state of mind4 ,it     

dwells in the main intention of our     
lives4 ,a man is simple when his chief  
care is the wish to be what he ought to 
be1 that is1 honestly and naturally     
human4 ,and this is neither so easy nor 
so impossible as one might think4 ,at   
bottom1 it consists in putting our acts 
and aspirations in accordance with the  
law of our being1 and consequently with 
the ,eternal ,intention which willed    
that we should be at all4 ,let a flower 
be a flower1 a swallow a swallow1 a rock
 a rock1 and let a man be a man1 and not
 a fox1 a hare1 a hog1 or a bird of     
prey3 this is the sum of the whole      
matter4  ,here we are led to formulate  
the practical ideal of man4 ,everywhere 
in life we see certain quantities of    
matter and energy associated for certain
 ends4 ,substances more or less crude   
are thus transformed and carried to a   
higher degree of organization4 ,it is   
not otherwise with the life of man4 ,the
 human ideal is to transform life into  
something more excellent than itself4   

,we may compare existence to raw        
material4 ,what it is1 matters less than
 what is made of it1 as the value of a  
work of art lies in the flowering of the
 workman's skill4 ,we bring into the    
world with us different gifts3 one has  
received gold1 another granite1 a third 
marble1 most of us wood or clay4 ,our   
task is to fashion these substances4    
,everyone knows that the most precious  
material may be spoiled1 and he knows1  
too1 that out of the least costly an    
immortal work may be shaped4 ,art is the
 realization of a permanent idea in an  
ephemeral form4 ,true life is the       
realization of the higher               
virtues1--justice1 love1 truth1 liberty1
 moral power1--in our daily activities1 
whatever they may be4 ,and this life is 
possible in social conditions the most  
diverse1 and with natural gifts the most
 unequal4 ,it is not fortune or personal
 advantage1 but our turning them to     
account1 that constitutes the value of  
life4 ,fame adds no more than does      

length of days3 quality is the thing4   
,need we say that one does not rise to  
this point of view without a struggle8  
,the spirit of simplicity is not an     
inherited gift1 but the result of a     
laborious conquest4 ,plain living1 like 
high thinking1 is simplification4 ,we   
know that science is the handful of     
ultimate principles gathered out of the 
tufted mass of facts2 but what gropings 
to discover them6 ,centuries of research
 are often condensed into a principle   
that a line may state4 ,here the moral  
life presents strong analogy with the   
scientific4 ,it1 too1 begins in a       
certain confusion1 makes trial of       
itself1 seeks to understand itself1 and 
often mistakes4 ,but by dint of action1 
and exacting from himself strict account
 of his deeds1 man arrives at a better  
knowledge of life4 ,its law appears to  
him1 and the law is this3 ,work out your
 mission4 ,he who applies himself to    
aught else than the realization of this 
end1 loses in living the raison d'tre of

 life4 ,the egoist does so1 the         
pleasure-seeker1 the ambitious3 he      
consumes existence as one eating the    
full corn in the blade1--he prevents it 
from bearing its fruit2 his life is     
lost4 ,whoever1 on the contrary1 makes  
his life serve a good higher than       
itself1 saves it in giving it4 ,moral   
precepts1 which to a superficial view   
appear arbitrary1 and seem made to spoil
 our zest for life1 have really but one 
object--to preserve us from the evil of 
having lived in vain4 ,that is why they 
are constantly leading us back into the 
same paths2 that is why they all have   
the same meaning3 ,do not waste your    
life1 make it bear fruit2 learn how to  
give it1 in order that it may not       
consume itself6 ,herein is summed up the
 experience of humanity1 and this       
experience1 which each man must remake  
for himself1 is more precious in        
proportion as it costs more dear4       
,illumined by its light1 he makes a     
moral advance more and more sure4 ,now  

he has his means of orientation1 his    
internal norm to which he may lead      
everything back2 and from the           
vacillating1 confused1 and complex being
 that he was1 he becomes simple4 ,by the
 ceaseless influence of this same law1  
which expands within him1 and is day by 
day verified in fact1 his opinions and  
habits become transformed4  ,once       
captivated by the beauty and sublimity  
of the true life1 by what is sacred and 
pathetic in this strife of humanity for 
truth1 justice1 and brotherly love1 his 
heart holds the fascination of it4      
,gradually everything subordinates      
itself to this powerful and persistent  
charm4 ,the necessary hierarchy of      
powers is organized within him3 the     
essential commands1 the secondary obeys1
 and order is born of simplicity4 ,we   
may compare this organization of the    
interior life to that of an army4 ,an   
army is strong by its discipline1 and   
its discipline consists in respect of   
the inferior for the superior1 and the  

concentration of all its energies toward
 a single end3 discipline once relaxed1 
the army suffers4 ,it will not do to let
 the corporal command the general4      
,examine carefully your life and the    
lives of others4 ,whenever something    
halts or jars1 and complications and    
disorder follow1 it is because the      
corporal has issued orders to the       
general4 ,where the natural law rules in
 the heart1 disorder vanishes4  ,i      
despair of ever describing simplicity in
 any worthy fashion4 ,all the strength  
of the world and all its beauty1 all    
true joy1 everything that consoles1 that
 feeds hope1 or throws a ray of light   
along our dark paths1 everything that   
makes us see across our poor lives a    
splendid goal and a boundless future1   
comes to us from people of simplicity1  
those who have made another object of   
their desires than the passing          
satisfaction of selfishness and vanity1 
and have understood that the art of     
living is to know how to give one's     

life4     ,,iii  ,,simplicity ,,of      
,,thought   ,it is not alone among the  
practical manifestations of our life    
that there is need of making a clearing3
 the domain of our ideas is in the same 
case4 ,anarchy reigns in human thought3 
we walk in the woods1 without compass or
 sun1 lost among the brambles and briars
 of infinite detail4  ,when once man has
 recognized the fact that he has an aim1
 and that this aim is to be a man1 he   
organizes his thought accordingly4      
,every mode of thinking or judging which
 does not make him better and stronger1 
he rejects as dangerous4  ,and first of 
all he flees the too common contrariety 
of amusing himself with his thought4    
,thought is a tool1 with its own proper 
function3 it isn't a toy4 ,let us take  
an example4 ,here is the studio of a    
painter4 ,the implements are all in     
place3 everything indicates that this   
assemblage of means is arranged with    
view to an end4 ,throw the room open to 
apes4 ,they will climb on the benches1  

swing from the cords1 rig themselves in 
draperies1 coif themselves with         
slippers1 juggle with brushes1 nibble   
the colors1 and pierce the canvases to  
see what is behind the paint4 ,i don't  
question their enjoyment2 certainly they
 must find this kind of exercise        
extremely interesting4 ,but an atelier  
is not made to let monkeys loose in4 ,no
 more is thought a ground for acrobatic 
evolutions4 ,a man worthy of the name1  
thinks as he is1 as his tastes are3 he  
goes about it with his whole heart1 and 
not with that fitful and sterile        
curiosity which1 under pretext of       
observing and noting everything1 runs   
the risk of never experiencing a deep   
and true emotion or accomplishing a     
right deed4  ,another habit in urgent   
need of correction1 ordinary attendant  
on conventional life1 is the mania for  
examining and analyzing one's self at   
every turn4 ,i do not invite men to     
neglect introspection and the           
examination of conscience4 ,the endeavor

 to understand one's own mental         
attitudes and motives of conduct is an  
essential element of good living4 ,but  
quite other is this extreme vigilance1  
this incessant observation of one's life
 and thoughts1 this dissecting of one's 
self1 like a piece of mechanism4 ,it is 
a waste of time1 and goes wide of the   
mark4 ,the man who1 to prepare himself  
the better for walking1 should begin by 
making a rigid anatomical examination of
 his means of locomotion1 would risk    
dislocating something before he had     
taken a step4 ,you have what you need to
 walk with1 then forward6 ,take care not
 to fall1 and use your forces with      
discretion4 ,potterers and              
scruple-mongers are soon reduced to     
inaction4 ,it needs but a glimmer of    
common sense to perceive that man is not
 made to pass his life in a             
self-centered trance4  ,and common      
sense--do you not find what is          
designated by this name becoming as rare
 as the common-sense customs of other   

days8 ,common sense has become an old   
story4 ,we must have something new--and 
we create a factitious existence1 a     
refinement of living1 that the vulgar   
crowd has not the wherewithal to        
procure4 ,it is so agreeable to be      
distinguished6 ,instead of conducting   
ourselves like rational beings1 and     
using the means most obviously at our   
command1 we arrive1 by dint of absolute 
genius1 at the most astonishing         
singularities4 ,better off the track    
than on the main line6 ,all the bodily  
defects and deformities that orthopedy  
treats1 give but a feeble idea of the   
humps1 the tortuosities1 the            
dislocations we have inflicted upon     
ourselves in order to depart from simple
 common sense2 and at our own expense we
 learn that one does not deform himself 
with impunity4 ,novelty1 after all1 is  
ephemeral4 ,nothing endures but the     
eternal commonplace2 and if one departs 
from that1 it is to run the most        
perilous risks4 ,happy he who is able to

 reclaim himself1 who finds the way back
 to simplicity4  ,good plain sense is   
not1 as is often imagined1 the innate   
possession of the first chance-comer1 a 
mean and paltry equipment that has cost 
nothing to anyone4 ,i would compare it  
to those old folk-songs1 unfathered but 
deathless1 which seem to have risen out 
of the very heart of the people4 ,good  
sense is a fund slowly and painfully    
accumulated by the labor of centuries4  
,it is a jewel of the first water1 whose
 value he alone understands who has lost
 it1 or who observes the lives of others
 who have lost it4 ,for my part1 ,i     
think no price too great to pay for     
gaining it and keeping it1 for the      
possession of eyes that see and a       
judgment that discerns4 ,one takes good 
care of his sword1 that it be not bent  
or rusted3 with greater reason should he
 give heed to his thought4  ,but let    
this be well understood3 an appeal to   
common sense is not an appeal to thought
 that grovels1 to narrow positivism     

which denies everything it cannot see or
 touch4 ,for to wish that man should be 
absorbed in material sensations1 to the 
exclusion of the high realities of the  
inner life1 is also a want of good      
sense4 ,here we touch upon a tender     
point1 round which the greatest battles 
of humanity are waging4 ,in truth we are
 striving to attain a conception of     
life1 searching it out amid countless   
obscurities and griefs3 and everything  
that touches upon spiritual realities   
becomes day by day more painful4 ,in the
 midst of the grave perplexities and    
transient disorders that accompany great
 crises of thought1 it seems more       
difficult than ever to escape with any  
simple principles4 ,yet necessity itself
 comes to our aid1 as it has done for   
the men of all times4 ,the program of   
life is terribly simple1 after all1 and 
in the fact that existence so           
imperiously forces herself upon us1 she 
gives us notice that she precedes any   
idea of her which we may make for       

ourselves1 and that no one can put off  
living pending an attempt to understand 
life4 ,our philosophies1 our            
explanations1 our beliefs are everywhere
 confronted by facts1 and these facts1  
prodigious1 irrefutable1 call us to     
order when we would deduce life from our
 reasonings1 and would wait to act until
 we have ended philosophizing4 ,it is   
this happy necessity that prevents the  
world from stopping while man questions 
his route4 ,travelers of a day1 we are  
carried along in a vast movement to     
which we are called upon to contribute1 
but which we have not foreseen1 nor     
embraced in its entirety1 nor penetrated
 as to its ultimate aims4 ,our part is  
to fill faithfully the rle of private1  
which has devolved upon us1 and our     
thought should adapt itself to the      
situation4 ,do not say that we live in  
more trying times than our ancestors1   
for things seen from afar are often seen
 imperfectly3 it is moreover scarcely   
gracious to complain of not having been 

born in the days of one's grandfather4  
,what we may believe least contestable  
on the subject is this3 from the        
beginning of the world it has been hard 
to see clearly2 right thinking has been 
difficult everywhere and always4 ,in the
 matter the ancients were in no wise    
privileged above the moderns1 and it    
might be added that there is no         
difference between men when they are    
considered from this point of view4     
,master and servant1 teacher and        
learner1 writer and artisan discern     
truth at the same cost4 ,the light that 
humanity acquires in advancing is no    
doubt of the greatest use2 but it also  
multiplies the number and extent of     
human problems4 ,the difficulty is never
 removed1 the mind always encounters its
 obstacle4 ,the unknown controls us and 
hems us in on all sides4 ,but just as   
one need not exhaust a spring to quench 
his thirst1 so we need not know         
everything to live4 ,humanity lives and 
always has lived on certain elemental   

provisions4  ,we will try to point them 
out4 ,first of all1 humanity lives by   
confidence4 ,in so doing it but         
reflects1 commensurate with its         
conscious thought1 that which is the    
hidden source of all beings4 ,an        
imperturbable faith in the stability of 
the universe and its intelligent        
ordering1 sleeps in everything that     
exists4 ,the flowers1 the trees1 the    
beasts of the field1 live in calm       
strength1 in entire security4 ,there is 
confidence in the falling rain1 in      
dawning day1 in the brook running to the
 sea4 ,everything that is seems to say3 
,i am1 therefore ,i should be2 there are
 good reasons for this1 rest assured4   
,so1 too1 mankind lives by confidence4  
,from the simple fact that he is1 man   
has within him the sufficient reason for
 his being--a pledge of assurance4 ,he  
reposes in the power which has willed   
that he should be4 ,to safeguard this   
confidence1 to see that nothing         
disconcerts it1 to cultivate it1 render 

it more personal1 more evident--toward  
this should tend the first effort of our
 thought4 ,all that augments confidence 
within us is good1 for from confidence  
is born the life without haste1 tranquil
 energy1 calm action1 the love of life  
and its fruitful labor4 ,deep-seated    
confidence is the mysterious spring that
 sets in motion the energy within us4   
,it is our nutriment4 ,by it man lives1 
much more than by the bread he eats4    
,and so everything that shakes this     
confidence is evil--poison1 not food4   
,dangerous is every system of thought   
that attacks the very fact of life1     
declaring it to be an evil4 ,life has   
been too often wrongly estimated in this
 century4 ,what wonder that the tree    
withers when its roots are watered with 
corrosives4 ,and there is an extremely  
simple reflection that might be made in 
the face of all this negation4 ,you say 
life is an evil4 ,well2 what remedy for 
it do you offer8 ,can you combat it1    
suppress it8 ,i do not ask you to       

suppress your own life1 to commit       
suicide2--of what advantage would that  
be to us8--but to suppress life1 not    
merely human life1 but life at its deep 
and hidden origin1 all this upspringing 
of existence that pushes toward the     
light and1 to your mind1 is rushing to  
misfortune2 ,i ask you to suppress the  
will to live that trembles through the  
immensities of space1 to suppress in    
short the source of life4 ,can you do   
it8 ,no4 ,then leave us in peace4 ,since
 no one can hold life in check1 is it   
not better to respect it and use it than
 to go about making other people        
disgusted with it8 ,when one knows that 
certain food is dangerous to health1 he 
does not eat it1 and when a certain     
fashion of thinking robs us of          
confidence1 cheerfulness and strength1  
we should reject that1 certain not only 
that it is a nutriment noxious to the   
mind1 but also that it is false4 ,there 
is no truth for man but in thoughts that
 are human1 and pessimism is inhuman4   

,besides1 it wants as much in modesty as
 in logic4 ,to permit one's self to     
count as evil this prodigious thing that
 we call life1 one needs have seen its  
very foundation1 almost to have made it4
 ,what a strange attitude is that of    
certain great thinkers of our times6    
,they act as if they had created the    
world1 very long ago1 in their youth1   
but decidedly it was a mistake1 and they
 had well repented it4  ,let us nourish 
ourselves from other meat2 strengthen   
our souls with cheering thoughts4 ,what 
is truest for man is what best fortifies
 him4  99       99       99       99    
99  ,if mankind lives by confidence1 it 
lives also by hope--that form of        
confidence which turns toward the       
future4 ,all life is a result and an    
aspiration1 all that exists supposes an 
origin and tends toward an end4 ,life is
 progression3 progression is aspiration4
 ,the progress of the future is an      
infinitude of hope4 ,hope is at the root
 of things1 and must be reflected in the

 heart of man4 ,no hope1 no life4 ,the  
same power which brought us into being1 
urges us to go up higher4 ,what is the  
meaning of this persistent instinct     
which pushes us on8 ,the true meaning is
 that something is to result from life1 
that out of it is being wrought a good  
greater than itself1 toward which it    
slowly moves1 and that this painful     
sower called man1 needs1 like every     
sower1 to count on the morrow4 ,the     
history of humanity is the history of   
indomitable hope2 otherwise everything  
would have been over long ago4 ,to press
 forward under his burdens1 to guide    
himself in the night1 to retrieve his   
falls and his failures1 to escape       
despair even in death1 man has need of  
hoping always1 and sometimes against all
 hope4 ,here is the cordial that        
sustains him4 ,had we only logic1 we    
should have long ago drawn the          
conclusion3 ,death has everywhere the   
last word6--and we should be dead of the
 idea4 ,but we have hope1 and that is   

why we live and believe in life4  ,suso1
 the great monk and mystic1 one of the  
simplest and best men that ever lived1  
had a touching custom3 whenever he      
encountered a woman1 were she the       
poorest and oldest1 he stepped          
respectfully aside1 though his bare feet
 must tread among thorns or in the      
gutter4 ,i do that1 he said1 to render  
homage to our ,holy ,lady1 the ,virgin  
,mary4 ,let us offer to hope a like     
reverence4 ,if we meet it in the shape  
of a blade of wheat piercing the furrow2
 a bird brooding on its nest2 a poor    
wounded beast1 recovering itself1 rising
 and continuing its way2 a peasant      
ploughing and sowing a field that has   
been ravaged by flood or hail2 a nation 
slowly repairing its losses and healing 
its wounds--under whatever guise of     
humanity or suffering it appears to us1 
let us salute it6 ,when we encounter it 
in legends1 in untutored songs1 in      
simple creeds1 let us still salute it6  
for it is always the same1              

indestructible1 the immortal daughter of
 ,god4  ,we do not dare hope enough4    
,the men of our day have developed      
strange timidities4 ,the apprehension   
that the sky will fall--that acme of    
absurdity among the fears of our ,gallic
 forefathers--has entered our own       
hearts4 ,does the rain-drop doubt the   
ocean8 the ray mistrust the sun8 ,our   
senile wisdom has arrived at this       
prodigy4 ,it resembles those testy old  
pedagogues whose chief office is to rail
 at the merry pranks or the youthful    
enthusiasms of their pupils4 ,it is time
 to become little children once more1 to
 learn again to stand with clasped hands
 and wide eyes before the mystery around
 us2 to remember that1 in spite of our  
knowledge1 what we know is but a trifle1
 and that the world is greater than our 
mind1 which is well2 for being so       
prodigious1 it must hold in reserve     
untold resources1 and we may allow it   
some credit without accusing ourselves  
of improvidence4 ,let us not treat it as

 creditors do an insolvent debtor3 we   
should fire its courage1 relight the    
sacred flame of hope4 ,since the sun    
still rises1 since earth puts forth her 
blossoms anew1 since the bird builds its
 nest1 and the mother smiles at her     
child1 let us have the courage to be    
men1 and commit the rest to ,him who has
 numbered the stars4 ,for my part1 ,i   
would ,i might find glowing words to say
 to whomsoever has lost heart in these  
times of disillusion3 ,rouse your       
courage1 hope on2 he is sure of being   
least deluded who has the daring to do  
that2 the most ingenuous hope is nearer 
truth than the most rational despair4   
99       99       99       99       99  
,another source of light on the path of 
human life is goodness4 ,i am not of    
those who believe in the natural        
perfection of man1 and teach that       
society corrupts him4 ,on the contrary1 
of all forms of evil1 the one which most
 dismays me is heredity4 ,but ,i        
sometimes ask myself how it is that this

 effete and deadly virus of low         
instincts1 of vices inoculated in the   
blood1 the whole assemblage of          
disabilities imposed upon us by the     
past--how all this has not got the      
better of us4 ,it must be because of    
something else4 ,this other thing is    
love4  ,given the unknown brooding above
 our heads1 our limited intelligence1   
the grievous and contradictory enigma of
 human destiny1 falsehood1 hatred1      
corruption1 suffering1 death--what can  
we think1 what do8 ,to all these        
questions a sublime and mysterious voice
 has answered3 ,love your fellow-men4   
,love must indeed be divine1 like faith 
and hope1 since she cannot die when so  
many powers are arrayed against her4    
,she has to combat the natural ferocity 
of what may be called the beast in man2 
she has to meet ruse1 force1            
self-interest1 above all1 ingratitude4  
,how is it that she passes pure and     
scathless in the midst of these dark    
enemies1 like the prophet of the sacred 

legend among the roaring beasts8 ,it is 
because her enemies are of the earth1   
and love is from above4 ,horns1 teeth1  
claws1 eyes full of murderous fire1 are 
powerless against the swift wing that   
soars toward the heights and eludes     
them4 ,thus love escapes the            
undertakings of her foes4 ,she does even
 better3 she has sometimes known the    
fine triumph of winning over her        
persecutors3 she has seen the wild      
beasts grow calm1 lie down at her feet1 
obey her law4  ,at the very heart of the
 ,christian faith1 the most sublime of  
its teachings1 and to him who penetrates
 its deepest sense1 the most human1 is  
this3 ,to save lost humanity1 the       
invisible ,god came to dwell among us1  
in the form of a man1 and willed to make
 ,himself known by this single sign3    
,love4  ,healing1 consoling1 tender to  
the unfortunate1 even to the evil1 love 
engenders light beneath her feet4 ,she  
clarifies1 she simplifies4 ,she has     
chosen the humblest part--to bind up    

wounds1 wipe away tears1 relieve        
distress1 soothe aching hearts1 pardon1 
make peace2 yet it is of love that we   
have the greatest need4 ,and as we      
meditate on the best way to render      
thought fruitful1 simple1 really        
conformable to our destiny1 the method  
sums itself up in these words3 ,have    
confidence and hope2 be kind4  ,i would 
not discourage lofty speculation1       
dissuade any one whomsoever from        
brooding over the problems of the       
unknown1 over the vast abysses of       
science or philosophy4 ,but we have     
always to come back from these far      
journeys to the point where we are1     
often to a place where we seem to stand 
marking time with no result4 ,there are 
conditions of life and social           
complications in which the sage1 the    
thinker1 and the ignorant are alike     
unable to see clearly4 ,the present age 
has often brought us face to face with  
such situations2 ,i am sure that he who 
meets them with our method will soon    

recognize its worth4  99       99       
99       99       99  ,since ,i have    
touched here upon religious ground1 at  
least in a general way1 someone may ask 
me to say in a few simple words1 what   
religion is the best2 and ,i gladly     
express myself on this subject4 ,but it 
might be better not to put the question 
in this form4 ,all religions have1 of   
necessity1 certain fixed                
characteristics1 and each has its       
inherent qualities or defects4 ,strictly
 speaking1 then1 they may be compared   
among themselves3 but there are always  
involuntary partialities or foregone    
conclusions4 ,it is better to put the   
question otherwise1 and ask3 ,is my own 
religion good1 and how may ,i know it8  
,to this question1 this answer3 ,your   
religion is good if it is vital and     
active1 if it nourishes in you          
confidence1 hope1 love1 and a sentiment 
of the infinite value of existence2 if  
it is allied with what is best in you   
against what is worst1 and holds forever

 before you the necessity of becoming a 
new man2 if it makes you understand that
 pain is a deliverer2 if it increases   
your respect for the conscience of      
others2 if it renders forgiveness more  
easy1 fortune less arrogant1 duty more  
dear1 the beyond less visionary4 ,if it 
does these things it is good1 little    
matter its name3 however rudimentary it 
may be1 when it fills this office it    
comes from the true source1 it binds you
 to man and to ,god4  ,but does it      
perchance serve to make you think       
yourself better than others1 quibble    
over texts1 wear sour looks1 domineer   
over others' consciences or give your   
own over to bondage2 stifle your        
scruples1 follow religious forms for    
fashion or gain1 do good in the hope of 
escaping future punishment8--oh1 then1  
if you proclaim yourself the follower of
 ,buddha1 ,moses1 ,mahomet1 or even     
,christ1 your religion is worthless--it 
separates you from ,god and man4  ,i    
have not perhaps the right to speak thus

 in my own name2 but others have so     
spoken before me who are greater than   
,i1 and notably ,he who recounted to the
 questioning scribe the parable of the  
,good ,samaritan4 ,i intrench myself    
behind ,his authority4     ,,iv         
,,simplicity ,,of ,,speech   ,speech is 
the chief revelation of the mind1 the   
first visible form that it takes4 ,as   
the thought1 so the speech4 ,to better  
one's life in the way of simplicity1 one
 must set a watch on his lips and his   
pen4 ,let the word be as genuine as the 
thought1 as artless1 as valid3 think    
justly1 speak frankly4  ,all social     
relations have their roots in mutual    
trust1 and this trust is maintained by  
each man's sincerity4 ,once sincerity   
diminishes1 confidence is weakened1     
society suffers1 apprehension is born4  
,this is true in the province of both   
natural and spiritual interests4 ,with  
people whom we distrust1 it is as       
difficult to do business as to search   
for scientific truth1 arrive at         

religious harmony1 or attain to justice4
 ,when one must first question words and
 intentions1 and start from the premise 
that everything said and written is     
meant to offer us illusion in place of  
truth1 life becomes strangely           
complicated4 ,this is the case to-day4  
,there is so much craft1 so much        
diplomacy1 so much subtle legerdemain1  
that we all have no end of trouble to   
inform ourselves on the simplest subject
 and the one that most concerns us4     
,probably what ,i have just said would  
suffice to show my thought1 and each    
one's experience might bring to its     
support an ample commentary with        
illustrations4 ,but ,i am none the less 
moved to insist on this point1 and to   
strengthen my position with examples4   
,formerly the means of communication    
between men were considerably           
restricted4 ,it was natural to suppose  
that in perfecting and multiplying      
avenues of information1 a better        
understanding would be brought about4   

,nations would learn to love each other 
as they became acquainted2 citizens of  
one country would feel themselves bound 
in closer brotherhood as more light was 
thrown on what concerned their common   
life4 ,when printing was invented1 the  
cry arose3 fiat lux6 and with better    
cause when the habit of reading and the 
taste for newspapers increased4 ,why    
should not men have reasoned thus3--,two
 lights illumine better than one1 and   
many better than two3 the more          
periodicals and books there are1 the    
better we shall know what happens1 and  
those who wish to write history after us
 will be right fortunate2 their hands   
will be full of documents8 ,nothing     
could have seemed more evident4 ,alas6  
this reasoning was based upon the nature
 and capacity of the instruments1       
without taking into account the human   
element1 always the most important      
factor4 ,and what has really come about 
is this3 that cavilers1 calumniators1   
and crooks--all gentlemen glib of       

tongue1 who know better than any one    
else how to turn voice and pen to       
account--have taken the utmost advantage
 of these extended means for circulating
 thought1 with the result that the men  
of our times have the greatest          
difficulty in the world to know the     
truth about their own age and their own 
affairs4 ,for every newspaper that      
fosters good feeling and good           
understanding between nations1 by trying
 to rightly inform its neighbors and to 
study them without reservations1 how    
many spread defamation and distrust6    
,what unnatural and dangerous currents  
of opinion set in motion6 what false    
alarms and malicious interpretations of 
words and facts6 ,and in domestic       
affairs we are not much better informed 
than in foreign4 ,as to commercial1     
industrial1 and agricultural interests1 
political parties and social tendencies1
 or the personality of public men1 it is
 alike difficult to obtain a            
disinterested opinion4 ,the more        

newspapers one reads1 the less clearly  
he sees in these matters4 ,there are    
days when after having read them all1   
and admitting that he takes them at     
their word1 the reader finds himself    
obliged to draw this                    
conclusion3--,unquestionably nothing but
 corruption can be found any longer--no 
men of integrity except a few           
journalists4 ,but the last part of the  
conclusion falls in its turn4 ,it       
appears that the chroniclers devour each
 other4 ,the reader has under his eyes a
 spectacle somewhat like the cartoon    
entitled1 ,the ,combat of the ,serpents4
 ,after having gorged themselves with   
everything around them1 the reptiles    
fall upon each other1 and there remain  
upon the field of battle two tails4     
,and not the common people alone feel   
this embarrassment1 but the cultivated  
also--almost everybody shares it4 ,in   
politics1 finance1 business--even in    
science1 art1 literature and religion1  
there is everywhere disguise1 trickery1 

wire-pulling2 one truth for the public1 
another for the initiated4 ,the result  
is that everybody is deceived4 ,it is   
vain to be behind the scenes on one     
stage2 a man cannot be there on them    
all1 and the very people who deceive    
others with the most ability1 are in    
turn deceived when they need to count   
upon the sincerity of their neighbors4  
,the result of such practices is the    
degradation of human speech4 ,it is     
degraded first in the eyes of those who 
manipulate it as a base instrument4 ,no 
word is respected by sophists1 casuists1
 and quibblers1 men who are moved only  
by a rage for gaining their point1 or   
who assume that their interests are     
alone worth considering4 ,their penalty 
is to be forced to judge others by the  
rule they follow themselves3 ,say what  
profits and not what is true4 ,they can 
no longer take any one seriously--a sad 
state of mind for those who write or    
teach6 ,how lightly must one hold his   
readers and hearers to approach them in 

such an attitude6 ,to him who has       
preserved enough honesty1 nothing is    
more repugnant than the careless irony  
of an acrobat of the tongue or pen1 who 
tries to dupe honest and ingenuous men4 
,on one side openness1 sincerity1 the   
desire to be enlightened2 on the other1 
chicanery making game of the public6    
,but he knows not1 the liar1 how far he 
is misleading himself4 ,the capital on  
which he lives is confidence1 and       
nothing equals the confidence of the    
people1 unless it be their distrust when
 once they find themselves betrayed4    
,they may follow for a time the         
exploiters of their artlessness1 but    
then their friendly humor turns to hate4
 ,doors which stood wide open offer an  
impassable front of wood1 and ears once 
attentive are deaf4 ,and the pity is    
that they have closed not to the evil   
alone1 but to the good4 ,this is the    
crime of those who distort and degrade  
speech3 they shake confidence generally4
 ,we consider as a calamity the         

debasement of the currency1 the lowering
 of interest1 the abolition of          
credit3--there is a misfortune greater  
than these3 the loss of confidence1 of  
that moral credit which honest people   
give one another1 and which makes speech
 circulate like an authentic currency4  
,away with counterfeiters1 speculators1 
rotten financiers1 for they bring under 
suspicion even the coin of the realm4   
,away with the makers of counterfeit    
speech1 for because of them there is no 
longer confidence in anyone or anything1
 and what they say and write is not     
worth a continental4  ,you see how      
urgent it is that each should guard his 
lips1 chasten his pen1 and aspire to    
simplicity of speech4 ,no more          
perversion of sense1 circumlocution1    
reticence1 tergiversation6 these things 
serve only to complicate and bewilder4  
,be men2 speak the speech of honor4 ,an 
hour of plain-dealing does more for the 
salvation of the world than years of    
duplicity4  99       99       99        

99       99  ,a word now about a        
national bias1 to those who have a      
veneration for diction and style4       
,assuredly there can be no quarrel with 
the taste for grace and elegance of     
speech4 ,i am of opinion that one cannot
 say too well what he has to say4 ,but  
it does not follow that the things best 
said and best written are most studied4 
,words should serve the fact1 and not   
substitute themselves for it and make it
 forgotten in its embellishment4 ,the   
greatest things are those which gain the
 most by being said most simply1 since  
thus they show themselves for what they 
are3 you do not throw over them the     
veil1 however transparent1 of beautiful 
discourse1 nor that shadow so fatal to  
truth1 called the writer's vanity4      
,nothing so strong1 nothing so          
persuasive1 as simplicity6 ,there are   
sacred emotions1 cruel griefs1 splendid 
heroisms1 passionate enthusiasms that a 
look1 a movement1 a cry interprets      
better than beautifully rounded periods4

 ,the most precious possessions of the  
heart of humanity manifest themselves   
most simply4 ,to be convincing1 a thing 
must be true1 and certain truths are    
more evident when they come in the      
speech of ingenuousness1 even weakness1 
than when they fall from lips too well  
trained1 or are proclaimed with         
trumpets4 ,and these rules are good for 
each of us in his every-day life4 ,no   
one can imagine what profit would accrue
 to his moral life from the constant    
observation of this principle3 ,be      
sincere1 moderate1 simple in the        
expression of your feelings and         
opinions1 in private and public alike2  
never pass beyond bounds1 give out      
faithfully what is within you1 and above
 all1 watch6--that is the main thing4   
,for the danger in fine words is that   
they live from a life of their own4     
,they are servants of distinction1 that 
have kept their titles but no longer    
perform their functions--of which royal 
courts offer us example4 ,you speak     

well1 write well1 and all is said4 ,how 
many people content themselves with     
speaking1 and believe that it exempts   
them from acting6 ,and those who listen 
are content with having heard them4 ,so 
it sometimes happens that a life may in 
the end be made up of a few well-turned 
speeches1 a few fine books1 and a few   
great plays4 ,as for practicing what is 
so magisterially set forth1 that is the 
last thing thought of4 ,and if we pass  
from the world of talent to spheres     
which the mediocre exploit1 there1 in a 
pell-mell of confusion1 we see those who
 think that we are in the world to talk 
and hear others talk--the great and     
hopeless rout of babblers1 of everything
 that prates1 bawls1 and perorates and1 
after all1 finds that there isn't       
talking enough4 ,they all forget that   
those who make the least noise do the   
most work4 ,an engine that expends all  
its steam in whistling1 has nothing left
 with which to turn wheels4 ,then let us
 cultivate silence4 ,all that we can    

save in noise we gain in power4  99     
99       99       99       99  ,these   
reflections lead us to consider a       
similar subject1 also very worthy of    
attention3 ,i mean what has been called 
the vice of the superlative4 ,if we     
study the inhabitants of a country1 we  
notice differences of temperament1 of   
which the language shows signs4 ,here   
the people are calm and phlegmatic2     
their speech is jejune1 lacks color4    
,elsewhere temperaments are more evenly 
balanced2 one finds precision1 the word 
exactly fitted to the thing4 ,but       
farther on--effect of the sun1 the air1 
the wine perhaps--hot blood courses in  
the veins1 tempers are excitable1       
language is extravagant1 and the        
simplest things are said in the         
strongest terms4  ,if the type of speech
 varies with climate1 it differs also   
with epochs4 ,compare the language1     
written or spoken1 of our own times with
 that of certain other periods of our   
history4 ,under the old rgime1 people   

spoke differently than at the time of   
the ,revolution1 and we have not the    
same language as the men of #ahcj1      
#ahdh1 or the ,second ,empire4 ,in      
general1 language is now characterized  
by greater simplicity3 we no longer wear
 perukes1 we no longer write in lace    
frills3 but there is one significant    
difference between us and almost all of 
our ancestors--and it is the source of  
our exaggerations--our nervousness4     
,upon over-excited nervous systems--and 
,heaven knows that to have nerves is no 
longer an aristocratic privilege6--words
 do not produce the same impression as  
under normal conditions4 ,and quite as  
truly1 simple language does not suffice 
the man of over-wrought sensibilities   
when he tries to express what he feels4 
,in private life1 in public1 in books1  
on the stage1 calm and temperate speech 
has given place to excess4 ,the means   
that novelists and playwrights employ to
 galvanize the public mind and compel   
its attention1 are to be found again1 in

 their rudiments1 in our most           
commonplace conversations1 in our       
letter-writing1 and above all in public 
speaking4 ,our performances in language 
compared to those of a man well-balanced
 and serene1 are what our hand-writing  
is compared to that of our fathers4 ,the
 fault is laid to steel pens4 ,if only  
the truth were acknowledged6--,geese1   
then1 could save us6 ,but the evil goes 
deeper2 it is in ourselves4 ,we write   
like men possessed3 the pen of our      
ancestors was more restful1 more sure4  
,here we face one of the results of our 
modern life1 so complicated and so      
terribly exhaustive of energy4 ,it      
leaves us impatient1 breathless1 in     
perpetual trepidation4 ,our             
hand-writing1 like our speech1 suffers  
thereby and betrays us4 ,let us go back 
from the effect to the cause1 and       
understand well the warning it brings   
us6  ,what good can come from this habit
 of exaggerated speech8 ,false          
interpreters of our own impressions1 we 

can not but warp the minds of our       
fellow-men as well as our own4 ,between 
people who exaggerate1 good             
understanding ceases4 ,ruffled tempers1 
violent and useless disputes1 hasty     
judgments devoid of all moderation1 the 
utmost extravagance in education and    
social life--these things are the result
 of intemperance of speech4  99       99
       99       99       99  ,may ,i be 
permitted1 in this appeal for simplicity
 of speech1 to frame a wish whose       
fulfilment would have the happiest      
results8 ,i ask for simplicity in       
literature1 not only as one of the best 
remedies for the dejection of our       
souls--blass1 jaded1 weary of           
eccentricities--but also as a pledge and
 source of social union4 ,i ask also for
 simplicity in art4 ,our art and our    
literature are reserved for the         
privileged few of education and fortune4
 ,but do not misunderstand me4 ,i do not
 ask poets1 novelists1 and painters to  
descend from the heights and walk along 

the mountain-sides1 finding their       
satisfaction in mediocrity2 but1 on the 
contrary1 to mount higher4 ,the truly   
popular is not that which appeals to a  
certain class of society ordinarily     
called the common people2 the truly     
popular is what is common to all classes
 and unites them4 ,the sources of       
inspiration from which perfect art      
springs are in the depths of the human  
heart1 in the eternal realities of life 
before which all men are equal4 ,and the
 sources of a popular language must be  
found in the small number of simple and 
vigorous forms which express elementary 
sensations1 and draw the master lines of
 human destiny4 ,in them are truth1     
power1 grandeur1 immortality4 ,is there 
not enough in such an ideal to kindle   
the enthusiasm of youth1 which1 sensible
 that the sacred flame of the beautiful 
is burning within1 feels pity1 and to   
the disdainful adage1 ,odi profanum     
vulgus1 prefers this more humane saying1
 ,misereor super turbam4 ,as for me1 ,i 

have no artistic authority1 but from out
 the multitude where ,i live1 ,i have   
the right to raise my cry to those who  
have been given talents1 and say to     
them3 ,labor for men whom the world     
forgets1 make yourselves intelligible to
 the humble1 so shall you accomplish a  
work of emancipation and peace2 so shall
 you open again the springs whence those
 masters drew1 whose works have defied  
the ages because they knew how to clothe
 genius in simplicity4     ,v  ,,simple 
,,duty   ,when we talk to children on a 
subject that annoys them1 they call our 
attention to some pigeon on the roof1   
giving food to its little one1 or some  
coachman down in the street who is      
abusing his horse4 ,sometimes they even 
maliciously propose one of those        
alarming questions that put the minds of
 parents on the rack2 all this to divert
 attention from the distressing topic4  
,i fear that in the face of duty we are 
big children1 and1 when that is the     
theme1 seek subterfuges to distract us4 

,the first sophism consists in asking   
ourselves if there is such a thing as   
duty in the abstract1 or if this word   
does not cover one of the numerous      
illusions of our forefathers4 ,for duty1
 in truth1 supposes liberty1 and the    
question of liberty leads us into       
metaphysics4 ,how can we talk of liberty
 so long as this grave problem of       
free-will is not solved8 ,theoretically 
there is no objection to this2 and if   
life were a theory1 and we were here to 
work out a complete system of the       
universe1 it would be absurd to concern 
ourselves with duty until we had        
clarified the subject of liberty1       
determined its conditions1 fixed its    
limits4  ,but life is not a theory4 ,in 
this question of practical morality1 as 
in the others1 life has preceded        
hypothesis1 and there is no room to     
believe that she ever yields it place4  
,this liberty--relative1 ,i admit1 like 
everything we are acquainted with1 for  
that matter--this duty whose existence  

we question1 is none the less the basis 
of all the judgments we pass upon       
ourselves and our fellow-men4 ,we hold  
each other to a certain extent          
responsible for our deeds and exploits4 
,the most ardent theorist1 once outside 
of his theory1 scruples not a whit to   
approve or disapprove the acts of       
others1 to take measures against his    
enemies1 to appeal to the generosity and
 justice of those he would dissuade from
 an unworthy step4 ,one can no more rid 
himself of the notion of moral          
obligation than of that of time or      
space2 and as surely as we must resign  
ourselves to walking before we know how 
to define this space through which we   
move and this time that measures our    
movements1 so surely must we submit to  
moral obligation before having put our  
finger on its deep-hidden roots4 ,moral 
law dominates man1 whether he respects  
or defies it4 ,see how it is in         
every-day life3 each one is ready to    
cast his stone at him who neglects a    

plain duty1 even if he allege that he   
has not yet arrived at philosophic      
certitude4 ,everybody will say to him1  
and with excellent reason3 ,sir1 we are 
men before everything4 ,first play your 
part1 do your duty as citizen1 father1  
son2 after that you shall return to the 
course of your meditations4  ,however1  
let us be well understood4 ,we should   
not wish to turn anyone away from       
scrupulous research into the foundations
 of morality4 ,no thought which leads   
men to concern themselves once more with
 these grave questions1 could be useless
 or indifferent4 ,we simply challenge   
the thinker to find a way to wait till  
he has unearthed these foundations1     
before he does an act of humanity1 of   
honesty or dishonesty1 of valor or      
cowardice4 ,and most of all do we wish  
to formulate a reply for all the        
insincere who have never tried to       
philosophize1 and for ourselves when we 
would offer our state of philosophic    
doubt in justification of our practical 

omissions4 ,from the simple fact that we
 are men1 before all theorizing1        
positive1 or negative1 about duty1 we   
have the peremptory law to conduct      
ourselves like men4 ,there is no getting
 out of it4  ,but he little knows the   
resources of the human heart1 who counts
 on the effect of such a reply4 ,it     
matters not that it is itself           
unanswerable2 it cannot keep other      
questions from arising4 ,the sum of our 
pretexts for evading duty is equal to   
the sum of the sands of the sea or the  
stars of heaven4  ,we take refuge1 then1
 behind duty that is obscure1 difficult1
 contradictory4 ,and these are certainly
 words to call up painful memories4 ,to 
be a man of duty and to question one's  
route1 grope in the dark1 feel one's    
self torn between the contrary          
solicitations of conflicting calls1 or  
again1 to face a duty gigantic1         
overwhelming1 beyond our strength--what 
is harder6 ,and such things happen4 ,we 
would neither deny nor contest the      

tragedy in certain situations or the    
anguish of certain lives4 ,and yet1 duty
 rarely has to make itself plain across 
such conflicting circumstances1 or to be
 struck out from the tortured mind like 
lightning from a storm-cloud4 ,such     
formidable shocks are exceptional4 ,well
 for us if we stand staunch when they   
come6 ,but if no one is astonished that 
oaks are uprooted by the whirlwind1 that
 a wayfarer stumbles at night on an     
unknown road1 or that a soldier caught  
between two fires is vanquished1 no more
 should he condemn without appeal those 
who have been worsted in almost         
superhuman moral conflicts4 ,to succumb 
under the force of numbers or obstacles 
has never been counted a disgrace4  ,so 
my weapons are at the service of those  
who intrench themselves behind the      
impregnable rampart of duty ill-defined1
 complicated or contradictory4 ,but it  
is not that which occupies me to-day2 it
 is of plain1 ,i had almost said easy   
duty1 that ,i wish to speak4  99        

99       99       99       99  ,we have 
yearly three or four high feast days1   
and many ordinary ones3 there are       
likewise some very great and dark       
combats to wage1 but beside these is the
 multitude of plain and simple duties4  
,now1 while in the great encounters our 
equipment is generally adequate1 it is  
precisely in the little emergencies that
 we are found wanting4 ,without fear of 
being misled by a paradoxical form of   
thought1 ,i affirm1 then1 that the      
essential thing is to fulfil our simple 
duties and exercise elementary justice4 
,in general1 those who lose their souls 
do so not because they fail to rise to  
difficult duty1 but because they neglect
 to perform that which is simple4 ,let  
us illustrate this truth4  ,he who tries
 to penetrate into the humble underworld
 of society is not slow to discover     
great misery1 physical and moral4 ,and  
the closer he looks1 the greater number 
of unfortunates does he discover1 till  
in the end this assembly of the wretched

 appears to him like a great black      
world1 in whose presence the individual 
and his means of relief are reduced to  
helplessness4 ,it is true that he feels 
impelled to run to the succor of these  
unfortunates1 but at the same time he   
asks himself1 ,what is the use8 ,the    
case is certainly heartrending4 ,some1  
in despair1 end by doing nothing4 ,they 
lack neither pity nor good intention1   
but these bear no fruit4 ,they are      
wrong4 ,often a man has not the means to
 do good on a large scale1 but that is  
not a reason for failing to do it at    
all4 ,so many people absolve themselves 
from any action1 on the ground that     
there is too much to do6 ,they should be
 recalled to simple duty1 and this duty 
in the case of which we speak is that   
each one1 according to his resources1   
leisure and capacity1 should create     
relations for himself among the world's 
disinherited4 ,there are people who by  
the exercise of a little good-will have 
succeeded in enrolling themselves among 

the followers of ministers1 and have    
ingratiated themselves with princes4    
,why should you not succeed in forming  
relations with the poor1 and in making  
acquaintances among the workers who lack
 somewhat the necessities of life8 ,when
 a few families are known1 with their   
histories1 their antecedents and their  
difficulties1 you may be of the greatest
 use to them by acting the part of a    
brother1 with the moral and material aid
 that is yours to give4 ,it is true1 you
 will have attacked only one little     
corner1 but you will have done what you 
could1 and perhaps have led another on  
to follow you4 ,instead of stopping at  
the knowledge that much wretchedness1   
hatred1 disunion and vice exist in      
society1 you will have introduced a     
little good among these evils4 ,and by  
however slow degrees such kindness as   
yours is emulated1 the good will        
sensibly increase and the evil diminish4
 ,even were you to remain alone in this 
undertaking1 you would have the         

assurance that in fulfilling the duty1  
plain as a child's1 which offered       
itself1 you were doing the only         
reasonable thing4 ,if you have felt it  
so1 you have found out one of the       
secrets of right living4  ,in its       
dreams1 man's ambition embraces vast    
limits1 but it is rarely given us to    
achieve great things1 and even then1 a  
quick and sure success always rests on a
 groundwork of patient preparation4     
,fidelity in small things is at the base
 of every great achievement4 ,we too    
often forget this1 and yet no truth     
needs more to be kept in mind1          
particularly in the troubled eras of    
history and in the crises of individual 
life4 ,in shipwreck a splintered beam1  
an oar1 any scrap of wreckage1 saves us4
 ,on the tumbling waves of life1 when   
everything seems shattered to fragments1
 let us not forget that a single one of 
these poor bits may become our plank of 
safety4 ,to despise the remnants is     
demoralization4  ,you are a ruined man1 

or you are stricken by a great          
bereavement1 or again1 you see the fruit
 of toilsome years perish before your   
eyes4 ,you cannot rebuild your fortune1 
raise the dead1 recover your lost toil1 
and in the face of the inevitable1 your 
arms drop4 ,then you neglect to care for
 your person1 to keep your house1 to    
guide your children4 ,all this is       
pardonable1 and how easy to understand6 
,but it is exceedingly dangerous4 ,to   
fold one's hands and let things take    
their course1 is to transform one evil  
into worse4 ,you who think that you have
 nothing left to lose1 will by that very
 thought lose what you have4 ,gather up 
the fragments that remain to you1 and   
keep them with scrupulous care4 ,in good
 time this little that is yours will be 
your consolation4 ,the effort made will 
come to your relief1 as the effort      
missed will turn against you4 ,if       
nothing but a branch is left for you to 
cling to1 cling to that branch2 and if  
you stand alone in defense of a losing  

cause1 do not throw down your arms to   
join the rout4 ,after the deluge a few  
survivors repeopled the earth4 ,the     
future sometimes rests in a single life 
as truly as life sometimes hangs by a   
thread4 ,for strength1 go to history and
 ,nature4 ,from the long travail of both
 you will learn that failure and fortune
 alike may come from the slightest      
cause1 that it is not wise to neglect   
detail1 and1 above all1 that we must    
know how to wait and to begin again4    
,in speaking of simple duty ,i cannot   
help thinking of military life1 and the 
examples it offers to combatants in this
 great struggle4 ,he would little       
understand his soldier's duty who1 the  
army once beaten1 should cease to brush 
his garments1 polish his rifle1 and     
observe discipline4 ,but what would be  
the use8 perhaps you ask4 ,are there not
 various fashions of being vanquished8  
,is it an indifferent matter to add to  
defeat1 discouragement1 disorder1 and   
demoralization8 ,no1 it should never be 

forgotten that the least display of     
energy in these terrible moments is a   
sign of life and hope4 ,at once         
everybody feels that all is not lost4   
,during the disastrous retreat of       
#ahac-ahad1 in the heart of the winter1 
when it had become almost impossible to 
present any sort of appearance1 a       
general1 ,i know not who1 one morning   
presented himself to ,napoleon1 in full 
dress and freshly shaven4 ,seeing him   
thus1 in the midst of the general       
demoralization1 as elaborately attired  
as if for parade1 the ,emperor said3 ,my
 general1 you are a brave man6  99      
99       99       99       99  ,again1  
the plain duty is the near duty4 ,a very
 common weakness keeps many people from 
finding what is near them interesting2  
they see that only on its paltry side4  
,the distant1 on the contrary1 draws and
 fascinates them4 ,in this way a        
fabulous amount of good-will is wasted4 
,people burn with ardor for humanity1   
for the public good1 for righting       

distant wrongs2 they walk through life1 
their eyes fixed on marvelous sights    
along the horizon1 treading meanwhile on
 the feet of passers-by1 or jostling    
them without being aware of their       
existence4  ,strange infirmity1 that    
keeps us from seeing our fellows at our 
very doors6 ,people widely read and     
far-travelled are often not acquainted  
with their fellow-citizens1 great or    
small4 ,their lives depend upon the     
coperation of a multitude of beings     
whose lot remains to them quite         
indifferent4 ,not those to whom they owe
 their knowledge and culture1 not their 
rulers1 nor those who serve them and    
supply their needs1 have ever attracted 
their attention4 ,that there is         
ingratitude or improvidence in not      
knowing one's workmen1 one's servants1  
all those in short with whom one has    
indispensable social relations--this has
 never come into their minds4 ,others go
 much farther4 ,to certain wives1 their 
husbands are strangers1 and conversely4 

,there are parents who do not know their
 children3 their development1 their     
thoughts1 the dangers they run1 the     
hopes they cherish1 are to them a closed
 book4 ,many children do not know their 
parents1 have no suspicion of their     
difficulties and struggles1 no          
conception of their aims4 ,and ,i am not
 speaking of those piteously disordered 
homes where all the relations are false1
 but of honorable families4 ,only1 all  
these people are greatly preoccupied3   
each has his outside interest that fills
 all his time4 ,the distant duty--very  
attractive1 ,i don't deny--claims them  
entirely1 and they are not conscious of 
the duty near at hand4 ,i fear they will
 have their trouble for their pains4    
,each person's base of operations is the
 field of his immediate duty4 ,neglect  
this field1 and all you undertake at a  
distance is compromised4 ,first1 then1  
be of your own country1 your own city1  
your own home1 your own church1 your own
 work-shop2 then1 if you can1 set out   

from this to go beyond it4 ,that is the 
plain and natural order1 and a man must 
fortify himself with very bad reasons to
 arrive at reversing it4 ,at all events1
 the result of so strange a confusion of
 duties is that many people employ their
 time in all sorts of affairs except    
those in which we have a right to demand
 it4 ,each is occupied with something   
else than what concerns him1 is absent  
from his post1 ignores his trade4 ,this 
is what complicates life4 ,and it would 
be so simple for each one to be about   
his own matter4  99       99       99   
99       99  ,another form of simple    
duty4 ,when damage is done1 who should  
repair it8 ,he who did it4 ,this is     
just1 but it is only theory1 and the    
consequence of following the theory     
would be the evil in force until the    
malefactors were found and had offset   
it4 ,but suppose they are not found8 or 
suppose they can not or will not make   
amends8  ,the rain falls on your head   
through a hole in the roof1 or the wind 

blows in at a broken window4 ,will you  
wait to find the man who caused the     
mischief8 ,you would certainly think    
that absurd4 ,and yet such is often the 
practice4 ,children indignantly protest1
 ,i didn't put it there1 and ,i shall   
not take it away6 ,and most men reason  
after the same fashion4 ,it is logic4   
,but it is not the kind of logic that   
makes the world move forward4  ,on the  
contrary1 what we must learn1 and what  
life repeats to us daily1 is that the   
injury done by one must be repaired by  
another4 ,one tears down1 another builds
 up2 one defaces1 another restores2 one 
stirs up quarrels1 another appeases     
them2 one makes tears to flow1 another  
wipes them away2 one lives for          
evil-doing1 another dies for the right4 
,and in the workings of this grievous   
law lies salvation4 ,this also is logic1
 but a logic of facts which makes the   
logic of theories pale4 ,the conclusion 
of the matter is not doubtful2 a        
single-hearted man draws it thus3 given 

the evil1 the great thing is to make it 
good1 and to set about it on the spot2  
well indeed if ,messrs4 the ,malefactors
 will contribute to the reparation2 but 
experience warns us not to count too    
much on their aid4  99       99       99
       99       99  ,but however simple 
duty may be1 there is still need of     
strength to do it4 ,in what does this   
strength consist1 or where is it found8 
,one could scarcely tire of asking4     
,duty is for man an enemy and an        
intruder1 so long as it appears as an   
appeal from without4 ,when it comes in  
through the door1 he leaves by the      
window2 when it blocks up the windows1  
he escapes by the roof4 ,the more       
plainly we see it coming1 the more      
surely we flee4 ,it is like those       
police1 representatives of public order 
and official justice1 whom an adroit    
thief succeeds in evading4 ,alas6 the   
officer1 though he finally collar the   
thief1 can only conduct him to the      
station1 not along the right road4      

,before man is able to accomplish his   
duty1 he must fall into the hands of    
another power than that which says1 ,do 
this1 do that2 shun this1 shun that1 or 
else beware6  ,this is an interior      
power2 it is love4 ,when a man hates his
 work1 or goes about it with            
indifference1 all the forces of earth   
cannot make him follow it with          
enthusiasm4 ,but he who loves his office
 moves of himself2 not only is it       
needless to compel him1 but it would be 
impossible to turn him aside4 ,and this 
is true of everybody4 ,the great thing  
is to have felt the sanctity and        
immortal beauty in our obscure destiny2 
to have been led by a series of         
experiences to love this life for its   
griefs and its hopes1 to love men for   
their weakness and their greatness1 and 
to belong to humanity through the heart1
 the intelligence and the soul4 ,then an
 unknown power takes possession of us1  
as the wind of the sails of a ship1 and 
bears us toward pity and justice4 ,and  

yielding to its irresistible impulse1 we
 say3 ,i cannot help it1 something is   
there stronger than ,i4 ,in so saying1  
the men of all times and places have    
designated a power that is above        
humanity1 but which may dwell in men's  
hearts4 ,and everything truly lofty     
within us appears to us as a            
manifestation of this mystery beyond4   
,noble feelings1 like great thoughts and
 deeds1 are things of inspiration4 ,when
 the tree buds and bears fruit1 it is   
because it draws vital forces from the  
soil1 and receives light and warmth from
 the sun4 ,if a man1 in his humble      
sphere1 in the midst of the ignorance   
and faults that are his inevitably1     
consecrates himself sincerely to his    
task1 it is because he is in contact    
with the eternal source of goodness4    
,this central force manifests itself    
under a thousand forms4 ,sometimes it is
 indomitable energy2 sometimes winning  
tenderness2 sometimes the militant      
spirit that grasps and uproots the evil2

 sometimes maternal solicitude1         
gathering to its arms from the wayside  
where it was perishing1 some bruised and
 forgotten life2 sometimes the humble   
patience of long research4 ,all that it 
touches bears its seal1 and the men it  
inspires know that through it we live   
and have our being4 ,to serve it is     
their pleasure and reward4 ,they are    
satisfied to be its instruments1 and    
they no longer look at the outward glory
 of their office1 well knowing that     
nothing is great1 nothing small1 but    
that our life and our deeds are only of 
worth because of the spirit which       
breathes through them4     ,,vi         
,,simple ,,needs   ,when we buy a bird  
of the fancier1 the good man tells us   
briefly what is necessary for our new   
pensioner1 and the whole thing--hygiene1
 food1 and the rest--is comprehended in 
a dozen words4 ,likewise1 to sum up the 
necessities of most men1 a few concise  
lines would answer4 ,their rgime is in  
general of supreme simplicity1 and so   

long as they follow it1 all is well with
 them1 as with every obedient child of  
,mother ,nature4 ,let them depart from  
it1 complications arise1 health fails1  
gayety vanishes4 ,only simple and       
natural living can keep a body in full  
vigor4 ,instead of remembering this     
basic principle1 we fall into the       
strangest aberrations4  ,what material  
things does a man need to live under the
 best conditions8 ,a healthful diet1    
simple clothing1 a sanitary             
dwelling-place1 air and exercise4 ,i am 
not going to enter into hygienic        
details1 compose menus1 or discuss model
 tenements and dress reform4 ,my aim is 
to point out a direction and tell what  
advantage would come to each of us from 
ordering his life in a spirit of        
simplicity4 ,to know that this spirit   
does not rule in our society we need but
 watch the lives of men of all classes4 
,ask different people1 of very unlike   
surroundings1 this question3 ,what do   
you need to live8 ,you will see how they

 respond4 ,nothing is more instructive4 
,for some aboriginals of the ,parisian  
asphalt1 there is no life possible      
outside a region bounded by certain     
boulevards4 ,there one finds the        
respirable air1 the illuminating light1 
normal heat1 classic cookery1 and1 in   
moderation1 so many other things without
 which it would not be worth the while  
to promenade this round ball4  ,on the  
various rungs of the bourgeois ladder   
people reply to the question1 what is   
necessary to live8 by figures varying   
with the degree of their ambition or    
education3 and by education is oftenest 
understood the outward customs of life1 
the style of house1 dress1 table--an    
education precisely skin-deep4 ,upward  
from a certain income1 fee1 or salary1  
life becomes possible3 below that it is 
impossible4 ,we have seen men commit    
suicide because their means had fallen  
under a certain minimum4 ,they preferred
 to disappear rather than retrench4     
,observe that this minimum1 the cause of

 their despair1 would have been         
sufficient for others of less exacting  
needs1 and enviable to men whose tastes 
are modest4  ,on lofty mountains        
vegetation changes with the altitude4   
,there is the region of ordinary flora1 
that of the forests1 that of pastures1  
that of bare rocks and glaciers4 ,above 
a certain zone wheat is no longer found1
 but the vine still prospers4 ,the oak  
ceases in the low regions1 the pine     
flourishes at considerable heights4     
,human life1 with its needs1 reminds one
 of these phenomena of vegetation4  ,at 
a certain altitude of fortune the       
financier thrives1 the club-man1 the    
society woman1 all those in short for   
whom the strictly necessary includes a  
certain number of domestics and         
equipages1 as well as several town and  
country houses4 ,further on flourishes  
the rich upper middle class1 with its   
own standards and life4 ,in other       
regions we find men of ample1 moderate1 
or small means1 and very unlike         

exigencies4 ,then come the              
people--artisans1 day-laborers1         
peasants1 in short1 the masses1 who live
 dense and serried like the thick1      
sturdy growths on the summits of the    
mountains1 where the larger vegetation  
can no longer find nourishment4 ,in all 
these different regions of society men  
live1 and no matter in which particular 
regions they flourish1 all are alike    
human beings1 bearing the same mark4    
,how strange that among fellows there   
should be such a prodigious difference  
in requirements6 ,and here the analogies
 of our comparison fail us4 ,plants and 
animals of the same families have       
identical wants4 ,in human life we      
observe quite the contrary4 ,what       
conclusion shall we draw from this1 if  
not that with us there is a considerable
 elasticity in the nature and number of 
needs8  ,is it well1 is it favorable to 
the development of the individual and   
his happiness1 and to the development   
and happiness of society1 that man      

should have a multitude of needs1 and   
bend his energies to their satisfaction8
 ,let us return for a moment to our     
comparison with inferior beings4        
,provided that their essential wants are
 satisfied1 they live content4 ,is this 
true of men8 ,no4 ,in all classes of    
society we find discontent4 ,i leave    
completely out of the question those who
 lack the necessities of life4 ,one     
cannot with justice count in the number 
of malcontents those from whom hunger1  
cold1 and misery wring complaints4 ,i am
 considering now that multitude of      
people who live under conditions at     
least supportable4 ,whence comes their  
heart-burning8 ,why is it found not only
 among those of modest though sufficient
 means1 but also under shades of        
ever-increasing refinement1 all along   
the ascending scale1 even to opulence   
and the summits of social place8 ,they  
talk of the contented middle classes4   
,who talk of them8 ,people who1 judging 
from without1 think that as soon as one 

begins to enjoy ease he ought to be     
satisfied4 ,but the middle classes      
themselves--do they consider themselves 
satisfied8 ,not the least in the world4 
,if there are people at once rich and   
content1 be assured that they are       
content because they know how to be so1 
not because they are rich4 ,an animal is
 satisfied when it has eaten2 it lies   
down and sleeps4 ,a man also can lie    
down and sleep for a time1 but it never 
lasts4 ,when he becomes accustomed to   
this contentment1 he tires of it and    
demands a greater4 ,man's appetite is   
not appeased by food2 it increases with 
eating4 ,this may seem absurd1 but it is
 strictly true4  ,and the fact that     
those who make the most outcry are      
almost always those who should find the 
best reasons for contentment1 proves    
unquestionably that happiness is not    
allied to the number of our needs and   
the zeal we put into their cultivation4 
,it is for everyone's interest to let   
this truth sink deep into his mind4 ,if 

it does not1 if he does not by decisive 
action succeed in limiting his needs1 he
 risks a descent1 insensible and beyond 
retreat1 along the declivity of desire4 
,he who lives to eat1 drink1 sleep1     
dress1 take his walk1--in short1 pamper 
himself all that he can--be it the      
courtier basking in the sun1 the drunken
 laborer1 the commoner serving his      
belly1 the woman absorbed in her        
toilettes1 the profligate of low estate 
or high1 or simply the ordinary         
pleasure-lover1 a good fellow1 but too  
obedient to material needs--that man or 
woman is on the downward way of desire1 
and the descent is fatal4 ,those who    
follow it obey the same laws as a body  
on an inclined plane4 ,dupes of an      
illusion forever repeated1 they think3  
,just a few steps more1 the last1 toward
 the thing down there that we covet2    
then we will halt4 ,but the velocity    
they gain sweeps them on1 and the       
further they go the less able they are  
to resist it4  ,here is the secret of   

the unrest1 the madness1 of many of our 
contemporaries4 ,having condemned their 
will to the service of their appetites1 
they suffer the penalty4 ,they are      
delivered up to violent passions which  
devour their flesh1 crush their bones1  
suck their blood1 and cannot be sated4  
,this is not a lofty moral denunciation4
 ,i have been listening to what life    
says1 and have recorded1 as ,i heard    
them1 some of the truths that resound in
 every square4  ,has drunkenness1       
inventive as it is of new drinks1 found 
the means of quenching thirst8 ,not at  
all4 ,it might rather be called the art 
of making thirst inextinguishable4      
,frank libertinage1 does it deaden the  
sting of the senses8 ,no2 it envenoms   
it1 converts natural desire into a      
morbid obsession and makes it the       
dominant passion4 ,let your needs rule  
you1 pamper them--you will see them     
multiply like insects in the sun4 ,the  
more you give them1 the more they       
demand4 ,he is senseless who seeks for  

happiness in material prosperity alone4 
,as well undertake to fill the cask of  
the ,danades4 ,to those who have        
millions1 millions are wanting2 to those
 who have thousands1 thousands4 ,others 
lack a twenty-franc piece or a hundred  
sous4 ,when they have a chicken in the  
pot1 they ask for a goose2 when they    
have the goose1 they wish it were a     
turkey1 and so on4 ,we shall never learn
 how fatal this tendency is4 ,there are 
too many humble people who wish to      
imitate the great1 too many poor        
working-men who ape the well-to-do      
middle classes1 too many shop-girls who 
play at being ladies1 too many clerks   
who act the club-man or sportsman2 and  
among those in easy circumstances and   
the rich1 are too many people who forget
 that what they possess could serve a   
better purpose than procuring pleasure  
for themselves1 only to find in the end 
that one never has enough4 ,our needs1  
in place of the servants that they      
should be1 have become a turbulent and  

seditious crowd1 a legion of tyrants in 
miniature4 ,a man enslaved to his needs 
may best be compared to a bear with a   
ring in its nose1 that is led about and 
made to dance at will4 ,the likeness is 
not flattering1 but you will grant that 
it is true4 ,it is in the train of their
 own needs that so many of those men are
 dragged along who rant for liberty1    
progress1 and ,i don't know what else4  
,they cannot take a step without asking 
themselves if it might not irritate     
their masters4 ,how many men and women  
have gone on and on1 even to dishonesty1
 for the sole reason that they had too  
many needs and could not resign         
themselves to simple living4 ,there are 
many guests in the chambers of ,mazas   
who could give us much light on the     
subject of too exigent needs4  ,let me  
tell you the story of an excellent man  
whom ,i knew4 ,he tenderly loved his    
wife and children1 and they all lived   
together1 in ,france1 in comfort and    
plenty1 but with little of the luxury   

the wife coveted4 ,always short of      
money1 though with a little management  
he might have been at ease1 he ended by 
exiling himself to a distant colony1    
leaving his wife and children in the    
mother country4 ,i don't know how the   
poor man can feel off there2 but his    
family has a finer apartment1 more      
beautiful toilettes1 and what passes for
 an equipage4 ,at present they are      
perfectly contented1 but soon they will 
be used to this luxury--rudimentary     
after all4 ,then ,madam will find her   
furniture common and her equipage mean4 
,if this man loves his wife--and that   
cannot be doubted--he will migrate to   
the moon if there is hope of a larger   
stipend4 ,in other cases the rles are   
reversed1 and the wife and children are 
sacrificed to the ravenous needs of the 
head of the family1 whom an irregular   
life1 play1 and countless other costly  
follies have robbed of all dignity4     
,between his appetites and his rle of   
father he has decided for the former1   

and he slowly drifts toward the most    
abject egoism4  ,this forgetfulness of  
all responsibility1 this gradual        
benumbing of noble feeling1 is not alone
 to be found among pleasure-seekers of  
the upper classes3 the people also are  
infected4 ,i know more than one little  
household1 which ought to be happy1     
where the mother has only pain and      
heartache day and night1 the children   
are barefoot1 and there is great ado for
 bread4 ,why8 ,because too much money is
 needed by the father4 ,to speak only of
 the expenditure for alcohol1 everybody 
knows the proportions that has reached  
in the last twenty years4 ,the sums     
swallowed up in this gulf are           
fabulous--twice the indemnity of the war
 of #ahgj4 ,how many legitimate needs   
could have been satisfied with that     
which has been thrown away on these     
artificial ones6 ,the reign of wants is 
by no means the reign of brotherhood4   
,the more things a man desires for      
himself1 the less he can do for his     

neighbor1 and even for those attached to
 him by ties of blood4  99       99     
99       99       99  ,the destruction  
of happiness1 independence1 moral       
fineness1 even of the sentiment of      
common interests--such is the result of 
the reign of needs4 ,a multitude of     
other unfortunate things might be added1
 of which not the least is the          
disturbance of the public welfare4 ,when
 society has too great needs1 it is     
absorbed with the present1 sacrifices to
 it the conquests of the past1 immolates
 to it the future4 ,after us the deluge6
 ,to raze the forests in order to get   
gold2 to squander your patrimony in     
youth1 destroying in a day the fruit of 
long years2 to warm your house by       
burning your furniture2 to burden the   
future with debts for the sake of       
present pleasure2 to live by expedients 
and sow for the morrow trouble1         
sickness1 ruin1 envy and hate--the      
enumeration of all the misdeeds of this 
fatal rgime has no end4  ,on the other  

hand1 if we hold to simple needs we     
avoid all these evils and replace them  
by measureless good4 ,that temperance   
and sobriety are the best guardians of  
health is an old story4 ,they spare him 
who observes them many a misery that    
saddens existence2 they insure him      
health1 love of action1 mental poise4   
,whether it be a question of food1      
dress1 or dwelling1 simplicity of taste 
is also a source of independence and    
safety4 ,the more simply you live1 the  
more secure is your future2 you are less
 at the mercy of surprises and reverses4
 ,an illness or a period of idleness    
does not suffice to dispossess you3 a   
change of position1 even considerable1  
does not put you to confusion4 ,having  
simple needs1 you find it less painful  
to accustom yourself to the hazards of  
fortune4 ,you remain a man1 though you  
lose your office or your income1 because
 the foundation on which your life rests
 is not your table1 your cellar1 your   
horses1 your goods and chattels1 or your

 money4 ,in adversity you will not act  
like a nursling deprived of its bottle  
and rattle4 ,stronger1 better armed for 
the struggle1 presenting1 like those    
with shaven heads1 less advantage to the
 hands of your enemy1 you will also be  
of more profit to your neighbor4 ,for   
you will not rouse his jealousy1 his    
base desires or his censure1 by your    
luxury1 your prodigality1 or the        
spectacle of a sycophant's life2 and1   
less absorbed in your own comfort1 you  
will find the means of working for that 
of others4     ,,vii  ,,simple          
,,pleasures   ,do you find life amusing 
in these days8 ,for my part1 on the     
whole1 it seems rather depressing1 and  
,i fear that my opinion is not          
altogether personal4 ,as ,i observe the 
lives of my contemporaries1 and listen  
to their talk1 ,i find myself unhappily 
confirmed in the opinion that they do   
not get much pleasure out of things4    
,and certainly it is not from lack of   
trying2 but it must be acknowledged that

 their success is meagre4 ,where can the
 fault be8  ,some accuse politics or    
business2 others social problems or     
militarism4 ,we meet only an            
embarrassment of choice when we start to
 unstring the chaplet of our carking    
cares4 ,suppose we set out in pursuit of
 pleasure4 ,there is too much pepper in 
our soup to make it palatable4 ,our arms
 are filled with a multitude of         
embarrassments1 any one of which would  
be enough to spoil our temper4 ,from    
morning till night1 wherever we go1 the 
people we meet are hurried1 worried1    
preoccupied4 ,some have spilt their good
 blood in the miserable conflicts of    
petty politics3 others are disheartened 
by the meanness and jealousy they have  
encountered in the world of literature  
or art4 ,commercial competition troubles
 the sleep of not a few4 ,the crowded   
curricula of study and the exigencies of
 their opening careers1 spoil life for  
young men4 ,the working classes suffer  
the consequences of a ceaseless         

industrial struggle4 ,it is becoming    
disagreeable to govern1 because         
authority is diminishing2 to teach1     
because respect is vanishing4 ,wherever 
one turns there is matter for           
discontent4  ,and yet history shows us  
certain epochs of upheaval which were as
 lacking in idyllic tranquillity as is  
our own1 but which the gravest events   
did not prevent from being gay4 ,it even
 seems as if the seriousness of affairs1
 the uncertainty of the morrow1 the     
violence of social convulsions1         
sometimes became a new source of        
vitality4 ,it is not a rare thing to    
hear soldiers singing between two       
battles1 and ,i think myself nowise     
mistaken in saying that human joy has   
celebrated its finest triumphs under the
 greatest tests of endurance4 ,but to   
sleep peacefully on the eve of battle or
 to exult at the stake1 men had then the
 stimulus of an internal harmony which  
we perhaps lack4 ,joy is not in things1 
it is in us1 and ,i hold to the belief  

that the causes of our present unrest1  
of this contagious discontent spreading 
everywhere1 are in us at least as much  
as in exterior conditions4  ,to give    
one's self up heartily to diversion one 
must feel himself on a solid basis1 must
 believe in life and find it within him4
 ,and here lies our weakness4 ,so many  
of us--even1 alas6 the younger men--are 
at variance with life2 and ,i do not    
speak of philosophers only4 ,how do you 
think a man can be amused while he has  
his doubts whether after all life is    
worth living8 ,besides this1 one        
observes a disquieting depression of    
vital force1 which must be attributed to
 the abuse man makes of his sensations4 
,excess of all kinds has blurred our    
senses and poisoned our faculty for     
happiness4 ,human nature succumbs under 
the irregularities imposed upon it4     
,deeply attainted at its root1 the      
desire to live1 persistent in spite of  
everything1 seeks satisfaction in cheats
 and baubles4 ,in medical science we    

have recourse to artificial respiration1
 artificial alimentation1 and galvanism4
 ,so1 too1 around expiring pleasure we  
see a crowd of its votaries1 exerting   
themselves to reawaken it1 to reanimate 
it ,most ingenious means have been      
invented2 it can never be said that     
expense has been spared4 ,everything has
 been tried1 the possible and the       
impossible4 ,but in all these           
complicated alembics no one has ever    
arrived at distilling a drop of         
veritable joy4 ,we must not confound    
pleasure with the instruments of        
pleasure4 ,to be a painter1 does it     
suffice to arm one's self with a brush1 
or does the purchase at great cost of a 
,stradivarius make one a musician8 ,no  
more1 if you had the whole paraphernalia
 of amusement in the perfection of its  
ingenuity1 would it advance you upon    
your road4 ,but with a bit of crayon a  
great artist makes an immortal sketch4  
,it needs talent or genius to paint2 and
 to amuse one's self1 the faculty of    

being happy3 whoever possesses it is    
amused at slight cost4 ,this faculty is 
destroyed by scepticism1 artificial     
living1 over-abuse2 it is fostered by   
confidence1 moderation and normal habits
 of thought and action4  ,an excellent  
proof of my proposition1 and one very   
easily encountered1 lies in the fact    
that wherever life is simple and sane1  
true pleasure accompanies it as         
fragrance does uncultivated flowers4 ,be
 this life hard1 hampered1 devoid of all
 things ordinarily considered as the    
very conditions of pleasure1 the rare   
and delicate plant1 joy1 flourishes     
there4 ,it springs up between the flags 
of the pavement1 on an arid wall1 in the
 fissure of a rock4 ,we ask ourselves   
how it comes1 and whence3 but it lives2 
while in the soft warmth of             
conservatories or in fields richly      
fertilized you cultivate it at a golden 
cost to see it fade and die in your     
hand4  ,ask actors what audience is     
happiest at the play2 they will tell you

 the popular one4 ,the reason is not    
hard to grasp4 ,to these people the play
 is an exception1 they are not bored by 
it from over-indulgence4 ,and1 too1 to  
them it is a rest from rude toil4 ,the  
pleasure they enjoy they have honestly  
earned1 and they know its cost as they  
know that of each sou earned by the     
sweat of their labor4 ,more1 they have  
not frequented the wings1 they have no  
intrigues with the actresses1 they do   
not see the wires pulled4 ,to them it is
 all real4 ,and so they feel pleasure   
unalloyed4 ,i think ,i see the sated    
sceptic1 whose monocle glistens in that 
box1 cast a disdainful glance over the  
smiling crowd4  ,poor stupid creatures1 
ignorant and gross6  ,and yet they are  
the true livers1 while he is an         
artificial product1 a mannikin1         
incapable of experiencing this fine and 
salutary intoxication of an hour of     
frank pleasure4  ,unhappily1            
ingenuousness is disappearing1 even in  
the rural districts4 ,we see the people 

of our cities1 and those of the country 
in their turn1 breaking with the good   
traditions4 ,the mind1 warped by        
alcohol1 by the passion for gambling1   
and by unhealthy literature1 contracts  
little by little perverted tastes4      
,artificial life makes irruption into   
communities once simple in their        
pleasures1 and it is like phylloxera to 
the vine4 ,the robust tree of rustic joy
 finds its sap drained1 its leaves      
turning yellow4  ,compare a fte champtre
 of the good old style with the village 
festivals1 so-called1 of to-day4 ,in the
 one case1 in the honored setting of    
antique costumes1 genuine countrymen    
sing the folk songs1 dance rustic       
dances1 regale themselves with native   
drinks1 and seem entirely in their      
element4 ,they take their pleasure as   
the blacksmith forges1 as the cascade   
tumbles over the rocks1 as the colts    
frisk in the meadows4 ,it is contagious3
 it stirs your heart4 ,in spite of      
yourself you are ready to cry3 ,bravo1  

my children4 ,that is fine6 ,you want to
 join in4 ,in the other case1 you see   
villagers disguised as city folk1       
countrywomen made hideous by the        
modiste1 and1 as the chief ornament of  
the festival1 a lot of degenerates who  
bawl the songs of music halls2 and      
sometimes in the place of honor1 a group
 of tenth-rate barnstormers1 imported   
for the occasion1 to civilize these     
rustics and give them a taste of refined
 pleasures4 ,for drinks1 liquors mixed  
with brandy or absinthe3 in the whole   
thing neither originality nor           
picturesqueness4 ,license1 indeed1 and  
clownishness1 but not that abandon which
 ingenuous joy brings in its train4  99 
99       99       99       99  ,this    
question of pleasure is capital4 ,staid 
people generally neglect it as a        
frivolity2 utilitarians1 as a costly    
superfluity4 ,those whom we designate as
 pleasure-seekers forage in this        
delicate domain like wild boars in a    
garden4 ,no one seems to doubt the      

immense human interest attached to joy4 
,it is a sacred flame that must be fed1 
and that throws a splendid radiance over
 life4 ,he who takes pains to foster it 
accomplishes a work as profitable for   
humanity as he who builds bridges1      
pierces tunnels1 or cultivates the      
ground4 ,so to order one's life as to   
keep1 amid toils and suffering1 the     
faculty of happiness1 and be able to    
propagate it in a sort of salutary      
contagion among one's fellow-men1 is to 
do a work of fraternity in the noblest  
sense4 ,to give a trifling pleasure1    
smooth an anxious brow1 bring a little  
light into dark paths--what a truly     
divine office in the midst of this poor 
humanity6 ,but it is only in great      
simplicity of heart that one succeeds in
 filling it4  ,we are not simple enough 
to be happy and to render others so4 ,we
 lack the singleness of heart and the   
self-forgetfulness4 ,we spread joy1 as  
we do consolation1 by such methods as to
 obtain negative results4 ,to console a 

person1 what do we do8 ,we set to work  
to dispute his suffering1 persuade him  
that he is mistaken in thinking himself 
unhappy4 ,in reality1 our language      
translated into truthful speech would   
amount to this3 ,you suffer1 my friend8 
,that is strange2 you must be mistaken1 
for ,i feel nothing4 ,as the only human 
means of soothing grief is to share it  
in the heart1 how must a sufferer feel1 
consoled in this fashion8  ,to divert   
our neighbor1 make him pass an agreeable
 hour1 we set out in the same way4 ,we  
invite him to admire our versatility1 to
 laugh at our wit1 to frequent our      
house1 to sit at our table2 through it  
all1 our desire to shine breaks forth4  
,sometimes1 also1 with a patron's       
prodigality1 we offer him the           
beneficence of a public entertainment of
 our own choosing1 unless we ask him to 
find amusement at our home1 as we       
sometimes do to make up a party at      
cards1 with the arrire-pense of         
exploiting him to our own profit4 ,do   

you think it the height of pleasure for 
others to admire us1 to admit our       
superiority1 and to act as our tools8   
,is there anything in the world so      
disgusting as to feel one's self        
patronized1 made capital of1 enrolled in
 a claque8 ,to give pleasure to others  
and take it ourselves1 we have to begin 
by removing the ego1 which is hateful1  
and then keep it in chains as long as   
the diversions last4 ,there is no worse 
kill-joy than the ego4 ,we must be good 
children1 sweet and kind1 button our    
coats over our medals and titles1 and   
with our whole heart put ourselves at   
the disposal of others4  ,let us        
sometimes live--be it only for an hour1 
and though we must lay all else         
aside--to make others smile4 ,the       
sacrifice is only in appearance2 no one 
finds more pleasure for himself than he 
who knows how1 without ostentation1 to  
give himself that he may procure for    
those around him a moment of            
forgetfulness and happiness4  ,when     

shall we be so simply and truly men as  
not to obtrude our personal business and
 distresses upon the people we meet     
socially8 ,may we not forget for an hour
 our pretensions1 our strife1 our       
distributions into sets and cliques--in 
short1 our parts1 and become as children
 once more1 to laugh again that good    
laugh which does so much to make the    
world better8  99       99       99     
99       99  ,here ,i feel drawn to     
speak of something very particular1 and 
in so doing to offer my well-disposed   
readers an opportunity to go about a    
splendid business4 ,i want to call their
 attention to several classes of people 
seldom thought of with reference to     
their pleasures4  ,it is understood that
 a broom serves only to sweep1 a        
watering-pot to water plants1 a         
coffee-mill to grind coffee1 and        
likewise it is supposed that a nurse is 
designed only to care for the sick1 a   
professor to teach1 a priest to preach1 
bury1 and confess1 a sentinel to mount  

guard2 and the conclusion is drawn that 
the people given up to the more serious 
business of life are dedicated to labor1
 like the ox4 ,amusement is incompatible
 with their activities4 ,pushing this   
view still further1 we think ourselves  
warranted in believing that the infirm1 
the afflicted1 the bankrupt1 the        
vanquished in life's battle1 and all    
those who carry heavy burdens1 are in   
the shade1 like the northern slopes of  
mountains1 and that it is so of         
necessity4 ,whence the conclusion that  
serious people have no need of pleasure1
 and that to offer it to them would be  
unseemly2 while as to the afflicted1    
there would be a lack of delicacy in    
breaking the thread of their sad        
meditations4 ,it seems therefore to be  
understood that certain persons are     
condemned to be always serious1 that we 
should approach them in a serious frame 
of mind1 and talk to them only of       
serious things3 so1 too1 when we visit  
the sick or unfortunate2 we should leave

 our smiles at the door1 compose our    
face and manner to dolefulness1 and talk
 of anything heartrending4 ,thus we     
carry darkness to those in darkness1    
shade to those in shade4 ,we increase   
the isolation of solitary lives and the 
monotony of the dull and sad4 ,we wall  
up some existences as it were in        
dungeons2 and because the grass grows   
round their deserted prison-house1 we   
speak low in approaching it1 as though  
it were a tomb4 ,who suspects the work  
of infernal cruelty which is thus       
accomplished every day in the world6    
,this ought not to be4  ,when you find  
men or women whose lives are lost in    
hard tasks1 or in the painful office of 
seeking out human wretchedness and      
binding up wounds1 remember that they   
are beings made like you1 that they have
 the same wants1 that there are hours   
when they need pleasure and diversion4  
,you will not turn them aside from their
 mission by making them laugh           
occasionally--these people who see so   

many tears and griefs2 on the contrary1 
you will give them strength to go on the
 better with their work4  ,and when     
people whom you know are in trial1 do   
not draw a sanitary cordon round        
them--as though they had the            
plague--that you cross only with        
precautions which recall to them their  
sad lot4 ,on the contrary1 after showing
 all your sympathy1 all your respect for
 their grief1 comfort them1 help them to
 take up life again2 carry them a breath
 from the out-of-doors--something in    
short to remind them that their         
misfortune does not shut them off from  
the world4  ,and so extend your sympathy
 to those whose work quite absorbs them1
 who are1 so to put it1 tied down4 ,the 
world is full of men and women          
sacrificed to others1 who never have    
either rest or pleasure1 and to whom the
 least relaxation1 the slightest        
respite1 is a priceless good4 ,and this 
minimum of comfort could be so easily   
found for them if only we thought of it4

 ,but the broom1 you know1 is made for  
sweeping1 and it seems as though it     
could not be fatigued4 ,let us rid      
ourselves of this criminal blindness    
which prevents us from seeing the       
exhaustion of those who are always in   
the breach4 ,relieve the sentinels      
perishing at their posts1 give ,sisyphus
 an hour to breathe2 take for a moment  
the place of the mother1 a slave to the 
cares of her house and her children2    
sacrifice an hour of our sleep for      
someone worn by long vigils with the    
sick4 ,young girl1 tired sometimes      
perhaps of your walk with your          
governess1 take the cook's apron1 and   
give her the key to the fields4 ,you    
will at once make others happy and be   
happy yourself4 ,we go unconcernedly    
along beside our brothers who are bent  
under burdens we might take upon        
ourselves for a minute4 ,and this short 
respite would suffice to soothe aches1  
revive the flame of joy in many a heart1
 and open up a wide place for           

brotherliness4 ,how much better would   
one understand another if he knew how to
 put himself heartily in that other's   
place1 and how much more pleasure there 
would be in life6  99       99       99 
99       99  ,i have spoken too fully   
elsewhere of systematizing amusements   
for the young1 to return to it here in  
detail4,b ,but ,i wish to say in        
substance what cannot be too often      
repeated3 ,if you wish youth to be      
moral1 do not neglect its pleasures1 or 
leave to chance the task of providing   
them4 ,you will perhaps say that young  
people do not like to have their        
amusements submitted to regulations1 and
 that besides1 in our day1 they are     
already over-spoiled and divert         
themselves only too much4 ,i shall      
reply1 first1 that one may suggest      
ideas1 indicate directions1 offer       
opportunities for amusement1 without    
making any regulations whatever4 ,in the
 second place1 ,i shall make you see    
that you deceive yourselves in thinking 

youth has too much diversion4 ,aside    
from amusements that are artificial1    
enervating and immoral1 that blight life
 instead of making it bloom in splendor1
 there are very few left to-day4 ,abuse1
 that enemy of legitimate use1 has so   
befouled the world1 that it is becoming 
difficult to touch anything but what is 
unclean3 whence watchfulness1 warnings  
and endless prohibitions4 ,one can      
hardly stir without encountering        
something that resembles unhealthy      
pleasure4 ,among young people of to-day1
 particularly the self-respecting1 the  
dearth of amusements causes real        
suffering4 ,one is not weaned from this 
generous wine without discomfort4       
,impossible to prolong this state of    
affairs without deepening the shadow    
round the heads of the younger          
generations4 ,we must come to their aid4
 ,our children are heirs of a joyless   
world4 ,we bequeath them cares1 hard    
questions1 a life heavy with shackles   
and complexities4 ,let us at least make 

an effort to brighten the morning of    
their days4 ,let us interest ourselves  
in their sports1 find them              
pleasure-grounds1 open to them our      
hearts and our homes4 ,let us bring the 
family into our amusements4 ,let gayety 
cease to be a commodity of export4 ,let 
us call in our sons1 whom our gloomy    
interiors send out into the street1 and 
our daughters1 moping in dismal         
solitude4 ,let us multiply              
anniversaries1 family parties1 and      
excursions4 ,let us raise good humor in 
our homes to the height of an           
institution4 ,let the schools1 too1 do  
their part4 ,let masters and            
students--school-boys and               
college-boys--meet together oftener for 
amusement4 ,it will be so much the      
better for serious work4 ,there is no   
such aid to understanding one's         
professor as to have laughed in his     
company2 and conversely1 to be well     
understood a pupil must be met elsewhere
 than in class or examination4  ,and who

 will furnish the money8 ,what a        
question6 ,that is exactly the error4   
,pleasure and money3 people take them   
for the two wings of the same bird6 ,a  
gross illusion6 ,pleasure1 like all     
other truly precious things in this     
world1 cannot be bought or sold4 ,if you
 wish to be amused1 you must do your    
part toward it2 that is the essential4  
,there is no prohibition against opening
 your purse1 if you can do it1 and find 
it desirable4 ,but ,i assure you it is  
not indispensable4 ,pleasure and        
simplicity are two old acquaintances4   
,entertain simply1 meet your friends    
simply4 ,if you come from work well     
done1 are as amiable and genuine as     
possible toward your companions1 and    
speak no evil of the absent1 your       
success is sure4  ,b ,see ,youth1 the   
chapter on ,joy4     ,,viii  ,,the      
,,mercenary ,,spirit ,,and ,,simplicity 
,we have in passing touched upon a      
certain wide-spread prejudice which     
attributes to money a magic power4      

,having come so near enchanted ground we
 will not retire in awe1 but plant a    
firm foot here1 persuaded of many truths
 that should be spoken4 ,they are not   
new1 but how they are forgotten6  ,i see
 no possible way of doing without money4
 ,the only thing that theorists or      
legislators who accuse it of all our    
ills have hitherto achieved1 has been to
 change its name or form4 ,but they have
 never been able to dispense with a     
symbol representative of the commercial 
value of things4 ,one might as well wish
 to do away with written language as to 
do away with money4 ,nevertheless1 this 
question of a circulating medium is very
 troublesome4 ,it forms one of the chief
 elements of complication in our life4  
,the economic difficulties amid which we
 still flounder1 social                 
conventionalities1 and the entire       
organization of modern life1 have       
carried gold to a rank so eminent that  
it is not astonishing to find the       
imagination of man attributing to it a  

sort of royalty4 ,and it is on this side
 that we shall attack the problem4  ,the
 term money has for appendage that of   
merchandise4 ,if there were no          
merchandise there would be no money2 but
 as long as there is merchandise there  
will be money1 little matter under what 
form4 ,the source of all the abuses     
which centre around money lies in a lack
 of discrimination4 ,people have        
confused under the term and idea of     
merchandise1 things which have no       
relation with one another4 ,they have   
attempted to give a venal value to      
things which neither could have it nor  
ought to4 ,the idea of purchase and sale
 has invaded ground where it may justly 
be considered an enemy and a usurper4   
,it is reasonable that wheat1 potatoes1 
wine1 fabrics1 should be bought and     
sold1 and it is perfectly natural that a
 man's labor procure him rights to life1
 and that there be put into his hands   
something whose value represents them2  
but here already the analogy ceases to  

be complete4 ,a man's labor is not      
merchandise in the same sense as a sack 
of flour or a ton of coal4 ,into this   
labor enter elements which cannot be    
valued in money4 ,in short1 there are   
things which can in no wise be bought3  
sleep1 for instance1 knowledge of the   
future1 talent4 ,he who offers them for 
sale must be considered a fool or an    
impostor4 ,and yet there are gentlemen  
who coin money by such traffic4 ,they   
sell what does not belong to them1 and  
their dupes pay fictitious values in    
veritable coin4 ,so1 too1 there are     
dealers in pleasure1 dealers in love1   
dealers in miracles1 dealers in         
patriotism1 and the title of merchant1  
so honorable when it represents a man   
selling that which is in truth a        
commodity of trade1 becomes the worst of
 stigmas when there is question of the  
heart1 of religion1 of country4  ,almost
 all men are agreed that to barter with 
one's sentiments1 his honor1 his cloth1 
his pen1 or his note1 is infamous4      

,unfortunately this idea1 which suffers 
no contradiction as a theory1 and which 
thus stated seems rather a commonplace  
than a high moral truth1 has infinite   
trouble to make its way in practice4    
,traffic has invaded the world4 ,the    
money-changers are established even in  
the sanctuary1 and by sanctuary ,i do   
not mean religious things alone1 but    
whatever mankind holds sacred and       
inviolable4 ,it is not gold that        
complicates1 corrupts1 and debases life2
 it is our mercenary spirit4  ,the      
mercenary spirit resolves everything    
into a single question3 ,how much is    
that going to bring me8 and sums up     
everything in a single axiom3 ,with     
money you can procure anything4         
,following these two principles of      
conduct1 a society may descend to a     
degree of infamy impossible to describe 
or to imagine4  ,how much is it going to
 bring me8 ,this question1 so legitimate
 while it concerns those precautions    
which each ought to take to assure his  

subsistence by his labor1 becomes       
pernicious as soon as it passes its     
limits and dominates the whole life4    
,this is so true that it vitiates even  
the toil which gains our daily bread4 ,i
 furnish paid labor2 nothing could be   
better3 but if to inspire me in this    
labor ,i have only the desire to get the
 pay1 nothing could be worse4 ,a man    
whose only motive for action is his     
wages1 does a bad piece of work3 what   
interests him is not the doing1 it's the
 gold4 ,if he can retrench in pains     
without lessening his gains1 be assured 
that he will do it4 ,plowman1 mason1    
factory laborer1 he who loves not his   
work puts into it neither interest nor  
dignity--is1 in short1 a bad workman4   
,it is not well to confide one's life to
 a doctor who is wholly engrossed in his
 fees1 for the spring of his action is  
the desire to garnish his purse with the
 contents of yours4 ,if it is for his   
interest that you should suffer longer1 
he is capable of fostering your malady  

instead of fortifying your strength4    
,the instructor of children who cares   
for his work only so far as it brings   
him profit1 is a sad teacher2 for his   
pay is indifferent1 and his teaching    
more indifferent still4 ,of what value  
is the mercenary journalist8 ,the day   
you write for the dollar1 your prose is 
not worth the dollar you write for4 ,the
 more elevated in kind is the object of 
human labor1 the more the mercenary     
spirit1 if it be present1 makes this    
labor void and corrupts it4 ,there are a
 thousand reasons to say that all toil  
merits its wage1 that every man who     
devotes his energies to providing for   
his life should have his place in the   
sun1 and that he who does nothing       
useful1 does not gain his livelihood1 in
 short1 is only a parasite4 ,but there  
is no greater social error than to make 
gain the sole motive of action4 ,the    
best we put into our work--be that work 
done by strength of muscle1 warmth of   
heart1 or concentration of mind--is     

precisely that for which no one can pay 
us4 ,nothing better proves that man is  
not a machine than this fact3 two men at
 work with the same forces and the same 
movements1 produce totally different    
results4 ,where lies the cause of this  
phenomenon8 ,in the divergence of their 
intentions4 ,one has the mercenary      
spirit1 the other has singleness of     
purpose4 ,both receive their pay1 but   
the labor of the one is barren2 the     
other has put his soul into his work4   
,the work of the first is like a grain  
of sand1 out of which nothing comes     
through all eternity2 the other's work  
is like the living seed thrown into the 
ground2 it germinates and brings forth  
harvests4 ,this is the secret which     
explains why so many people have failed 
while employing the very processes by   
which others succeed4 ,automatons do not
 reproduce their kind1 and mercenary    
labor yields no fruit4  99       99     
99       99       99  ,unquestionably we
 must bow before economic facts1 and    

recognize the difficulties of living3   
from day to day it becomes more         
imperative to combine well one's forces 
in order to succeed in feeding1         
clothing1 housing1 and bringing up a    
family4 ,he who does not rightly take   
account of these crying necessities1 who
 makes no calculation1 no provision for 
the future1 is but a visionary or an    
incompetent1 and runs the risk of sooner
 or later asking alms from those at     
whose parsimony he has sneered4 ,and    
yet1 what would become of us if these   
cares absorbed us entirely8 if1 mere    
accountants1 we should wish to measure  
our effort by the money it brings1 do   
nothing that does not end in a receipt1 
and consider as things worthless or     
pains lost whatever cannot be drawn up  
in figures on the pages of a ledger8    
,did our mothers look for pay in loving 
us and caring for us8 ,what would become
 of filial piety if we asked it for     
loving and caring for our aged parents8 
,what does it cost you to speak the     

truth8 ,misunderstandings1 sometimes    
sufferings and persecutions4 ,to defend 
your country8 ,weariness1 wounds and    
often death4 ,to do good8 ,annoyance1   
ingratitude1 even resentment4           
,self-sacrifice enters into all the     
essential actions of humanity4 ,i defy  
the closest calculators to maintain     
their position in the world without ever
 appealing to aught but their           
calculations4 ,true1 those who know how 
to make their pile are rated as men of  
ability4 ,but look a little closer4 ,how
 much of it do they owe to the          
unselfishness of the simple-hearted8    
,would they have succeeded had they met 
only shrewd men of their own sort1      
having for device3 ,no money1 no        
service8 ,let us be outspoken2 it is due
 to certain people who do not count too 
rigorously1 that the world gets on4 ,the
 most beautiful acts of service and the 
hardest tasks have generally little     
remuneration or none4 ,fortunately there
 are always men ready for unselfish     

deeds2 and even for those paid only in  
suffering1 though they cost gold1 peace1
 and even life4 ,the part these men play
 is often painful and discouraging4 ,who
 of us has not heard recitals of        
experiences wherein the narrator        
regretted some past kindness he had     
done1 some trouble he had taken1 to have
 nothing but vexation in return8 ,these 
confidences generally end thus3 ,it was 
folly to do the thing6 ,sometimes it is 
right so to judge2 for it is always a   
mistake to cast pearls before swine2 but
 how many lives there are whose sole    
acts of real beauty are these very ones 
of which the doers repent because of    
men's ingratitude6 ,our wish for        
humanity is that the number of these    
foolish deeds may go on increasing4  99 
99       99       99       99  ,and now 
,i arrive at the credo of the mercenary 
spirit4 ,it is characterized by brevity4
 ,for the mercenary man1 the law and the
 prophets are contained in this one     
axiom3 ,with money you can get anything4

 ,from a surface view of our social     
life1 nothing seems more evident4 ,the  
sinews of war1 the shining mark1 the key
 that opens all doors1 king money6--,if 
one gathered up all the sayings about   
the glory and power of gold1 he could   
make a litany longer than that which is 
chanted in honor of the ,virgin4 ,you   
must be without a penny1 if only for a  
day or two1 and try to live in this     
world of ours1 to have any idea of the  
needs of him whose purse is empty4 ,i   
invite those who love contrasts and     
unforeseen situations1 to attempt to    
live without money three days1 and far  
from their friends and acquaintances--in
 short1 far from the society in which   
they are somebody4 ,they will gain more 
experience in forty-eight hours than in 
a year otherwise4 ,alas for some people6
 they have this experience thrust upon  
them1 and when veritable ruin descends  
around their heads1 it is useless to    
remain in their own country1 among the  
companions of their youth1 their former 

colleagues1 even those indebted to them4
 ,people affect to know them no longer4 
,with what bitterness do they comment on
 the creed of money3--,with gold one may
 have what he will2 without it1         
impossible to have anything6 ,they      
become pariahs1 lepers1 whom everyone   
shuns4 ,flies swarm round cadavers1 men 
round gold4 ,take away the gold1 nobody 
is there4 ,oh1 it has caused tears to   
flow1 this creed of gain6 bitter tears1 
tears of blood1 even from those very    
eyes which once adored the golden calf4 
,and with it all1 this creed is false1  
quite false4 ,i shall not advance to the
 attack with hackneyed tales of the rich
 man astray in a desert1 who cannot get 
even a drop of water for his gold2 or   
the decrepit millionaire who would give 
half he has to buy from a stalwart      
fellow without a cent1 his twenty years 
and his lusty health4 ,no more shall ,i 
attempt to prove that one cannot buy    
happiness4 ,so many people who have     
money and so many more who have not     

would smile at this truth as the hardest
 ridden of saws4 ,but ,i shall appeal to
 the common experience of each of you1  
to make you put your finger on the      
clumsy lie hidden beneath an axiom that 
all the world goes about repeating4     
,fill your purse to the best of your    
means1 and let us set out for one of the
 watering-places of which there are so  
many4 ,i mean some little town formerly 
unknown and full of simple folk1        
respectful and hospitable1 among whom it
 was good to be1 and cost little4 ,fame 
with her hundred trumpets has announced 
them to the world1 and shown them how   
they can profit from their situation1   
their climate1 their personality4 ,you  
start out1 on the faith of ,dame ,rumor1
 flattering yourself that with your     
money you are going to find a quiet     
place to rest1 and1 far from the world  
of civilization and convention1 weave a 
bit of poetry into the warp of your     
days4  ,the beginning is good4 ,nature's
 setting and some patriarchal costumes1 

slow to disappear1 delight you4 ,but as 
time passes1 the impression is spoiled4 
,the reverse side of things begins to   
show4 ,this which you thought was as    
true antique as family heirlooms1 is    
naught but trickery to mystify the      
credulous4 ,everything is labeled1 all  
is for sale1 from the earth to the      
inhabitants4 ,these primitives have     
become the most consummate of sharpers4 
,given your money1 they have resolved   
the problem of getting it with the least
 expense to themselves4 ,on all sides   
are nets and traps1 like spider-webs1   
and the fly that this gentry lies snugly
 in wait for is you4 ,this is what      
twenty or thirty years of venality has  
done for a population once simple and   
honest1 whose contact was grateful      
indeed to men worn by city life4        
,home-made bread has disappeared1 butter
 comes from the dealer1 they know to an 
art how to skim milk and adulterate     
wine2 they have all the vices of        
dwellers in cities without their        

virtues4  ,as you leave1 you count your 
money4 ,so much is wanting1 that you    
make complaint4 ,you are wrong4 ,one    
never pays too dear for the conviction  
that there are things which money will  
not buy4  ,you have need in your house  
of an intelligent and competent servant3
 attempt to find this rara avis4        
,according to the principle that with   
money one may get anything1 you ought1  
as the position you offer is inferior1  
ordinary1 good1 or exceptional1 to find 
servants unskilled1 average1 excellent1 
superior4 ,but all those who present    
themselves for the vacant post are      
listed in the last category1 and are    
fortified with certificates to support  
their pretensions4 ,it is true that nine
 times out of ten1 when put to the test1
 these experts are found totally        
wanting4 ,then why did they engage      
themselves with you8 ,they ought in     
truth to reply as does the cook in the  
comedy1 who is dearly paid and proves to
 know nothing4      ,why did you hire   

out as a cordon bleu8     ,it was to get
 bigger commissions4  ,that is the great
 affair4 ,you will always find people   
who like to get big wages4 ,more rarely 
you find capability4 ,and if you are    
looking for probity1 the difficulty     
increases4 ,mercenaries may be had for  
the asking2 faithfulness is another     
thing4 ,far be it from me to deny the   
existence of faithful servants1 at once 
intelligent and upright4 ,but you will  
encounter as many1 if not more1 among   
the illy paid as among those most highly
 salaried4 ,and it little matters where 
you find them1 you may be sure that they
 are not faithful in their own interest2
 they are faithful because they have    
somewhat of that simplicity which       
renders us capable of self-abnegation4  
,we also hear on all sides the adage    
that money is the sinews of war4 ,there 
is no question but that war costs much  
money1 and we know something about it4  
,does this mean that in order to defend 
herself against her enemies and to honor

 her flag1 a country need only be rich8 
,in olden time the ,greeks took it upon 
themselves to teach the ,persians the   
contrary1 and this lesson will never    
cease to be repeated in history4 ,with  
money ships1 cannon1 horses may be      
bought2 but not so military genius1     
administrative wisdom1 discipline1      
enthusiasm4 ,put millions into the hands
 of your recruiters1 and charge them to 
bring you a great leader and an army4   
,you will find a hundred captains       
instead of one1 and a thousand soldiers4
 ,but put them under fire3 you will have
 enough of your hirelings6 ,at least one
 might imagine that with money alone it 
is possible to lighten misery4 ,ah6 that
 too is an illusion from which we must  
turn away4 ,money1 be the sum great or  
small1 is a seed which germinates into  
abuses4 ,unless there go with it        
intelligence1 kindness1 much knowledge  
of men1 it will do nothing but harm1 and
 we run great risk of corrupting both   
those who receive our bounty and those  

charged with its distribution4  99      
99       99       99       99  ,money   
will not answer for everything3 it is a 
power1 but it is not all-powerful4      
,nothing complicates life1 demoralizes  
man1 perverts the normal course of      
society like the development of         
venality4 ,wherever it reigns1 everybody
 is duped by everybody else3 one can no 
longer put trust in persons or things1  
no longer obtain anything of value4 ,we 
would not be detractors of money1 but   
this general law must be applied to it3 
,everything in its own place4 ,when     
gold1 which should be a servant1 becomes
 a tyrannical power1 affronting         
morality1 dignity and liberty2 when some
 exert themselves to obtain it at any   
price1 offering for sale what is not    
merchandise1 and others1 possessing     
wealth1 fancy that they can purchase    
what no one may buy1 it is time to rise 
against this gross and criminal         
superstition1 and cry aloud to the      
imposture3 ,thy money perish with thee6 

,the most precious things that man      
possesses he has almost always received 
gratuitously3 let him learn so to give  
them4     ,,ix  ,,notoriety ,,and ,,the 
,,inglorious ,,good   ,one of the chief 
puerilities of our time is the love of  
advertisement4 ,to emerge from          
obscurity1 to be in the public eye1 to  
make one's self talked of--some people  
are so consumed with this desire that we
 are justified in declaring them        
attacked with an itch for publicity4 ,in
 their eyes obscurity is the height of  
ignominy3 so they do their best to keep 
their names in every mouth4 ,in their   
obscure position they look upon         
themselves as lost1 like ship-wrecked   
sailors whom a night of tempest has cast
 on some lonely rock1 and who have      
recourse to cries1 volleys1 fire1 all   
the signals imaginable1 to let it be    
known that they are there4 ,not content 
with setting off crackers and innocent  
rockets1 many1 to make themselves heard 
at any cost1 have gone to the length of 

perfidy and even crime4 ,the incendiary 
,erostratus has made numerous disciples4
 ,how many men of to-day have become    
notorious for having destroyed something
 of mark2 pulled down--or tried to pull 
down--some man's high reputation2       
signalled their passage1 in short1 by a 
scandal1 a meanness1 or an atrocity6    
,this rage for notoriety does not surge 
through cracked brains alone1 or only in
 the world of adventurers1 charlatans   
and pretenders generally2 it has spread 
abroad in all the domains of life1      
spiritual and material4 ,politics1      
literature1 even science1 and--most     
odious of all--philanthropy and religion
 are infected4 ,trumpets announce a good
 deed done1 and souls must be saved with
 din and clamor4 ,pursuing its way of   
destruction1 the rage for noise has     
entered places ordinarily silent1       
troubled spirits naturally serene1 and  
vitiated in large measure all activity  
for good4 ,the abuse of showing         
everything1 or rather1 putting          

everything on exhibition2 the growing   
incapacity to appreciate that which     
chooses to remain hidden1 and the habit 
of estimating the value of things by the
 racket they make1 have come to corrupt 
the judgment of the most earnest men1   
and one sometimes wonders if society    
will not end by transforming itself into
 a great fair1 with each one beating his
 drum in front of his tent4  ,gladly do 
we quit the dust and din of like        
exhibitions1 to go and breathe          
peacefully in some far-off nook of the  
woods1 all surprise that the brook is so
 limpid1 the forest so still1 the       
solitude so enchanting4 ,thank ,god     
there are yet these uninvaded corners4  
,however formidable the uproar1 however 
deafening the babel of merry-andrews1 it
 cannot carry beyond a certain limit2 it
 grows faint and dies away4 ,the realm  
of silence is vaster than the realm of  
noise4 ,herein is our consolation4  99  
99       99       99       99  ,rest a  
moment on the threshold of this infinite

 world of inglorious good1 of quiet     
activities4 ,instantly we are under the 
charm we feel in stretches of untrodden 
snow1 in hiding wood-flowers1 in        
disappearing pathways that seem to lead 
to horizons without bourn4 ,the world is
 so made that the engines of labor1 the 
most active agencies1 are everywhere    
concealed4 ,nature affects a sort of    
coquetry in masking her operations4 ,it 
costs you pains to spy her out1         
ingenuity to surprise her1 if you would 
see anything but results and penetrate  
the secrets of her laboratories4        
,likewise in human society1 the forces  
which move for good remain invisible1   
and even in our individual lives2 what  
is best in us is incommunicable1 buried 
in the depths of us4 ,and the more vital
 are these sensibilities and intuitions1
 confounding themselves with the very   
source of our being1 the less           
ostentatious they are3 they think       
themselves profaned by exposure to the  
light of day4 ,there is a secret and    

inexpressible joy in possessing at the  
heart of one's being1 an interior world 
known only to ,god1 whence1             
nevertheless1 come impulses1            
enthusiasms1 the daily renewal of       
courage1 and the most powerful motives  
for activity among our fellow men4 ,when
 this intimate life loses in intensity1 
when man neglects it for what is        
superficial1 he forfeits in worth all   
that he gains in appearance4 ,by a sad  
fatality1 it happens that in this way we
 often become less admirable in         
proportion as we are more admired4 ,and 
we remain convinced that what is best in
 the world is unknown there2 for only   
those know it who possess it1 and if    
they speak of it1 in so doing they      
destroy its charm4  ,there are          
passionate lovers of nature whom she    
fascinates most in by-places1 in the    
cool of forests1 in the clefts of caons1
 everywhere that the careless lover is  
not admitted to her contemplation4      
,forgetting time and the life of the    

world1 they pass days in these inviolate
 stillnesses1 watching a bird build its 
nest or brood over its young1 or some   
little groundling at its gracious play4 
,so to seek the good within himself--one
 must go where he no longer finds       
constraint1 or pose1 or gallery of any  
sort1 but the simple fact of a life made
 up of wishing to be what it is good for
 it to be1 without troubling about      
anything else4  ,may we be permitted to 
record here some observations made from 
life8 ,as no names are given1 they      
cannot be considered indiscreet4  ,in my
 country of ,alsace1 on the solitary    
route whose interminable ribbon         
stretches on and on under the forests of
 the ,vosges1 there is a stone-breaker  
whom ,i have seen at his work for thirty
 years4 ,the first time ,i came upon    
him1 ,i was a young student1 setting out
 with swelling heart for the great city4
 ,the sight of this man did me good1 for
 he was humming a song as he broke his  
stones4 ,we exchanged a few words1 and  

he said at the end3 ,well1 good-by1 my  
boy1 good courage and good luck6 ,since 
then ,i have passed and repassed along  
that same route1 under circumstances the
 most diverse1 painful and joyful4 ,the 
student has finished his course1 the    
breaker of stones remains what he was4  
,he has taken a few more precautions    
against the seasons' storms3 a rush-mat 
protects his back1 and his felt hat is  
drawn further down to shield his face4  
,but the forest is always sending back  
the echo of his valiant hammer4 ,how    
many sudden tempests have broken over   
his bent back1 how much adverse fate has
 fallen on his head1 on his house1 on   
his country6 ,he continues to break his 
stones1 and1 coming and going ,i find   
him by the roadside1 smiling in spite of
 his age and his wrinkles1 benevolent1  
speaking--above all in dark days--those 
simple words of brave men1 which have so
 much effect when they are scanned to   
the breaking of stones4  ,it would be   
quite impossible to express the emotion 

the sight of this simple man gives me1  
and certainly he has no suspicion of it4
 ,i know of nothing more reassuring and 
at the same time more searching for the 
vanity which ferments in our hearts1    
than this coming face to face with an   
obscure worker who does his task as the 
oak grows and as the good ,god makes his
 sun to rise1 without asking who is     
looking on4  ,i have known1 too1 a      
number of old teachers1 men and women   
who have passed their whole life at the 
same occupation--making the rudiments of
 human knowledge and a few principles of
 conduct penetrate heads sometimes      
harder than the rocks4 ,they have done  
it with their whole soul1 throughout the
 length of a hard life in which the     
attention of men had little place4 ,when
 they lie in their unknown graves1 no   
one remembers them but a few humble     
people like themselves4 ,but their      
recompense is in their love4 ,no one is 
greater than these unknown4  ,how many  
hidden virtues may one not discover--if 

he know how to search--among people of a
 class he often ridicules without       
perceiving that in so doing he is guilty
 of cruelty1 ingratitude and stupidity3 
,i mean old maids4 ,people amuse        
themselves with remarking the surprising
 dress and ways of some of them--things 
of no consequence1 for that matter4     
,they persist also in reminding us that 
others1 very selfish1 take interest in  
nothing but their own comfort and that  
of some cat or canary upon which their  
powers of affection center2 and         
certainly these are not outdone in      
egoism by the most hardened celibates of
 the stronger sex4 ,but what we oftenest
 forget is the amount of self-sacrifice 
hidden modestly away in so many of these
 truly admirable lives4 ,is it nothing  
to be without home and its love1 without
 future1 without personal ambition8 to  
take upon one's self that cross of      
solitary life1 so hard to bear1         
especially when there is added the      
solitude of the heart8 to forget one's  

self and have no other interests than   
the care of the old1 of orphans1 the    
poor1 the infirm--those whom the brutal 
mechanism of life casts out among its   
waste8 ,seen from without1 these        
apparently tame and lusterless lives    
rouse pity rather than envy4 ,those who 
approach gently sometimes divine sad    
secrets1 great trials undergone1 heavy  
burdens beneath which too fragile       
shoulders bend2 but this is only the    
side of shadow4 ,we should learn to know
 and value this richness of heart1 this 
pure goodness1 this power to love1 to   
console1 to hope1 this joyful giving up 
of self1 this persistence in sweetness  
and forgiveness even toward the         
unworthy4 ,poor old maids6 how many     
wrecked lives have you rescued1 how many
 wounded have you healed1 how many      
wanderers have you gently led aright1   
how many naked have you clothed1 how    
many orphans have you taken in1 and how 
many strangers1 who would have been     
alone in the world but for you--you who 

yourselves are often remembered of no   
one4 ,i mistake4 ,someone knows you2 it 
is that great mysterious ,pity which    
keeps watch over our lives and suffers  
in our misfortunes4 ,forgotten like you1
 often blasphemed1 it has confided to   
you some of its heavenliest messages1   
and that perhaps is why above your      
gentle comings and goings1 we sometimes 
seem to hear the rustling wings of      
ministering angels4  99       99        
99       99       99  ,the good hides   
itself under so many different forms1   
that one has often as much pains to     
discover it as to unearth the best      
concealed crimes4 ,a ,russian doctor1   
who had passed ten years of his life in 
,siberia1 condemned for political       
reasons to forced labor1 used to find   
great pleasure in telling of the        
generosity1 courage and humanity he had 
observed1 not only among a large number 
of the condemned1 but also among the    
convict guards4 ,for the moment one is  
tempted to exclaim3 ,where will not the 

good hide away6 ,and in truth life      
offers here great surprises and         
embarrassing contrasts4 ,there are good 
men1 officially so recognized1 quoted   
among their associates1 ,i had almost   
said guaranteed by the ,government or   
the ,church1 who can be reproached with 
nothing but dry and hard hearts2 while  
we are astonished to encounter in       
certain fallen human beings1 the most   
genuine tenderness1 and as it were a    
thirst for self-devotion4  99       99  
99       99       99  ,i should like to 
speak next--apropos of the inglorious   
good--of a class that to-day it is      
thought quite fitting to treat with the 
utmost one-sidedness4 ,i mean the rich4 
,some people think the last word is said
 when they have stigmatized that infamy1
 capital4 ,for them1 all who possess    
great fortunes are monsters gorged with 
the blood of the miserable4 ,others1 not
 so declamatory1 persist1 however1 in   
confounding riches with egoism and      
insensibility4 ,justice should be       

visited on these errors1 be they        
involuntary or calculated4 ,no doubt    
there are rich men who concern          
themselves with nobody else1 and others 
who do good only with ostentation2      
indeed1 we know it too well4 ,but does  
their inhumanity or hypocrisy take away 
the value of the good that others do1   
and that they often hide with a modesty 
so perfect8  ,i knew a man to whom every
 misfortune had come which can strike us
 in our affections4 ,he had lost a      
beloved wife1 had seen all his children 
buried1 one after another4 ,but he had a
 great fortune1 the result of his own   
labor4 ,living in the utmost simplicity1
 almost without personal wants1 he spent
 his time in searching for opportunities
 to do good1 and profiting by them4 ,how
 many people he surprised in flagrant   
poverty1 what means he combined for     
relieving distress and lighting up dark 
lives1 with what kindly thoughtfulness  
he took his friends unawares1 no one can
 imagine4 ,he liked to do good to others

 and enjoy their surprise when they did 
not know whence the relief came4 ,it    
pleased him to repair the injustices of 
fortune1 to bring tears of happiness in 
families pursued by mischance4 ,he was  
continually plotting1 contriving1       
machinating in the dark1 with a childish
 fear of being caught with his hand in  
the bag4 ,the greater part of these fine
 deeds were not known till after his    
death2 the whole of them we shall never 
know4  ,he was a socialist of the right 
sort6 for there are two kinds of them4  
,those who aspire to appropriate to     
themselves a part of the goods of       
others1 are numerous and commonplace4   
,to belong to their order it suffices to
 have a big appetite4 ,those who are    
hungering to divide their own goods with
 men who have none1 are rare and        
precious1 for to enter this choice      
company there is need of a brave and    
noble heart1 free from selfishness1 and 
sensitive to both the happiness and     
unhappiness of its fellows4 ,fortunately

 the race of these socialists is not    
extinct1 and ,i feel an unalloyed       
satisfaction in offering them a tribute 
they never claim4  ,i must be pardoned  
for dwelling upon this4 ,it does one    
good to offset the bitterness of so many
 infamies1 so many calumnies1 so much   
charlatanism1 by resting the eyes upon  
something more beautiful1 breathing the 
perfume of these stray corners where    
simple goodness flowers4  ,a lady1 a    
foreigner1 doubtless little used to     
,parisian life1 just now told me with   
what horror the things she sees here    
inspire her3--these vile posters1 these 
yellow journals1 these women with       
bleached hair1 this crowd rushing to the
 races1 to dance-halls1 to roulette     
tables1 to corruption--the whole flood  
of superficial and mundane life4 ,she   
did not speak the word ,babylon1 but    
doubtless it was out of pity for one of 
the inhabitants of this city of         
perdition4  ,alas1 yes1 madam1 these    
things are sad1 but you have not seen   

all4  ,heaven preserve me from that6    
,on the contrary1 ,i wish you could see 
everything2 for if the dark side is very
 ugly1 there is so much to atone for it4
 ,and believe me1 madam1 you have simply
 to change your quarter1 or observe at  
another hour4 ,for instance1 take the   
,paris of early morning4 ,it will offer 
much to correct your impressions of the 
,paris of the night4 ,go see1 among so  
many other working people1 the          
street-sweepers1 who come out at the    
hour when the revellers and malefactors 
go in4 ,observe beneath these rags those
 caryatid bodies1 those austere faces6  
,how serious they are at their work of  
sweeping away the refuse of the night's 
revelry4 ,one might liken them to the   
prophets at ,ahasuerus's gates4 ,there  
are women among them1 many old people4  
,when the air is cold they stop to blow 
their fingers1 and then go at it again4 
,so it is every day4 ,and they1 too1 are
 inhabitants of ,paris4  ,go next to the
 faubourgs1 to the factories1 especially

 the smaller ones1 where the children or
 the employers labor with the men4      
,watch the army of workers marching to  
their tasks4 ,how ready and willing     
these young girls seem1 as they come    
gaily down from their distant quarters  
to the shops and stores and offices of  
the city4 ,then visit the homes from    
which they come4 ,see the woman of the  
people at her work4 ,her husband's wages
 are modest1 their dwelling is cramped1 
the children are many1 the father is    
often harsh4 ,make a collection of the  
biographies of lowly people1 budgets of 
modest family life3 look at them        
attentively and long4  ,after that1 go  
see the students4 ,those who have       
scandalized you in the streets are      
numerous1 but those who labor hard are  
legion--only they stay at home1 and are 
not talked about4 ,if you knew the toil 
and dig of the ,latin ,quarter6 ,you    
find the papers full of the rumpus made 
by a certain set of youths who call     
themselves students4 ,the papers say    

enough of those who break windows2 but  
why do they make no mention of those who
 spend their nights toiling over        
problems8 ,because it wouldn't interest 
the public4 ,yes1 when now and then one 
of them1 a medical student perhaps1 dies
 a victim to professional duty1 the     
matter has two lines in the dailies4 ,a 
drunken brawl gets half a column1 with  
every detail elaborated4 ,nothing is    
lacking but the portraits of the        
heroes--and not always that6  ,i should 
never end were ,i to try to point out to
 you all that you must go to see if you 
would see all3 you would needs make the 
tour of society at large1 rich and poor1
 wise and ignorant4 ,and certainly you  
would not judge so severely then4 ,paris
 is a world1 and here1 as in the world  
in general1 the good hides away while   
the evil flaunts itself4 ,observing only
 the surface1 you sometimes ask how     
there can possibly be so much riff-raff4
 ,when1 on the contrary1 you look into  
the depths1 you are astonished that in  

this troublous1 obscure and sometimes   
frightful life there can be so much of  
virtue4  99       99       99       99  
99  ,but why linger over these things8  
,am ,i not blowing trumpets for those   
who hold trumpet-blowing in horror8 ,do 
not understand me so4 ,my aim is        
this--to make men think about           
unostentatious goodness2 above all1 to  
make them love it and practice it4 ,the 
man who finds his satisfaction in things
 which glitter and hold his eyes1 is    
lost3 first1 because he will thus see   
evil before all else2 then1 because he  
gets accustomed to the sight of only    
such good as seeks for notice1 and      
therefore easily succumbs to the        
temptation to live himself for          
appearances4 ,not only must one be      
resigned to obscurity1 he must love it1 
if he does not wish to slip insensibly  
into the ranks of figurants1 who        
preserve their parts only while under   
the eyes of the spectators1 and put off 
in the wings the restraints imposed on  

the stage4 ,here we are in the presence 
of one of the essential elements of the 
moral life4 ,and this which we say is   
true not only for those who are called  
humble and whose lot it is to pass      
unremarked2 it is just as true1 and more
 so1 for the chief actors4 ,if you would
 not be a brilliant inutility1 a man of 
gold lace and plumes1 but empty inside1 
you must play the star rle in the simple
 spirit of the most obscure of your     
collaborators4 ,he who is nothing worth 
except on hours of parade1 is worth less
 than nothing4 ,have we the perilous    
honor of being always in view1 of       
marching in the front ranks8 ,let us    
take so much the greater care of the    
sanctuary of silent good within us4 ,let
 us give to the structure whose faade is
 seen of our fellow-men1 a wide         
foundation of simplicity1 of humble     
fidelity4 ,and then1 out of sympathy1   
out of gratitude1 let us stay near our  
brothers who are unknown to fame4 ,we   
owe everything to them--do we not8 ,i   

call to witness everyone who has found  
in life this encouraging experience1    
that stones hidden in the soil hold up  
the whole edifice4 ,all those who arrive
 at having a public and recognized      
value1 owe it to some humble spiritual  
ancestors1 to some forgotten inspirers4 
,a small number of the good1 among them 
simple women1 peasants1 vanquished      
heroes1 parents as modest as they are   
revered1 personify for us beautiful and 
noble living2 their example inspires us 
and gives us strength4 ,the remembrance 
of them is forever inseparable from that
 conscience before which we arraign     
ourselves4 ,in our hours of trial1 we   
think of them1 courageous and serene1   
and our burdens lighten4 ,in clouds they
 compass us about1 these witnesses      
invisible and beloved who keep us from  
stumbling and our feet from falling in  
the battle2 and day by day do they prove
 to us that the treasure of humanity is 
its hidden goodness4     ,x  ,,the      
,,world ,,and ,,the ,,life ,,of ,,the   

,,home   ,in the time of the ,second    
,empire1 in one of our pleasantest      
sub-prefectures of the provinces1 a     
little way from some baths frequented by
 the ,emperor1 there was a mayor1 a very
 worthy man and intelligent too1 whose  
head was suddenly turned by the thought 
that his sovereign might one day descend
 upon his home4 ,up to this time he had 
lived in the house of his fathers1 a son
 respectful of the slightest family     
traditions4 ,but when once the          
all-absorbing idea of receiving the     
,emperor had taken possession of his    
brain1 he became another man4 ,in this  
new light1 what had before seemed       
sufficient for his needs1 even          
enjoyable1 all this simplicity that his 
ancestors had loved1 appeared poor1     
ugly1 ridiculous4 ,out of the question  
to ask an ,emperor to climb this wooden 
staircase1 sit in these old arm-chairs1 
walk over such superannuated carpets4   
,so the mayor called architect and      
masons2 pickaxes attacked walls and     

demolished partitions1 and a            
drawing-room was made1 out of all       
proportion to the rest of the house in  
size and splendor4 ,he and his family   
retired into close quarters1 where      
people and furniture incommoded each    
other generally4 ,then1 having emptied  
his purse and upset his household by    
this stroke of genius1 he awaited the   
royal guest4 ,alas1 he soon saw the end 
of the ,empire arrive1 but the ,emperor 
never4  ,the folly of this poor man is  
not so rare4 ,as mad as he are all those
 who sacrifice their home life to the   
demands of the world4 ,and the danger in
 such a sacrifice is most menacing in   
times of unrest4 ,our contemporaries are
 constantly exposed to it1 and          
constantly succumbing4 ,how many family 
treasures have they literally thrown    
away to satisfy worldly ambitions and   
conventions2 but the happiness upon     
which they thought to come through these
 impious immolations always eludes them4
  ,to give up the ancestral hearth1 to  

let the family traditions fall into     
desuetude1 to abandon the simple        
domestic customs1 for whatever return1  
is to make a fool's bargain2 and such is
 the place in society of family life1   
that if this be impoverished1 the       
trouble is felt throughout the whole    
social organism4 ,to enjoy a normal     
development1 this organism has need of  
well-tried individuals1 each having his 
own value1 his own hall-mark4 ,otherwise
 society becomes a flock1 and sometimes 
a flock without a shepherd4 ,but whence 
does the individual draw his            
originality--this unique something1     
which1 joined to the distinctive        
qualities of others1 constitutes the    
wealth and strength of a community8 ,he 
can draw it only from his own family4   
,destroy the assemblage of memories and 
practices whence emanates for each home 
an atmosphere in miniature1 and you dry 
up the sources of character1 sap the    
strength of public spirit4  ,it concerns
 the country that each home be a world1 

profound1 respected1 communicating to   
its members an ineffaceable moral       
imprint4 ,but before pursuing the       
subject further1 let us rid ourselves of
 a misunderstanding4 ,family feeling1   
like all beautiful things1 has its      
caricature1 which is family egoism4     
,some families are like barred and      
bolted citadels1 their members organized
 for the exploitation of the whole      
world4 ,everything that does not        
directly concern them is indifferent to 
them4 ,they live like colonists1 ,i had 
almost said intruders1 in the society   
around them4 ,their particularism is    
pushed to such an excess that they make 
enemies of the whole human race4 ,in    
their small way they resemble those     
powerful societies1 formed from time to 
time through the ages1 which possess    
themselves of universal rule1 and for   
which no one outside their own community
 counts4 ,this is the spirit that has   
sometimes made the family seem a retreat
 of egoism which it was necessary to    

destroy for the public safety4 ,but as  
patriotism and jingoism are as far apart
 as the east from the west1 so are      
family feeling and clannishness4  99    
99       99       99       99  ,here we 
are talking of right family feeling1 and
 nothing else in the world can take its 
place2 for in it lie in germ all those  
fine and simple virtues which assure the
 strength and duration of social        
institutions4 ,and the very base of     
family feeling is respect for the past2 
for the best possessions of a family are
 its common memories4 ,an intangible1   
indivisible and inalienable capital1    
these souvenirs constitute a sacred fund
 that each member of a family ought to  
consider more precious than anything    
else he possesses4 ,they exist in a dual
 form3 in idea and in fact4 ,they show  
themselves in language1 habits of       
thought1 sentiments1 even instincts1 and
 one sees them materialized in          
portraits1 furniture1 buildings1 dress1 
songs4 ,to profane eyes1 they are       

nothing2 to the eyes of those who know  
how to appreciate the things of the     
family1 they are relics with which one  
should not part at any price4  ,but what
 generally happens in our day8          
,worldliness wars upon the sentiment of 
family1 and ,i know of no strife more   
impassioned4 ,by great means and small1 
by all sorts of new customs1            
requirements and pretensions1 the spirit
 of the world breaks into the domestic  
sanctuary4 ,what are this stranger's    
rights8 its titles8 ,upon what does it  
rest its peremptory claims8 ,this is    
what people too often neglect to        
inquire4 ,they make a mistake4 ,we treat
 the invader as very poor and simple    
people do a pompous visitor4 ,for this  
incommoding guest of a day1 they pillage
 their garden1 bully their children and 
servants1 and neglect their work4 ,such 
conduct is not only wrong1 it is        
impolitic4 ,one should have the courage 
to remain what he is1 in the face of all
 comers4  ,the worldly spirit is full of

 impertinences4 ,here is a home which   
has formed characters of mark1 and is   
forming them yet4 ,the people1 the      
furnishings1 the customs are all in     
harmony4 ,by marriage or through        
relations of business or pleasure1 the  
worldly spirit enters4 ,it finds        
everything out of date1 awkward1 too    
simple1 lacking the modern touch4 ,at   
first it restricts itself to criticism  
and light raillery4 ,but this is the    
dangerous moment4 ,look out for         
yourself2 here is the enemy6 ,if you so 
much as listen to his reasonings1       
to-morrow you will sacrifice a piece of 
furniture1 the next day a good old      
tradition1 and so one by one the family 
heirlooms dear to the heart will go to  
the bric-a-brac dealer--and filial piety
 with them4  ,in the midst of your new  
habits and in the changed atmosphere1   
your friends of other days1 your old    
relatives1 will be expatriated4 ,your   
next step will be to lay them aside in  
their turn2 the worldly spirit leaves   

the old out of consideration4 ,at last1 
established in an absolutely transformed
 setting1 even you will view yourself   
with amazement4 ,nothing will be        
familiar1 but surely it will be correct2
 at least the world will be             
satisfied6--,ah6 that is where you are  
mistaken6 ,after having made you cast   
out pure treasure as so much junk1 it   
will find that your borrowed livery fits
 you ill1 and will hasten to make you   
sensible of the ridiculousness of the   
situation4 ,much better have had from   
the beginning the courage of your       
convictions1 and have defended your     
home4  ,many young people when they     
marry1 listen to this voice of the      
world4 ,their parents have given them   
the example of a modest life2 but the   
new generation thinks it affirms its    
rights to existence and liberty1 by     
repudiating ways in its eyes too        
patriarchal4 ,so these young folks make 
efforts to set themselves up lavishly in
 the latest fashion1 and rid themselves 

of useless property at dirt-cheap       
prices4 ,instead of filling their houses
 with objects which say3 ,remember6 they
 garnish them with quite new furnishings
 that as yet have no meaning4 ,wait1 ,i 
am wrong2 these things are often        
symbols1 as it were1 of a facile and    
superficial existence4 ,in their midst  
one breathes a certain heady vapor of   
mundanity4 ,they recall the life        
outside1 the turmoil1 the rush4 ,and    
were one sometimes disposed to forget   
this life1 they would call back his     
wandering thought and say3              
,remember6--in another sense3 ,do not   
forget your appointment at the club1 the
 play1 the races6 ,the home1 then1      
becomes a sort of half-way house where  
one comes to rest a little between two  
prolonged absences2 it isn't a good     
place to stay4 ,as it has no soul1 it   
does not speak to yours4 ,time to eat   
and sleep1 and then off again6          
,otherwise you become as dull as a      
hermit4  ,we are all acquainted with    

people who have a rage for being abroad1
 who think the world would no longer go 
round if they didn't figure on all sides
 of it4 ,to stay at home is penal2 there
 they cease to be in view4 ,a horror of 
home life possesses them to such a      
degree that they would rather pay to be 
bored outside than be amused            
gratuitously within4  ,in this way      
society slowly gravitates toward life in
 herds1 which must not be confounded    
with public life4 ,the life in herds is 
somewhat like that of swarms of flies in
 the sun4 ,nothing so much resembles the
 worldly life of a man as the worldly   
life of another man4 ,and this universal
 banality destroys the very essence of  
public spirit4 ,one need not journey far
 to discover the ravages made in modern 
society by the spirit of worldliness2   
and if we have so little foundation1 so 
little equilibrium1 calm good sense and 
initiative1 one of the chief reasons    
lies in the undermining of the home     
life4 ,the masses have timed their pace 

by that of people of fashion4 ,they too 
have become worldly4 ,nothing can be    
more so than to quit one's own hearth   
for the life of saloons4 ,the squalor   
and misery of the homes is not enough to
 explain the current which carries each 
man away from his own4 ,why does the    
peasant desert for the inn the house    
that his father and grandfather found so
 comfortable8 ,it has remained the same4
 ,there is the same fire in the same    
chimney4 ,whence comes it that it lights
 only an incomplete circle1 when in     
olden times young and old sat shoulder  
to shoulder8 ,something has changed in  
the minds of men4 ,yielding to dangerous
 impulses1 they have broken with        
simplicity4 ,the fathers have quitted   
their post of honor1 the wives grow dull
 beside the solitary hearth1 and the    
children quarrel while waiting their    
turn to go abroad1 each after his own   
fancy4  ,we must learn again to live the
 home life1 to value our domestic       
traditions4 ,a pious care has preserved 

certain monuments of the past4 ,so      
antique dress1 provincial dialects1 old 
folk songs have found appreciative hands
 to gather them up before they should   
disappear from the earth4 ,what a good  
deed1 to guard these crumbs of a great  
past1 these vestiges of the souls of our
 ancestors6 ,let us do the same for our 
family traditions1 save and guard as    
much as possible of the patriarchal1    
whatever its form4  99       99       99
       99       99  ,but not everyone   
has traditions to keep4 ,all the more   
reason for redoubling the effort to     
constitute and foster a family life4    
,and to do this there is need neither of
 numbers nor a rich establishment4 ,to  
create a home you must have the spirit  
of home4 ,just as the smallest village  
may have its history1 its moral stamp1  
so the smallest home may have its soul4 
,oh6 the spirit of places1 the          
atmosphere which surrounds us in human  
dwellings6 ,what a world of mystery6    
,here1 even on the threshold the cold   

begins to penetrate1 you are ill at     
ease1 something intangible repulses you4
 ,there1 no sooner does the door shut   
you in than friendliness and good humor 
envelop you4 ,it is said that walls have
 ears4 ,they have also voices1 a mute   
eloquence4 ,everything that a dwelling  
contains is bathed in an ether of       
personality4 ,and ,i find proof of its  
quality even in the apartments of       
bachelors and solitary women4 ,what an  
abyss between one room and another room6
 ,here1 all is dead1 indifferent1       
commonplace3 the device of the owner is 
written all over it1 even in his fashion
 of arranging his photographs and books3
 ,all is the same to me6 ,there1 one    
breathes in animation1 a contagious joy 
in life4 ,the visitor hears repeated in 
countless fashions3 ,whoever you are1   
guest of an hour1 ,i wish you well1     
peace be with you6  ,words can do little
 justice to the subject of home1 tell   
little about the effect of a favorite   
flower in the window1 or the charm of an

 old arm-chair where the grandfather    
used to sit1 offering his wrinkled hands
 to the kisses of chubby children4 ,poor
 moderns1 always moving or remodeling6  
,we who from transforming our cities1   
our houses1 our customs and creeds1 have
 no longer where to lay our heads1 let  
us not add to the pathos and emptiness  
of our changeful existence by abandoning
 the life of the home4 ,let us light    
again the flame put out on our hearths1 
make sanctuaries for ourselves1 warm    
nests where the children may grow into  
men1 where love may find privacy1 old   
age repose1 prayer an altar1 and the    
fatherland a cult6     ,,xi  ,,simple   
,,beauty   ,someone may protest against 
the nature of the simple life in the    
name of esthetics1 or oppose to ours the
 theory of the service of luxury--that  
providence of business1 fostering mother
 of arts1 and grace of civilized        
society4 ,we shall try1 briefly1 to     
anticipate these objections4  ,it will  
no doubt have been evident that the     

spirit which animates these pages is not
 utilitarian4 ,it would be an error to  
suppose that the simplicity we seek has 
anything in common with that which      
misers impose upon themselves through   
cupidity1 or narrow-minded people       
through false austerity4 ,to the former 
the simple life is the one that costs   
least2 to the latter it is a flat and   
colorless existence1 whose merit lies in
 depriving one's self of everything     
bright1 smiling1 seductive4  ,it        
displeases us not a whit that people of 
large means should put their fortune    
into circulation instead of hoarding it1
 so giving life to commerce and the fine
 arts4 ,that is using one's privileges  
to good advantage4 ,what we would combat
 is foolish prodigality1 the selfish use
 of wealth1 and above all the quest of  
the superfluous on the part of those who
 have the greatest need of taking       
thought for the necessary4 ,the         
lavishness of a ,mcenas could not have  
the same effect in a society as that of 

a common spendthrift who astonishes his 
contemporaries by the magnificence of   
his life and the folly of his waste4 ,in
 these two cases the same term means    
very different things--to scatter money 
broadcast does not say it all2 there are
 ways of doing it which ennoble men1 and
 others which degrade them4 ,besides1 to
 scatter money supposes that one is well
 provided with it4 ,when the love of    
sumptuous living takes possession of    
those whose means are limited1 the      
matter becomes strangely altered4 ,and a
 very striking characteristic of our    
time is the rage for scattering         
broadcast which the very people have who
 ought to husband their resources4      
,munificence is a benefit to society1   
that we grant willingly4 ,let us even   
allow that the prodigality of certain   
rich men is a safety-valve for the      
escape of the superabundant3 we shall   
not attempt to gainsay it4 ,our         
contention is that too many people      
meddle with the safety-valve when to    

practice economy is the part of both    
their interest and their duty3 their    
extravagance is a private misfortune and
 a public danger4  99       99       99 
99       99  ,so much for the utility of
 luxury4  ,we now wish to explain       
ourselves upon the question of          
esthetics--oh6 very modestly1 and       
without trespassing on the ground of the
 specialists4 ,through a too common     
illusion1 simplicity and beauty are     
considered as rivals4 ,but simple is not
 synonymous with ugly1 any more than    
sumptuous1 stylish and costly are       
synonymous with beautiful4 ,our eyes are
 wounded by the crying spectacle of     
gaudy ornament1 venal art and senseless 
and graceless luxury4 ,wealth coupled   
with bad taste sometimes makes us regret
 that so much money is in circulation to
 provoke the creation of such a         
prodigality of horrors4 ,our            
contemporary art suffers as much from   
the want of simplicity as does our      
literature--too much in it that is      

irrelevant1 over-wrought1 falsely       
imagined4 ,rarely is it given us to     
contemplate in line1 form1 or color1    
that simplicity allied to perfection    
which commands the eyes as evidence does
 the mind4 ,we need to be rebaptized in 
the ideal purity of immortal beauty     
which puts its seal on the masterpieces2
 one shaft of its radiance is worth more
 than all our pompous exhibitions4  99  
99       99       99       99  ,yet what
 we now have most at heart is to speak  
of the ordinary esthetics of life1 of   
the care one should bestow upon the     
adornment of his dwelling and his       
person1 giving to existence that luster 
without which it lacks charm4 ,for it is
 not a matter of indifference whether   
man pays attention to these superfluous 
necessities or whether he does not3 it  
is by them that we know whether he puts 
soul into his work4 ,far from           
considering it as wasteful to give time 
and thought to the perfecting1          
beautifying and poetizing of forms1 ,i  

think we should spend as much as we can 
upon it4 ,nature gives us her example1  
and the man who should affect contempt  
for the ephemeral splendor of beauty    
with which we garnish our brief days1   
would lose sight of the intentions of   
,him who has put the same care and love 
into the painting of the lily of an hour
 and the eternal hills4  ,but we must   
not fall into the gross error of        
confounding true beauty with that which 
has only the name4 ,the beauty and      
poetry of existence lie in the          
understanding we have of it4 ,our home1 
our table1 our dress should be the      
interpreters of intentions4 ,that these 
intentions be so expressed1 it is first 
necessary to have them1 and he who      
possesses them makes them evident       
through the simplest means4 ,one need   
not be rich to give grace and charm to  
his habit and his habitation3 it        
suffices to have good taste and         
good-will4 ,we come here to a point very
 important to everybody1 but perhaps of 

more interest to women than to men4     
,those who would have women conceal     
themselves in coarse garments of the    
shapeless uniformity of bags1 violate   
nature in her very heart1 and           
misunderstand completely the spirit of  
things4 ,if dress were only a precaution
 to shelter us from cold or rain1 a     
piece of sacking or the skin of a beast 
would answer4 ,but it is vastly more    
than this4 ,man puts himself entire into
 all that he does2 he transforms into   
types the things that serve him4 ,the   
dress is not simply a covering1 it is a 
symbol4 ,i call to witness the rich     
flowering of national and provincial    
costumes1 and those worn by our early   
corporations4 ,a woman's toilette1 too1 
has something to say to us4 ,the more   
meaning there is in it1 the greater its 
worth4 ,to be truly beautiful1 it must  
tell us of beautiful things1 things     
personal and veritable4 ,spend all the  
money you possess upon it1 if its form  
is determined by chance or custom1 if it

 has no relation to her who wears it1 it
 is only toggery1 a domino4             
,ultra-fashionable dress1 which         
completely masks feminine personality   
under designs of pure convention1       
despoils it of its principal attraction4
 ,from this abuse it comes about that   
many things which women admire do as    
much wrong to their beauty as to the    
purses of their husbands and fathers4   
,what would you say of a young girl who 
expressed her thoughts in terms very    
choice1 indeed1 but taken word for word 
from a phrase-book8 ,what charm could   
you find in this borrowed language8 ,the
 effect of toilettes well-designed in   
themselves but seen again and again on  
all women indiscriminately1 is precisely
 the same4  ,i can not resist citing    
here a passage from ,camille ,lemonnier1
 that harmonizes with my idea4  ,nature 
has given to the fingers of woman a     
charming art1 which she knows by        
instinct1 and which is peculiarly her   
own--as silk to the worm1 and lace-work 

to the swift and subtle spider4 ,she is 
the poet1 the interpreter of her own    
grace and ingenuousness1 the spinner of 
the mystery in which her wish to please 
arrays itself4 ,all the talent she      
expends in her effort to equal man in   
the other arts1 is never worth the      
spirit and conception wrought out       
through a bit of stuff in her skillful  
hands4  ,well1 ,i wish that this art    
were more honored than it is4 ,as       
education should consist in thinking    
with one's mind1 feeling with one's     
heart1 expressing the little            
personalities of the inmost1 invisible  
,i1--which on the contrary are          
repressed1 leveled down by              
conformity1--,i would that the young    
girl in her novitiate of womanhood1 the 
future mother1 might early become the   
little exponent of this art of the      
toilet1 her own dressmaker in short--she
 who one day shall make the dresses of  
her children4 ,but with the taste and   
the gift to improvise1 to express       

herself in that masterpiece of feminine 
personality and skill--a gown1 without  
which a woman is no more than a bundle  
of rags4  ,the dress you have made for  
yourself is almost always the most      
becoming1 and1 however that may be1 it  
is the one that pleases you most4 ,women
 of leisure too often forget this2      
working women1 also1 in city and country
 alike4 ,since these last are costumed  
by dressmakers and milliners1 in very   
doubtful imitation of the modish world1 
grace has almost disappeared from their 
dress4 ,and has anything more surely the
 gift to please than the fresh          
apparition of a young working girl or a 
daughter of the fields1 wearing the     
costume of her country1 and beautiful   
from her simplicity alone8  ,these same 
reflections might be applied to the     
fashion of decorating and arranging our 
houses4 ,if there are toilettes which   
reveal an entire conception of life1    
hats that are poems1 knots of ribbon    
that are veritable works of art1 so     

there are interiors which after their   
manner speak to the mind4 ,why1 under   
pretext of decorating our homes1 do we  
destroy that personal character which   
always has such value8 ,why have our    
sleeping-rooms conform to those of      
hotels1 our reception-rooms to          
waiting-rooms1 by making predominant a  
uniform type of official beauty8  ,what 
a pity to go through the houses of a    
city1 the cities of a country1 the      
countries of a vast continent1 and      
encounter everywhere certain forms1     
identical1 inevitable1 exasperating by  
their repetition6 ,how esthetics would  
gain by more simplicity6 ,instead of    
this luxury in job lots1 all these      
decorations1 pretentious but vapid from 
iteration1 we should have an infinite   
variety2 happy improvisations would     
strike our eyes1 the unexpected in a    
thousand forms would rejoice our hearts1
 and we should rediscover the secret of 
impressing on a drapery or a piece of   
furniture that stamp of human           

personality which makes certain antiques
 priceless4  ,let us pass at last to    
things simpler still2 ,i mean the little
 details of housekeeping which many     
young people of our day find so         
unpoetical4 ,their contempt for material
 things1 for the humble cares a house   
demands1 arises from a confusion very   
common but none the less unfortunate1   
which comes from the belief that beauty 
and poetry are within some things1 while
 others lack them2 that some occupations
 are distinguished and agreeable1 such  
as cultivating letters1 playing the     
harp2 and that others are menial and    
disagreeable1 like blacking shoes1      
sweeping1 and watching the pot boil4    
,childish error6 ,neither harp nor broom
 has anything to do with it2 all depends
 on the hand in which they rest and the 
spirit that moves it4 ,poetry is not in 
things1 it is in us4 ,it must be        
impressed on objects from without1 as   
the sculptor impresses his dream on the 
marble4 ,if our life and our occupations

 remain too often without charm1 in     
spite of any outward distinction they   
may have1 it is because we have not     
known how to put anything into them4    
,the height of art is to make the inert 
live1 and to tame the savage4 ,i would  
have our young girls apply themselves to
 the development of the truly feminine  
art of giving a soul to things which    
have none4 ,the triumph of woman's charm
 is in that work4 ,only a woman knows   
how to put into a home that indefinable 
something whose virtue has made the poet
 say1 ,the housetop rejoices and is     
glad4 ,they say there are no such things
 as fairies1 or that there are fairies  
no longer1 but they know not what they  
say4 ,the original of the fairies sung  
by poets was found1 and is still1 among 
those amiable mortals who knead bread   
with energy1 mend rents with            
cheerfulness1 nurse the sick with       
smiles1 put witchery into a ribbon and  
genius into a stew4  99       99        
99       99       99  ,it is            

indisputable that the culture of the    
fine arts has something refining about  
it1 and that our thoughts and acts are  
in the end impregnated with that which  
strikes our eyes4 ,but the exercise of  
the arts and the contemplation of their 
products is a restricted privilege4 ,it 
is not given to everyone to possess1 to 
comprehend or to create fine things4    
,yet there is a kind of ministering     
beauty which may make its way           
everywhere--the beauty which springs    
from the hands of our wives and         
daughters4 ,without it1 what is the most
 richly decorated house8 ,a dead        
dwelling-place4 ,with it the barest home
 has life and brightness4 ,among the    
forces capable of transforming the will 
and increasing happiness1 there is      
perhaps none in more universal use than 
this beauty4 ,it knows how to shape     
itself by means of the crudest tools1 in
 the midst of the greatest difficulties4
 ,when the dwelling is cramped1 the     
purse limited1 the table modest1 a woman

 who has the gift1 finds a way to make  
order1 fitness and convenience reign in 
her house4 ,she puts care and art into  
everything she undertakes4 ,to do well  
what one has to do is not in her eyes   
the privilege of the rich1 but the right
 of all4 ,that is her aim1 and she knows
 how to give her home a dignity and an  
attractiveness that the dwellings of    
princes1 if everything is left to       
mercenaries1 cannot possess4  ,thus     
understood1 life quickly shows itself   
rich in hidden beauties1 in attractions 
and satisfactions close at hand4 ,to be 
one's self1 to realize in one's natural 
place the kind of beauty which is       
fitting there--this is the ideal4 ,how  
the mission of woman broadens and       
deepens in significance when it is      
summed up in this3 to put a soul into   
the inanimate1 and to give to this      
gracious spirit of things those subtle  
and winsome outward manifestations to   
which the most brutish of human beings  
is sensible4 ,is not this better than to

 covet what one has not1 and to give    
one's self up to longings for a poor    
imitation of others' finery8     ,,xii  
,,pride ,,and ,,simplicity ,,in ,,the   
,,intercourse ,,of ,,men   ,it would    
perhaps be difficult to find a more     
convincing example than pride to show   
that the obstacles to a better1         
stronger1 serener life are rather in us 
than in circumstances4 ,the diversity1  
and more than that1 the contrasts in    
social conditions give rise inevitably  
to all sorts of conflicts4 ,yet in spite
 of this how greatly would social       
relations be simplified1 if we put      
another spirit into mapping out our plan
 of outward necessities6 ,be well       
persuaded that it is not primarily      
differences of class and occupation1    
differences in the outward              
manifestations of their destinies1 which
 embroil men4 ,if such were the case1 we
 should find an idyllic peace reigning  
among colleagues1 and all those whose   
interests and lot are virtually         

equivalent4 ,on the contrary1 as        
everyone knows1 the most violent shocks 
come when equal meets equal1 and there  
is no war worse than civil war4 ,but    
that which above all things else hinders
 men from good understanding1 is pride4 
,it makes a man a hedgehog1 wounding    
everyone he touches4 ,let us speak first
 of the pride of the great4  ,what      
offends me in this rich man passing in  
his carriage1 is not his equipage1 his  
dress1 or the number and splendor of his
 retinue3 it is his contempt4 ,that he  
possesses a great fortune does not      
disturb me1 unless ,i am badly disposed3
 but that he splashes me with mud1      
drives over my body1 shows by his whole 
attitude that ,i count for nothing in   
his eyes because ,i am not rich like    
himself--this is what disturbs me1 and  
righteously4 ,he heaps suffering upon me
 needlessly4 ,he humiliates and insults 
me gratuitously4 ,it is not what is     
vulgar within me1 but what is noblest   
that asserts itself in the face of this 

offensive pride4 ,do not accuse me of   
envy2 ,i feel none2 it is my manhood    
that is wounded4 ,we need not search far
 to illustrate these ideas4 ,every man  
of any acquaintance with life has had   
numerous experiences which will justify 
our dictum in his eyes4 ,in certain     
communities devoted to material         
interests1 the pride of wealth dominates
 to such a degree that men are quoted   
like values in the stock market4 ,the   
esteem in which a man is held is        
proportionate to the contents of his    
strong box4 ,here ,society is made up of
 big fortunes1 the middle class of      
medium fortunes4 ,then come people who  
have little1 then those who have        
nothing4 ,all intercourse is regulated  
by this principle4 ,and the relatively  
rich man who has shown his disdain for  
those less opulent1 is crushed in turn  
by the contempt of his superiors in     
fortune4 ,so the madness of comparison  
rages from the summit to the base4 ,such
 an atmosphere is ready to perfection   

for the nurture of the worst feeling2   
yet it is not wealth1 but the spirit of 
the wealthy that must be arraigned4     
,many rich men are free from this gross 
conception--especially is this true of  
those who from father to son are        
accustomed to ease--yet they sometimes  
forget that there is a certain delicacy 
in not making contrasts too marked4     
,suppose there is no wrong in enjoying a
 large superfluity3 is it indispensable 
to display it1 to wound the eyes of     
those who lack necessities1 to flaunt   
one's magnificence at the doors of      
poverty8 ,good taste and a sort of      
modesty always hinder a well man from   
talking of his fine appetite1 his sound 
sleep1 his exuberance of spirits1 in the
 presence of one dying of consumption4  
,many of the rich do not exercise this  
tact1 and so are greatly wanting in pity
 and discretion4 ,are they not          
unreasonable to complain of envy1 after 
having done everything to provoke it8   
,but the greatest lack is that want of  

discernment which leads men to ground   
their pride in their fortune4 ,to begin 
with1 it is a childish confusion of     
thought to consider wealth as a personal
 quality2 it would be hard to find a    
more ingenuous fashion of deceiving     
one's self as to the relative value of  
the container and the thing contained4  
,i have no wish to dwell on this        
question3 it is too painful4 ,and yet   
one cannot resist saying to those       
concerned3 ,take care1 do not confound  
what you possess with what you are4 ,go 
learn to know the under side of worldly 
splendor1 that you may feel its moral   
misery and its puerility4 ,the traps    
pride sets for us are too ridiculous4   
,we should distrust association with a  
thing that makes us hateful to our      
neighbors and robs us of clearness of   
vision4  ,he who yields to the pride of 
riches1 forgets this other point1 the   
most important of all--that possession  
is a public trust4 ,without doubt1      
individual wealth is as legitimate as   

individual existence and liberty4 ,these
 things are inseparable1 and it is a    
dream pregnant with dangers that offers 
battle to such fundamentals of life4    
,but the individual touches society at  
every point1 and all he does should be  
done with the whole in view4            
,possession1 then1 is less a privilege  
of which to be proud than a charge whose
 gravity should be felt4 ,as there is an
 apprenticeship1 often very difficult to
 serve1 for the exercise of every social
 office1 so this profession we call     
wealth demands an apprenticeship4 ,to   
know how to be rich is an art1 and one  
of the least easy of arts to master4    
,most people1 rich and poor alike1      
imagine that in opulence one has nothing
 to do but to take life easy4 ,that is  
why so few men know how to be rich4 ,in 
the hands of too many1 wealth1 according
 to the genial and redoubtable          
comparison of ,luther1 is like a harp in
 the hoofs of an ass4 ,they have no idea
 of the manner of its use4  ,so when we 

encounter a man at once rich and simple1
 that is to say1 who considers his      
wealth as a means of fulfilling his     
mission in the world1 we should offer   
him our homage1 for he is surely        
mark-worthy4 ,he has surmounted         
obstacles1 borne trials1 and triumphed  
in temptations both gross and subtle4   
,he does not fail to discriminate       
between the contents of his pocketbook  
and the contents of his head or heart1  
and he does not estimate his fellow-men 
in figures4 ,his exceptional position1  
instead of exalting him1 makes him      
humble1 for he is very sensible of how  
far he falls short of reaching the level
 of his duty4 ,he has remained a        
man--that says it all4 ,he is           
accessible1 helpful1 and far from making
 of his wealth a barrier to separate him
 from other men1 he makes it a means for
 coming nearer and nearer to them4      
,although the profession of riches has  
been so dishonored by the selfish and   
the proud1 such a man as this always    

makes his worth felt by everyone not    
devoid of a sense of justice4 ,each of  
us who comes in contact with him and    
sees him live1 is forced to look within 
and ask himself the question1 ,what     
would become of me in such a situation8 
,should ,i keep this modesty1 this      
naturalness1 this uprightness which uses
 its own as though it belonged to       
others8 ,so long as there is a human    
society in the world1 so long as there  
are bitterly conflicting interests1 so  
long as envy and egoism exist on the    
earth1 nothing will be worthier of honor
 than wealth permeated by the spirit of 
simplicity4 ,and it will do more than   
make itself forgiven2 it will make      
itself beloved4  99       99       99   
99       99  ,more dangerous than pride 
inspired by wealth is that inspired by  
power1 and ,i mean by the word every    
prerogative that one man has over       
another1 be it unlimited or restricted4 
,i see no means of preventing the       
existence in the world of men of unequal

 authority4 ,every organism supposes a  
hierarchy of powers--we shall never     
escape from that law4 ,but ,i fear that 
if the love of power is so wide-spread1 
the spirit of power is almost impossible
 to find4 ,from wrong understanding and 
misuse of it1 those who keep even a     
fraction of authority almost everywhere 
succeed in compromising it4  ,power     
exercises a great influence over him who
 holds it4 ,a head must be very well    
balanced not to be disturbed by it4 ,the
 sort of dementia which took possession 
of the ,roman emperors in the time of   
their world-wide rule1 is a universal   
malady whose symptoms belong to all     
times4 ,in every man there sleeps a     
tyrant1 awaiting only a favorable       
occasion for waking4 ,now the tyrant is 
the worst enemy of authority1 because he
 furnishes us its intolerable           
caricature1 whence come a multitude of  
social complications1 collisions and    
hatreds4 ,every man who says to those   
dependent on him3 ,do this because it is

 my will and pleasure1 does ill4 ,there 
is within each one of us something that 
invites us to resist personal power1 and
 this something is very respectable4    
,for at bottom we are equal1 and there  
is no one who has the right to exact    
obedience from me because he is he and  
,i am ,i3 if he does so1 his command    
degrades me1 and ,i have no right to    
suffer myself to be degraded4  ,one must
 have lived in schools1 in work-shops1  
in the army1 in ,government offices1 he 
must have closely followed the relations
 between masters and servants1 have     
observed a little everywhere where the  
supremacy of man exercises itself over  
man1 to form any idea of the injury done
 by those who use power arrogantly4 ,of 
every free soul they make a slave soul1 
which is to say the soul of a rebel4    
,and it appears that this result1 with  
its social disaster1 is most certain    
when he who commands is least removed   
from the station of him who obeys4 ,the 
most implacable tyrant is the tyrant    

himself under authority4 ,foremen and   
overseers put more violence into their  
dealings than superintendents and       
employers4 ,the corporal is generally   
harsher than the colonel4 ,in certain   
families where madam has not much more  
education than her maid1 the relations  
between them are those of the convict   
and his warder4 ,and woe everywhere to  
him who falls into the hands of a       
subaltern drunk with his authority6  ,we
 forget that the first duty of him who  
exercises power is humility4            
,haughtiness is not authority4 ,it is   
not we who are the law2 the law is over 
our heads4 ,we only interpret it1 but to
 make it valid in the eyes of others1 we
 must first be subject to it ourselves4 
,to command and to obey in the society  
of men1 are after all but two forms of  
the same virtue--voluntary servitude4   
,if you are not obeyed1 it is generally 
because you have not yourself obeyed    
first4  ,the secret of moral ascendancy 
rests with those who rule with          

simplicity4 ,they soften by the spirit  
the harshness of the fact4 ,their       
authority is not in shoulder-straps1    
titles or disciplinary measures4 ,they  
make use of neither ferule nor threats1 
yet they achieve everything4 ,why8      
,because we feel that they are          
themselves ready for everything4 ,that  
which confers upon a man the right to   
demand of another the sacrifice of his  
time1 his money1 his passions1 even his 
life1 is not only that he is resolved   
upon all these sacrifices himself1 but  
that he has made them in advance4 ,in   
the command of a man animated by this   
spirit of renunciation1 there is a      
mysterious force which communicates     
itself to him who is to obey1 and helps 
him do his duty4  ,in all the provinces 
of human activity there are chiefs who  
inspire1 strengthen1 magnetize their    
soldiers3 under their direction the     
troops do prodigies4 ,with them one     
feels himself capable of any effort1    
ready to go through fire1 as the saying 

has it2 and if he goes1 it is with      
enthusiasm4  99       99       99       
99       99  ,but the pride of the      
exalted is not the only pride2 there is 
also the pride of the humble--this      
arrogance of underlings1 fit pendant to 
that of the great4 ,the root of these   
two prides is the same4 ,it is not alone
 that lofty and imperious being1 the man
 who says1 ,i am the law1 that provokes 
insurrection by his very attitude2 it is
 also that pig-headed subaltern who will
 not admit that there is anything beyond
 his knowledge4  ,there are really many 
people who find all superiority         
irritating4 ,for them1 every piece of   
advice is an offense1 every criticism an
 imposition1 every order an outrage on  
their liberty4 ,they would not know how 
to submit to rule4 ,to respect anything 
or anybody would seem to them a mental  
aberration4 ,they say to people after   
their fashion3 ,beyond us there is      
nothing4  ,to the family of the proud   
belong also those difficult and         

supersensitive people who in humble life
 find that their superiors never do them
 fitting honor1 whom the best and most  
kindly do not succeed in satisfying1 and
 who go about their duties with the air 
of a martyr4 ,at bottom these           
disaffected minds have too much         
misplaced self-respect4 ,they do not    
know how to fill their place simply1 but
 complicate their life and that of      
others by unreasonable demands and      
morbid suspicions4  ,when one takes the 
trouble to study men at short range1 he 
is surprised to find that pride has so  
many lurking-places among those who are 
by common consent called the humble4 ,so
 powerful is this vice1 that it arrives 
at forming round those who live in the  
most modest circumstances a wall which  
isolates them from their neighbors4     
,there they are1 intrenched1 barricaded 
with their ambitions and their          
contempts1 as inaccessible as the       
powerful of earth behind their          
aristocratic prejudices4 ,obscure or    

illustrious1 pride wraps itself in its  
dark royalty of enmity to the human     
race4 ,it is the same in misery and in  
high places--solitary and impotent1 on  
guard against everybody1 embroiling     
everything4 ,and the last word about it 
is always this3 ,if there is so much    
hostility and hatred between different  
classes of men1 it is due less to       
exterior conditions than to an interior 
fatality4 ,conflicting interests and    
differences of situation dig ditches    
between us1 it is true1 but pride       
transforms the ditches into gulfs1 and  
in reality it is pride alone which cries
 from brink to brink3 ,there is nothing 
in common between you and us4  99       
99       99       99       99  ,we have 
not finished with pride1 but it is      
impossible to picture it under all its  
forms4 ,i feel most resentful against it
 when it meddles with knowledge and     
appropriates that4 ,we owe our knowledge
 to our fellows1 as we do our riches and
 power4 ,it is a social force which     

ought to be of service to everybody1 and
 it can only be so when those who know  
remain sympathetically near to those who
 know not4 ,when knowledge is turned    
into a tool for ambition1 it destroys   
itself4  ,and what shall we say of the  
pride of good men8 for it exists1 and   
makes even virtue hateful4 ,the just who
 repent them of the evil others do1     
remain in brotherhood and social        
rectitude4 ,but the just who despise    
others for their faults and misdeeds1   
cut themselves off from humanity1 and   
their goodness1 descended to the rank of
 an ornament for their vanity1 becomes  
like those riches which kindness does   
not inform1 like authority untempered by
 the spirit of obedience4 ,like proud   
wealth and arrogant power1 supercilious 
virtue also is detestable4 ,it fosters  
in man traits and an attitude           
provocative of ,i know not what4 ,the   
sight of it repels instead of           
attracting1 and those whom it deigns to 
distinguish with its benefits feel as   

though they had been slapped in the     
face4  ,to resume and conclude1 it is an
 error to think that our advantages1    
whatever they are1 should be put to the 
service of our vanity4 ,each of them    
constitutes for him who enjoys it an    
obligation and not a reason for         
vainglory4 ,material wealth1 power1     
knowledge1 gifts of the heart and mind1 
become so much cause for discord when   
they serve to nourish pride4 ,they      
remain beneficent only so long as they  
are the source of modesty in those who  
possess them4  ,let us be humble if we  
have great possessions1 for that proves 
that we are great debtors3 all that a   
man has he owes to someone1 and are we  
sure of being able to pay our debts8    
,let us be humble if we sit in high     
places and hold the fate of others in   
our hands2 for no clear-sighted man can 
fail to be sensible of unfitness for so 
grave a rle4  ,let us be humble if we   
have much knowledge1 for it only serves 
to better show the vastness of the      

unknown1 and to compare the little we   
have discovered for ourselves with the  
amplitude of that which we owe to the   
pains of others4  ,and1 above all1 let  
us be humble if we are virtuous1 since  
no one should be more sensible of his   
defects than he whose conscience is     
illumined1 and since he more than anyone
 else should feel the need of charity   
toward evil-doers1 even of suffering in 
their stead4  99       99       99      
99       99  ,and what about the        
necessary distinctions in life8 someone 
may ask4 ,as a result of your           
simplifications1 are you not going to   
destroy that sense of the difference    
between men which must be maintained if 
society exists at all8  ,i have no mind 
to suppress distinctions and            
differences4 ,but ,i think that what    
distinguishes a man is not found in his 
social rank1 his occupation1 his dress  
or his fortune1 but solely in himself4  
,more than any other our own age has    
pricked the vain bubble of purely       

outward greatness4 ,to be somebody at   
present1 it does not suffice to wear the
 mantle of an emperor or a royal crown3 
what honor is there in wielding power   
through gold lace1 a coat of arms or a  
ribbon8 ,not that visible signs are to  
be despised2 they have their meaning and
 use1 but on condition that they cover  
something and not a vacuum4 ,the moment 
they cease to stand for realities1 they 
become useless and dangerous4 ,the only 
true distinction is superior worth4 ,if 
you would have social rank duly         
respected1 you must begin by being      
worthy of the rank that is your own2    
otherwise you help to bring it into     
hatred and contempt4 ,it is unhappily   
too true that respect is diminishing    
among us1 and it certainly is not from a
 lack of lines drawn round those who    
wish to be respected4 ,the root of the  
evil is in the mistaken idea that high  
station exempts him who holds it from   
observing the common obligations of     
life4 ,as we rise1 we believe that we   

free ourselves from the law1 forgetting 
that the spirit of obedience and        
humility should grow with our           
possessions and power4 ,so it comes     
about that those who demand the most    
homage make the least effort to merit   
the homage they demand4 ,this is why    
respect is diminishing4  ,the sole      
distinction necessary is the wish to    
become better4 ,the man who strives to  
be better becomes more humble1 more     
approachable1 more friendly even with   
those who owe him allegiance4 ,but as he
 gains by being better known1 he loses  
nothing in distinction1 and he reaps the
 more respect in that he has sown the   
less pride4     ,,xiii  ,,the           
,,education ,,for ,,simplicity   ,the   
simple life being above all else the    
product of a direction of mind1 it is   
natural that education should have much 
to do with it4  ,in general but two     
methods of rearing children are         
practiced3 the first is to bring them up
 for ourselves2 the second1 to bring    

them up for themselves4  ,in the first  
case the child is looked upon as a      
complement of the parents3 he is part of
 their property1 occupies a place among 
their possessions4 ,sometimes this place
 is the highest1 especially when the    
parents value the life of the           
affections4 ,again1 where material      
interests rule1 the child holds second1 
third1 or even the last place4 ,in any  
case he is a nobody4 ,while he is young1
 he gravitates round his parents1 not   
only by obedience1 which is right1 but  
by the subordination of all his         
originality1 all his being4 ,as he grows
 older1 this subordination becomes a    
veritable confiscation1 extending to his
 ideas1 his feelings1 everything4 ,his  
minority becomes perpetual4 ,instead of 
slowly evolving into independence1 the  
man advances into slavery4 ,he is what  
he is permitted to be1 what his father's
 business1 religious beliefs1 political 
opinions or esthetic tastes require him 
to be4 ,he will think1 speak1 act1 and  

marry according to the understanding and
 limits of the paternal absolutism4     
,this family tyranny may be exercised by
 people with no strength of character4  
,it is only necessary for them to be    
convinced that good order requires the  
child to be the property of the parents4
 ,in default of mental force1 they      
possess themselves of him by other      
means--by sighs1 supplications1 or base 
seductions4 ,if they cannot fetter him1 
they snare his feet in traps4 ,but that 
he should live in them1 through them1   
for them1 is the only thing admissible4 
,education of this sort is not the      
practice of families only1 but also of  
great social organizations whose chief  
educational function consists in putting
 a strong hand on every new-comer1 in   
order to fit him1 in the most iron-bound
 fashion1 into existing forms4 ,it is   
the attenuation1 pulverization and      
assimilation of the individual in a     
social body1 be it theocratic1          
communistic1 or simply bureaucratic and 

routinary4 ,looked at from without1 a   
like system seems the ideal of          
simplicity in education4 ,its processes1
 in fact1 are absolutely simplistic1 and
 if a man were not somebody1 if he were 
only a sample of the race1 this would be
 the perfect education4 ,as all wild    
beasts1 all fish and insects of the same
 genus and species have the same        
markings1 so we should all be identical1
 having the same tastes1 the same       
language1 the same beliefs1 the same    
tendencies4 ,but man is not simply a    
specimen of the race1 and for that      
reason this sort of education is far    
from being simple in its results4 ,men  
so vary from one another1 that          
numberless methods have to be invented  
to repress1 stupefy1 and extinguish     
individual thought4 ,and one never      
arrives at it then but in part1 a fact  
which is continually deranging          
everything4 ,at each moment1 by some    
fissure1 some interior force of         
initiative is making a violent way to   

the light1 producing explosions1        
upheavals1 all sorts of grave disorders4
 ,and where there are no outward        
manifestations1 the evil lies dormant2  
beneath apparent order are hidden dumb  
revolt1 flaws made by an abnormal       
existence1 apathy1 death4  ,the system  
is evil which produces such fruit1 and  
however simple it may appear1 in reality
 it brings forth all possible           
complications4  99       99       99    
99       99  ,the other system is the   
extreme opposite1 that of bringing up   
children for themselves4 ,the rles are  
reversed3 the parents are there for the 
child4 ,no sooner is he born than he    
becomes the center4 ,white-headed       
grandfather and stalwart father bow     
before these curls4 ,his lisping is     
their law4 ,a sign from him suffices4   
,if he cries in the night1 no fatigue is
 of account1 the whole household must be
 roused4 ,the new-comer is not long in  
discovering his omnipotence1 and before 
he can walk he is drunken with it4 ,as  

he grows older all this deepens and     
broadens4 ,parents1 grandparents1       
servants1 teachers1 everybody is at his 
command4 ,he accepts the homage and even
 the immolation of his neighbor3 he     
treats like a rebellious subject anyone 
who does not step out of his path4      
,there is only himself4 ,he is the      
unique1 the perfect1 the infallible4    
,too late it is perceived that all this 
has been evolving a master2 and what a  
master6 forgetful of sacrifices1 without
 respect1 even pity4 ,he no longer has  
any regard for those to whom he owes    
everything1 and he goes through life    
without law or check4  ,this education1 
too1 has its social counterpart4 ,it    
flourishes wherever the past does not   
count1 where history begins with the    
living1 where there is no tradition1 no 
discipline1 no reverence2 where those   
who know the least make the most noise2 
where those who stand for public order  
are alarmed by every chance comer whose 
power lies in his making a great outcry 

and respecting nothing4 ,it insures the 
reign of transitory passion1 the triumph
 of the inferior will4 ,i compare these 
two educations--one1 the exaltation of  
the environment1 the other of the       
individual2 one the absolutism of       
tradition1 the other the tyranny of the 
new--and ,i find them equally baneful4  
,but the most disastrous of all is the  
combination of the two1 which produces  
human beings half-automatons1           
half-despots1 forever vacillating       
between the spirit of a sheep and the   
spirit of revolt or domination4         
,children should be educated neither for
 themselves nor for their parents3 for  
man is no more designed to be a         
personage than a specimen4 ,they should 
be educated for life4 ,the aim of their 
education is to aid them to become      
active members of humanity1 brotherly   
forces1 free servants of the civil      
organization4 ,to follow a method of    
education inspired by any other         
principle1 is to complicate life1 deform

 it1 sow the seeds of all disorders4    
,when we would sum up in a phrase the   
destiny of the child1 the word future   
springs to our lips4 ,the child is the  
future4 ,this word says all--the        
sufferings of the past1 the stress of   
to-day1 hope4 ,but when the education of
 the child begins1 he is incapable of   
estimating the reach of this word2 for  
he is held by impressions of the        
present4 ,who then shall give him the   
first enlightenment and put him in the  
way he should go8 ,the parents1 the     
teachers4 ,and with very little         
reflection they perceive that their work
 does not interest simply themselves and
 the child1 but that they represent and 
administer impersonal powers and        
interests4 ,the child should continually
 appear to them as a future citizen4    
,with this ruling idea1 they will take  
thought for two things that complement  
each other--for the initial and personal
 force which is germinating in the      
child1 and for the social destination of

 this force4 ,at no moment of their     
direction over him can they forget that 
this little being confided to their care
 must become himself and a brother4     
,these two conditions1 far from         
excluding each other1 never exist apart4
 ,it is impossible to be brotherly1 to  
love1 to give one's self1 unless one is 
master of himself2 and reciprocally1    
none can possess himself1 comprehend his
 own individual being1 until he has     
first made his way through the outward  
accidents of his existence1 down to the 
profound springs of life where man feels
 himself one with other men in all that 
is most intimately his own4  ,to aid a  
child to become himself and a brother it
 is necessary to protect him against the
 violent and destructive action of the  
forces of disorder4 ,these forces are   
exterior and interior4 ,every child is  
menaced from without not only by        
material dangers but by the             
meddlesomeness of alien wills2 and from 
within1 by an exaggerated idea of his   

own personality and all the fancies it  
breeds4 ,there is a great outward danger
 which may come from the abuse of power 
in educators4 ,the right of might finds 
itself a place in education with extreme
 facility4 ,to educate another1 one must
 have renounced this right1 that is to  
say1 made abnegation of the inferior    
sentiment of personal importance1 which 
transforms us into the enemies of       
others1 even of our own children4 ,our  
authority is beneficent only when it is 
inspired by one higher than our own4 ,in
 this case it is not only salutary1 but 
also indispensable1 and becomes in its  
turn the best guarantee against the     
greater peril which threatens the child 
from within--that of exaggerating his   
own importance4 ,at the beginning of    
life the vividness of personal          
impressions is so great1 that to        
establish an equilibrium1 they must be  
submitted to the gentle influence of a  
calm and superior will4 ,the true       
quality of the office of educator is to 

represent this will to the child1 in a  
manner as continuous and as             
disinterested as possible4 ,educators1  
then1 stand for all that is to be       
respected in the world4 ,they give to   
the child impressions of that which     
precedes it1 outruns it1 envelops it3   
but they do not crush it2 on the        
contrary1 their will and all the        
influence they transmit1 become elements
 nutritive of its native energy4 ,such  
use of authority as this1 cultivates    
that fruitful obedience out of which    
free souls are born4 ,the purely        
personal authority of parents1 masters  
and institutions is to the child like   
the brushwood beneath which the young   
plant withers and dies4 ,impersonal     
authority1 the authority of a man who   
has first submitted himself to the      
time-honored realities before which he  
wishes the individual fancy of the child
 to bend1 resembles pure and luminous   
air4 ,true it has an activity1 and      
influences us in its manner1 but it     

nourishes our individuality and gives it
 firmness and stability4 ,without this  
authority there is no education4 ,to    
watch1 to guide1 to keep a firm         
hand--such is the function of the       
educator4 ,he should appear to the child
 not like a barrier of whims1 which1 if 
need be1 one may clear1 provided the    
leap be proportioned to the height of   
the obstacle2 but like a transparent    
wall through which may be seen          
unchanging realities1 laws1 limits1 and 
truths against which no action is       
possible4 ,thus arises respect1 which is
 the faculty of conceiving something    
greater than ourselves--respect1 which  
broadens us and frees us by making us   
more modest4 ,this is the law of        
education for simplicity4 ,it may be    
summed up in these words3 to make free  
and reverential men1 who shall be       
individual and fraternal4  99       99  
99       99       99  ,let us draw from 
this principle some practical           
applications4  ,from the very fact that 

the child is the future1 he must be     
linked to the past by piety4 ,we owe it 
to him to clothe tradition in the forms 
most practical and most fit to create a 
deep impression3 whence the exceptional 
place that should be given in education 
to the ancients1 to the cult of         
remembrance of the past1 and by         
extension1 to the history of the        
domestic rooftree4 ,above all do we     
fulfil a duty toward our children when  
we give the place of honor to the       
grandparents4 ,nothing speaks to a child
 with so much force1 or so well develops
 his modesty1 as to see his father and  
mother1 on all occasions1 preserve      
toward an old grandfather1 often infirm1
 an attitude of respect4 ,it is a       
perpetual object lesson that is         
irresistible4 ,that it may have its full
 force1 it is necessary for a tacit     
understanding to obtain among all the   
grown-up members of the family4 ,to the 
child's eyes they must all be in league1
 held to mutual respect and             

understanding1 under penalty of         
compromising their educational          
authority4 ,and in their number must be 
counted the servants4 ,servants are big 
people1 and the same sentiment of       
respect is injured in the child's       
disregard of them as in his disregard of
 his father or grandfather4 ,the moment 
he addresses an impolite or arrogant    
word to a person older than himself1 he 
strays from the path that a child ought 
never to quit2 and if only occasionally 
the parents neglect to point this out1  
they will soon perceive by his conduct  
toward themselves1 that the enemy has   
found entrance to his heart4  ,we       
mistake if we think that a child is     
naturally alien to respect1 basing this 
opinion on the very numerous examples of
 irreverence which he offers us4        
,respect is for the child a fundamental 
need4 ,his moral being feeds on it4 ,the
 child aspires confusedly to revere and 
admire something4 ,but when advantage is
 not taken of this aspiration1 it gets  

corrupted or lost4 ,by our lack of      
cohesion and mutual deference1 we1 the  
grown-ups1 discredit daily in the       
child's eyes our own cause and that of  
everything worthy of respect4 ,we       
inoculate in him a bad spirit whose     
effects then turn against us4  ,this    
pitiful truth nowhere appears with more 
force than in the relations between     
masters and servants1 as we have made   
them4 ,our social errors1 our want of   
simplicity and kindness1 all fall back  
upon the heads of our children4 ,there  
are certainly few people of the middle  
classes who understand that it is better
 to part with many thousands of dollars 
than to lead their children to lose     
respect for servants1 who represent in  
our households the humble4 ,yet nothing 
is truer4 ,maintain as strictly as you  
will conventions and distances1--that   
demarkation of social frontiers which   
permits each one to remain in his place 
and to observe the law of differences4  
,that is a good thing1 ,i am persuaded1 

but on condition of never forgetting    
that those who serve us are men and     
women like ourselves4 ,you require of   
your domestics certain formulas of      
speech and certain attitudes1 outward   
evidence of the respect they owe you4   
,do you also teach your children and use
 yourselves manners toward your servants
 which show them that you respect their 
dignity as individuals1 as you desire   
them to respect yours8 ,here we have    
continually in our homes an excellent   
ground for experiment in the practice of
 that mutual respect which is one of the
 essential conditions of social sanity4 
,i fear we profit by it too little4 ,we 
do not fail to exact respect1 but we    
fail to give it4 ,so it is most         
frequently the case that we get only    
hypocrisy and this supplementary result1
 all unexpected1--the cultivation of    
pride in our children4 ,these two       
factors combined heap up great          
difficulties for that future which we   
ought to be safeguarding4 ,i am right   

then in saying that the day when by your
 own practices you have brought about   
the lessening of respect in your        
children1 you have suffered a sensible  
loss4  ,why should ,i not say it8 ,it   
seems to me that the greater part of us 
labor for this loss4 ,on all sides1 in  
almost every social rank1 ,i notice that
 a pretty bad spirit is fostered in     
children1 a spirit of reciprocal        
contempt4 ,here1 those who have         
calloused hands and working-clothes are 
disdained2 there1 it is all who do not  
wear blue jeans4 ,children educated in  
this spirit make sad fellow-citizens4   
,there is in all this the want of that  
simplicity which makes it possible for  
men of good intentions1 of however      
diverse social standing1 to collaborate 
without any friction arising from the   
conventional distance that separates    
them4  ,if the spirit of caste causes   
the loss of respect1 partisanship1 of   
whatever sort1 is quite as productive of
 it4 ,in certain quarters children are  

brought up in such fashion that they    
respect but one country--their own2 one 
system of government--that of their     
parents and masters2 one religion--that 
which they have been taught4 ,does      
anyone suppose that in this way men can 
be shaped who shall respect country1    
religion and law8 ,is this a proper     
respect--this respect which does not    
extend beyond what touches and belongs  
to ourselves8 ,strange blindness of     
cliques and coteries1 which arrogate to 
themselves with so much ingenuous       
complacence the title of schools of     
respect1 and which1 outside themselves1 
respect nothing4 ,in reality they teach3
 ,country1 religion1 law--we are all    
these6 ,such teaching fosters           
fanaticism1 and if fanaticism is not the
 sole anti-social ferment1 it is surely 
one of the worst and most energetic4  99
       99       99       99       99    
,if simplicity of heart is an essential 
condition of respect1 simplicity of life
 is its best school4 ,whatever be the   

state of your fortune1 avoid everything 
which could make your children think    
themselves more or better than others4  
,though your wealth would permit you to 
dress them richly1 remember the evil you
 might do in exciting their vanity4     
,preserve them from the evil of         
believing that to be elegantly dressed  
suffices for distinction1 and above all 
do not carelessly increase by their     
clothes and their habits of life1 the   
distance which already separates them   
from other children3 dress them simply4 
,and if1 on the contrary1 it would be   
necessary for you to economize to give  
your children the pleasure of fine      
clothes1 ,i would that ,i might dispose 
you to reserve your spirit of sacrifice 
for a better cause4 ,you risk seeing it 
illy recompensed4 ,you dissipate your   
money when it would much better avail to
 save it for serious needs1 and you     
prepare for yourself1 later on1 a       
harvest of ingratitude4 ,how dangerous  
it is to accustom your sons and         

daughters to a style of living beyond   
your means and theirs6 ,in the first    
place1 it is very bad for your purse2 in
 the second place it develops a         
contemptuous spirit in the very bosom of
 the family4 ,if you dress your children
 like little lords1 and give them to    
understand that they are superior to    
you1 is it astonishing if they end by   
disdaining you8 ,you will have nourished
 at your table the declassed--a product 
which costs dear and is worthless4  ,any
 fashion of instructing children whose  
most evident result is to lead them to  
despise their parents and the customs   
and activities among which they have    
grown up1 is a calamity4 ,it is         
effective for nothing but to produce a  
legion of malcontents1 with hearts      
totally estranged from their origin1    
their race1 their natural               
interests--everything1 in short1 that   
makes the fundamental fabric of a man4  
,once detached from the vigorous stock  
which produced them1 the wind of their  

restless ambition drives them over the  
earth1 like dead leaves that will in the
 end be heaped up to ferment and rot    
together4  ,nature does not proceed by  
leaps and bounds1 but by an evolution   
slow and certain4 ,in preparing a career
 for our children1 let us imitate her4  
,let us not confound progress and       
advancement with those violent exercises
 called somersaults4 ,let us not so     
bring up our children that they will    
come to despise work and the aspirations
 and simple spirit of their fathers3 let
 us not expose them to the temptation of
 being ashamed of our poverty if they   
themselves come to fortune4 ,a society  
is indeed diseased when the sons of     
peasants begin to feel disgust for the  
fields1 when the sons of sailors desert 
the sea1 when the daughters of          
working-men1 in the hope of being taken 
for heiresses1 prefer to walk the       
streets alone rather than beside their  
honest parents4 ,a society is healthy1  
on the contrary1 when each of its       

members applies himself to doing very   
nearly what his parents have done before
 him1 but doing it better1 and1 looking 
to future elevation1 is content first to
 fulfill conscientiously more modest    
duties4,c  ,c ,this would be the place  
to speak of work in general1 and of its 
tonic effect upon education4 ,but ,i    
have discussed the subject in my books  
,justice1 ,jeunesse1 and ,vaillanos4 ,i 
must limit myself to referring the      
reader to them4  99       99       99   
99       99  ,education should make     
independent men4 ,if you wish to train  
your children for liberty1 bring them up
 simply1 and do not for a moment fear   
that in so doing you are putting        
obstacles in the way of their happiness4
 ,it will be quite the contrary4 ,the   
more costly toys a child has1 the more  
feasts and curious entertainments1 the  
less is he amused4   ,in this there is a
 sure sign4 ,let us be temperate in our 
methods of entertaining youth1 and      
especially let us not thoughtlessly     

create for them artificial needs4 ,food1
 dress1 nursery1 amusements--let all    
these be as natural and simple as       
possible4 ,with the idea of making life 
pleasant for their children1 some       
parents bring them up in habits of      
gormandizing and idleness1 accustom them
 to sensations not meant for their age1 
multiply their parties and              
entertainments4 ,sorry gifts these6 ,in 
place of a free man1 you are making a   
slave4 ,gorged with luxury1 he tires of 
it in time2 and yet when for one reason 
or another his pleasures fail him1 he   
will be miserable1 and you with him3 and
 what is worse1 perhaps in some capital 
encounter of life1 you will be          
ready--you and he together--to sacrifice
 manly dignity1 truth1 and duty1 from   
sheer sloth4  ,let us bring up our      
children simply1 ,i had almost said     
rudely4 ,let us entice them to exercise 
that gives them endurance--even to      
privations4 ,let them belong to those   
who are better trained to fatigue and   

the earth for a bed than to the comforts
 of the table and couches of luxury4 ,so
 we shall make men of them1 independent 
and staunch1 who may be counted on1 who 
will not sell themselves for pottage1   
and who will have withal the faculty of 
being happy4  ,a too easy life brings   
with it a sort of lassitude in vital    
energy4 ,one becomes blas1              
disillusioned1 an old young man1 past   
being diverted4 ,how many young people  
are in this state6 ,upon them have been 
deposited1 like a sort of mold1 the     
traces of our decrepitude1 our          
skepticism1 our vices1 and the bad      
habits they have contracted in our      
company4 ,what reflections upon         
ourselves these youths weary of life    
force us to make6 ,what announcements   
are graven on their brows6  ,these      
shadows say to us by contrast that      
happiness lies in a life true1 active1  
spontaneous1 ungalled by the yoke of the
 passions1 of unnatural needs1 of       
unhealthy stimulus2 keeping intact the  

physical faculty of enjoying the light  
of day and the air we breathe1 and in   
the heart1 the capacity to thrill with  
the love of all that is generous1 simple
 and fine4  99       99       99        
99       99  ,the artificial life       
engenders artificial thought1 and a     
speech little sure of itself4 ,normal   
habits1 deep impressions1 the ordinary  
contact with reality1 bring frankness   
with them4 ,falsehood is the vice of a  
slave1 the refuge of the cowardly and   
weak4 ,he who is free and strong is     
unflinching in speech4 ,we should       
encourage in our children the hardihood 
to speak frankly4 ,what do we ordinarily
 do8 ,we trample on natural disposition1
 level it down to the uniformity which  
for the crowd is synonymous with good   
form4 ,to think with one's own mind1    
feel with one's own heart1 express one's
 own personality--how unconventional1   
how rustic6--,oh6 the atrocity of an    
education which consists in the         
perpetual muzzling of the only thing    

that gives any of us his reason for     
being6 ,of how many soul-murders do we  
become guilty6 ,some are struck down    
with bludgeons1 others gently smothered 
with pillows6 ,everything conspires     
against independence of character4 ,when
 we are little1 people wish us to be    
dolls or graven images2 when we grow up1
 they approve of us on condition that we
 are like all the rest of the           
world--automatons3 when you have seen   
one of them you've seen them all4 ,so   
the lack of originality and initiative  
is upon us1 and platitude and monotony  
are the distinctions of to-day4 ,truth  
can free us from this bondage3 let our  
children be taught to be themselves1 to 
ring clear1 without crack or muffle4    
,make loyalty a need to them1 and in    
their gravest failures1 if only they    
acknowledge them1 account it for merit  
that they have not covered their sin4   
,to frankness let us add ingenuousness1 
in our solicitude as educators4 ,let us 
have for this comrade of childhood--a   

trifle uncivilized1 it is true1 but so  
gracious and friendly6--all possible    
regard4 ,we must not frighten it away3  
when it has once fled1 it so rarely     
comes back6 ,ingenuousness is not simply
 the sister of truth1 the guardian of   
the individual qualities of each of us2 
it is besides a great informing and     
educating force4 ,i see among us too    
many practical people1 so called1 who go
 about armed with terrifying spectacles 
and huge shears to ferret out nave      
things and clip their wings4 ,they      
uproot ingenuousness from life1 from    
thought1 from education1 and pursue it  
even to the region of dreams4 ,under    
pretext of making men of their children1
 they prevent their being children at   
all2--as if before the ripe fruit of    
autumn1 flowers did not have to be1 and 
perfumes1 and songs of birds1 and all   
the fairy springtime4  ,i ask indulgence
 for everything nave and simple1 not    
alone for the innocent conceits that    
flutter round the curly heads of        

children1 but also for the legend1 the  
folk song1 the tales of the world of    
marvel and mystery4 ,the sense of the   
marvellous is in the child the first    
form of that sense of the infinite      
without which a man is like a bird      
deprived of wings4 ,let us not wean the 
child from it1 but let us guard in him  
the faculty of rising above what is     
earthy1 so that he may appreciate later 
on those pure and moving symbols of     
vanished ages wherein human truth has   
found forms of expression that our arid 
logic will never replace4     ,,xiv     
,,conclusion   ,i think ,i have said    
enough of the spirit and manifestations 
of the simple life1 to make it evident  
that there is here a whole forgotten    
world of strength and beauty4 ,he can   
make conquest of it who has sufficient  
energy to detach himself from the fatal 
rubbish that trammels our days4 ,it will
 not take him long to perceive that in  
renouncing some surface satisfactions   
and childish ambitions1 he increases his

 faculty of happiness and his           
possibilities of right judgment4  ,these
 results concern as much the private as 
the public life4 ,it is incontestable   
that in striving against the feverish   
will to shine1 in ceasing to make the   
satisfaction of our desires the end of  
our activity1 in returning to modest    
tastes1 to the true life1 we shall labor
 for the unity of the family4 ,another  
spirit will breath in our homes1        
creating new customs and an atmosphere  
more favorable to the education of      
children4 ,little by little our boys and
 girls will feel the enticement of      
ideals at once higher and more          
realizable4 ,and transformation of the  
home will in time exercise its influence
 on public spirit4 ,as the solidity of a
 wall depends upon the grain of the     
stones and the consistence of the cement
 which binds them together1 so also the 
energy of public life depends upon the  
individual value of men and their power 
of cohesion4 ,the great desideratum of  

our time is the culture of the component
 parts of society1 of the individual    
man4 ,everything in the present social  
organism leads us back to this element4 
,in neglecting it we expose ourselves to
 the loss of the benefits of progress1  
even to making our most persistent      
efforts turn to our own hurt4 ,if in the
 midst of means continually more and    
more perfected1 the workman diminishes  
in value1 of what use are these fine    
tools at his disposal8 ,by their very   
excellence to make more evident the     
faults of him who uses them without     
discernment or without conscience4 ,the 
wheelwork of the great modern machine is
 infinitely delicate4 ,carelessness1    
incompetence or corruption may produce  
here disturbances of far greater gravity
 than would have threatened the more or 
less rudimentary organism of the society
 of the past4 ,there is need then of    
looking to the quality of the individual
 called upon to contribute in any       
measure to the workings of this         

mechanism4 ,this individual should be at
 once solid and pliable1 inspired with  
the central law of life--to be one's    
self and fraternal4 ,everything within  
us and without us becomes simplified and
 unified under the influence of this    
law1 which is the same for everybody and
 by which each one should guide his     
actions2 for our essential interests are
 not opposing1 they are identical4 ,in  
cultivating the spirit of simplicity1 we
 should arrive1 then1 at giving to      
public life a stronger cohesion4  ,the  
phenomena of decomposition and          
destruction that we see there may all be
 attributed to the same cause1--lack of 
solidity and cohesion4 ,it will never be
 possible to say how contrary to social 
good are the trifling interests of      
caste1 of coterie1 of church1 the bitter
 strife for personal welfare1 and1 by a 
fatal consequence1 how destructive these
 things are of individual happiness4 ,a 
society in which each member is         
preoccupied with his own well-being1 is 

organized disorder4 ,this is all that we
 learn from the irreconcilable conflicts
 of our uncompromising egoism4  ,we too 
much resemble those people who claim the
 rights of family only to gain advantage
 from them1 not to do honor to the      
connection4 ,on all rounds of the social
 ladder we are forever putting forth    
claims4 ,we all take the ground that we 
are creditors3 no one recognizes the    
fact that he is a debtor1 and our       
dealings with our fellows consist in    
inviting them1 in tones sometimes       
amiable1 sometimes arrogant1 to         
discharge their indebtedness to us4 ,no 
good thing is attained in this spirit4  
,for in fact it is the spirit of        
privilege1 that eternal enemy of        
universal law1 that obstacle to         
brotherly understanding which is ever   
presenting itself anew4  99       99    
99       99       99  ,in a lecture     
delivered in #ahhb1 ,m4 ,renan said that
 a nation is a spiritual family1 and he 
added3 ,the essential of a nation is    

that all the individuals should have    
many things in common1 and also that all
 should have forgotten much4 ,it is     
important to know what to forget and    
what to remember1 not only in the past1 
but also in our daily life4 ,our        
memories are lumbered with the things   
that divide us2 the things which unite  
us slip away4 ,each of us keeps at the  
most luminous point of his souvenirs1 a 
lively sense of his secondary quality1  
his part of agriculturist1 day laborer1 
man of letters1 public officer1         
proletary1 bourgeois1 or political or   
religious sectarian2 but his essential  
quality1 which is to be a son of his    
country and a man1 is relegated to the  
shade4 ,scarcely does he keep even a    
theoretic notion of it4 ,so that what   
occupies us and determines our actions1 
is precisely the thing that separates us
 from others1 and there is hardly place 
for that spirit of unity which is as the
 soul of a people4  ,so too do we foster
 bad feeling in our brothers4 ,men      

animated by a spirit of particularism1  
exclusiveness1 and pride1 are           
continually clashing4 ,they cannot meet 
without rousing afresh the sentiment of 
division and rivalry4 ,and so there     
slowly heaps up in their remembrance a  
stock of reciprocal ill-will1 of        
mistrust1 of rancor4 ,all this is bad   
feeling with its consequences4  ,it must
 be rooted out of our midst4 ,remember1 
forget6 ,this we should say to ourselves
 every morning1 in all our relations and
 affairs4 ,remember the essential1      
forget the accessory6 ,how much better  
should we discharge our duties as       
citizens1 if high and low were nourished
 from this spirit6 ,how easy to         
cultivate pleasant remembrances in the  
mind of one's neighbor1 by sowing it    
with kind deeds and refraining from     
procedures of which in spite of himself 
he is forced to say1 with hatred in his 
heart3 ,never in the world will ,i      
forget6  ,the spirit of simplicity is a 
great magician4 ,it softens asperities1 

bridges chasms1 draws together hands and
 hearts4 ,the forms which it takes in   
the world are infinite in number2 but   
never does it seem to us more admirable 
than when it shows itself across the    
fatal barriers of position1 interest1 or
 prejudice1 overcoming the greatest     
obstacles1 permitting those whom        
everything seems to separate to         
understand one another1 esteem one      
another1 love one another4 ,this is the 
true social cement1 that goes into the  
building of a people4   ,,the ,,end4