,the ,philosophy of ,despair    by      
,david ,starr ,jordan       ,to   ,john 
,maxson ,stillman   ,in ,token of ,good 
,cheer       ,a darkening sky and a     
whitening sea1   ,and the wind in the   
palm trees tall2   ,soon or late comes a
 call for me1   ,down from the mountain 
or up from the sea1   ,then let me lie  
where ,i fall4    ,and a friend may     
write--for friends there be1   ,on a    
stone from the gray sea wall1   ,jungle 
and town and reef and sea--   ,i loved  
,god's ,earth and ,his ,earth loved me1 
,taken for all in all4    ,today is your
 day and mine1 the only day we have1 the
 day in which we play our part4 ,what   
our part may signify in the great whole1
 we may not understand1 but we are here 
to play it1 and now is our time4 ,this  
we know1 it is a part of action1 not of 
whining4 ,it is a part of love1 not     
cynicism4 ,it is for us to express love 
in terms of human helpfulness4 ,this we 
know1 for we have learned from sad      
experience that any other course of life

 leads toward decay and waste4     ,the 
,philosophy of ,despair    ,the ,bubbles
 of ,ski4   ,from ,fitzgerald's         
exquisite version of the ,rubiyt of     
,omar ,khayym1 ,i take the following    
quatrains which may serve as a text for 
what ,i have to say3    ,so when the    
angel of the darker ,drink   ,at last   
shall find you by the river-brink1      
,and offering you his cup1 invite your  
,soul   ,forth to your lips to quaff1   
you shall not shrink4    ,why1 if the   
soul can fling the ,dust aside1   ,and  
naked on the air of ,heaven ride1       
,wert not a shame--wert not a shame for 
him   ,in this clay carcase crippled to 
abide8    ',tis but a tent where takes  
his one-day's rest   ,a ,sultan to the  
realm of ,death addrest2   ,the ,sultan 
rises1 and the dark ,ferrsh   ,strikes1 
and prepares it for another guest4      
,and fear not lest ,existence1 closing  
your   ,account1 and mine1 shall know   
the like no more2   ,the ,eternal ,ski  
from that bowl hath pour'd   ,millions  

of bubbles like us1 and will pour4      
,when you and ,i behind the veil are    
past1   ,oh1 but the long1 long while   
the world shall last1   ,which of our   
coming and departure heeds   ,as the    
,sev'n ,seas shall heed a pebble-cast4  
,a moment's halt--a momentary taste     
,of ,being from the ,well amid the      
waste1   ,and lo6--the phantom caravan  
has reach'd   ,the ,nothing it set out  
from--,o1 make haste6    99 99 99       
,there was the door to which ,i found no
 key2   ,there was the veil through     
which ,i could not see3   ,some little  
talk awhile of ,me and ,thee   ,there   
was--and then no more of ,thee and ,me4 
99 99 99    ,why1 all the ,saints and   
,sages who discuss'd   ,of the two      
worlds so learnedly are thrust   ,like  
foolish prophets forth2 their words to  
scorn   ,are scatter'd and their mouths 
are stopt with dust4    ,with them the  
seed of wisdom did ,i sow1   ,and with  
my own hand wrought to make it grow     
,and this was all the harvest that ,i   

reap'd--   ,i come like water1 and like 
wind ,i go4    99 99 99    ,ah ,love1   
could thou and ,i with ,him conspire    
,to grasp this sorry scheme of ,things  
entire1   ,would we not shatter it to   
bits--and then   ,re-mould it nearer to 
the heart's desire6    ,yon rising ,moon
 that looks for us again--   ,how oft   
hereafter will she wax and wane2   ,how 
oft hereafter rising look for us        
,through this same garden--and for one  
in vain6    ,and when like her1 ,o ,ski1
 you shall pass   ,among the guests1    
star-scattered on the grass1   ,and in  
your blissful errand reach the spot     
,where ,i made one--turn down an empty  
glass6    99 99 99  ,and1 again1 in     
another poem from ,carmen ,silva's      
,roumanian folk-songs3    ,hopeless4    
,into the mist ,i gazed1 and fear came  
on me1   ,then said the mist3 ,i weep   
for the lost sun4    ,we sat beneath our
 tent2   ,then he that hath no hope drew
 near us there1   ,and sat him down by  
us4   ,we asked him3 ,hast thou seen the

 plains1 the mountains8   ,and he made  
answer3 ,i have seen them all4   ,and   
then his cloak he showed us1 and his    
shirt1   ,torn was the shirt1 there1    
close above the heart1   ,pierced was   
the breast1 there1 close above the      
heart--   ,the heart was gone4   ,and   
yet he trembled not1 the while we       
looked1   ,and sought the heart1 the    
heart that was not there4   ,he let us  
look4 ,and he that had no hope          
,smiled1 that we grew so pale1 and sang 
us songs4   ,then we did envy him1 that 
he could sing   ,without a heart to     
suffer what he sang4   ,and when he     
went1 he cast his cloak about him1      
,and those that met him1 they could     
never guess   ,how that his shirt was   
torn about the heart1   ,and that his   
breast was pierced above the heart1     
,and that the heart was gone4    ,i     
gazed into the mist1 and fear came on   
me1   ,then said the mist3 ,i weep for  
the lost sun4  ,this poem of ,omar and  
of ,fitzgerald is perhaps our best      

expression of the sadness and the       
grandeur of insoluble problems4 ,it is  
the sweetness of philosophical sorrow   
which has no kinship with misery or     
distress4 ,in the strains of the saddest
 music the soul finds the keenest       
delight4 ,the same sweet1 sorrowful     
pleasure is felt in the play of the mind
 about the riddles which it cannot      
solve4  ,in the presence of the infinite
 problem of life1 the voice of ,science 
is dumb1 for ,science is the cordinate  
and corrected expression of human       
experience1 and human experience must   
stop with the limitations of human life4
 ,man was not present ,when the         
foundations of the ,earth were laid1 and
 beyond the certainty that they were    
laid in wisdom and power1 man can say   
little about them4 ,man finds in the    
economy of nature no trace of a         
beginning2 no prospect of an end6 ,he   
may feel sure1 with ,hutton1 that time  
is as long as space is wide4 ,but he    
cannot conceive of space as actually    

without limit1 nor can he imagine any   
limiting conditions4 ,he cannot think of
 a period before time began1 nor of a   
state in which time shall be no more4   
,the mind fails before the idea of      
time's eternal continuity4 ,so time     
becomes to man merely the sequence of   
the earthly events in which he and his  
ancestors have taken part4 ,even thus   
limited it is sadly immortal1 while     
man's stay on the earth is but of few   
days and full of trouble4 ,oh1 but the  
long1 long while this world shall last6 
or as the grim humorist puts it1 we     
shall be a long time dead4  ,though the 
meaning of time1 space1 existence lies  
beyond our reach1 yet some sort of      
solution of the infinite problem the    
human heart demands4 ,we find in life a 
power for action1 limited though this   
power may be4 ,life is action1 and      
action is impossible if devoid of motive
 or hope4  ,it is my purpose here to    
indicate some part of the answer of     
,science to the ,philosophy of ,despair4

 ,direct reply ,science has none4 ,we   
cannot argue against a singer or a poet4
 ,the poet sings of what he feels1 but  
,science speaks only of what we know4   
,we feel infinity1 but we cannot know   
it1 for to the highest human wisdom the 
ultimate truths of the universe are no  
nearer than to the child4 ,science knows
 no ultimate truths4 ,these are beyond  
the reach of man1 and all that man knows
 must be stated in terms of his         
experience4 ,but as to human experience 
and conduct1 ,science has a word to say4
  ,therefore ,science can speak of the  
causes and results of ,pessimism4 ,it   
can touch the practical side of the     
riddle of life by asking certain        
questions1 the answers to which lie     
within the province of human experience4
 ,among these are the following3  ,why  
is there a ,philosophy of ,despair8     
,can ,despair be wrought into healthful 
life8  ,in what part of the ,universe   
are you and what are you doing8         
,personal despair or discouragement may 

rise from failure of strength or failure
 of plans4 ,this is a matter of         
every-day occurrence4 ,the best laid    
schemes o' mice and men generally go    
wrong1 no doubt1 but this fact has      
little to do with the ,philosophy of    
,pessimism4 ,it is natural for mice and 
men to try again and to gain wisdom from
 failures4 ,by the embers of loss we    
count our gains4  ,the ,pessimism of    
,youth we may first consider3 ,in the   
transition from childhood to manhood    
great changes take place in the nervous 
system4 ,there is for a time a period of
 confusion1 in which the nerve cells are
 acquiring new powers and new relations4
 ,this is followed by a time of joy and 
exuberance1 a sense of a new life in a  
new world1 a feeling of new power and   
adequacy1 the thought that life is      
richer and better worth living than the 
child could have supposed4  ,to this in 
turn comes a feeling of reaction4 ,the  
joys of life have been a thousand times 
felt before they come to us4 ,we are but

 following part of a cut-and-dried      
program1 performing actions and reciting
 speeches made up for us centuries      
before we were born4 ,the new power of  
manhood and womanhood which seemed so   
wonderful find their close limitations4 
,as our own part in the ,universe seems 
to shrink as we take our place in it1 so
 does the ,universe itself seem to grow 
small1 hard and unsympathetic4 ,very few
 young men or young women of strength   
and feeling fail to pass through a      
period of ,pessimism4 ,with some it is  
merely an affectation caught from the   
cheap literature of decadence4 ,it then 
may find expression in imitation1 as a  
few years ago the sad-hearted youth     
turned down his collar in sympathy with 
the conspicuous loneliness that took the
 starch out of the collar of ,byron4    
,the youth1 says ,zangwill1 says bitter 
things about ,life which ,life would    
have winced to hear had it been alive4  
,with others ,pessimism has deeper roots
 and finds its expression in the poetry 

or philosophy of real despair4  ,this   
adolescent ,pessimism cannot be wrought 
into action4 ,the mood disappears when  
real action is demanded4 ,the ,pessimism
 of youth vanishes with the coming of   
life4 ,through the rush of the new      
century1 the fad of the drooping spirit 
has already given way to the fad of the 
strenuous life4 ,equally unreasoning it 
may be1 but far more wholesome4  ,but if
 action is impossible1 the mood remains4
 ,and here arises the despair of the    
highly educated4 ,the purpose of        
knowledge is action4 ,but to refuse     
action is to secure time for the        
acquisition of more knowledge4 ,it is   
written in the very structure of the    
brain that each impression of the senses
 must bring with it the impulse to act4 
,to resist this impulse is in turn to   
destroy it and to substitute a dull     
soul-ache in its place4 ,much study is a
 weariness of the flesh1 and the        
experience of all the ages brings only  
despair if it cannot be wrought into    

life4 ,this lack of balance between     
knowledge and achievement is the main   
element in a form of ineffectiveness    
which with various others has been      
uncritically called ,degeneration4 ,as  
the common pleasures which arise from   
active life become impossible or        
distasteful1 the desire for more intense
 and novel joys comes in1 and with the  
goading of the thirst for these comes   
ever deeper discouragement4  ,at the    
best1 the tendency of large knowledge1  
not vitalized by practical experience1  
is to spend itself in cynical criticism1
 in futile efforts to tear down without 
feeling the higher obligation to build  
up4 ,for it is the essence of this form 
of ,pessimism to feel that there is     
nothing on earth worth the trouble of   
building4 ,the real is only a sneering  
comment on the ideal1 and man's life is 
too short to make any action worth      
while4    ,with her the seed of ,wisdom 
did ,i sow1   ,and with mine own hands  
wrought to make it grow2   ,and this is 

all the harvest that ,i reap'd1   ',i   
come like water1 and like wind ,i go4'  
,one of the few things that we may know 
in life is this1 that it is impossible  
for man to know anything absolutely4    
,the power of reasoning is a mere       
by-product in the process of ,evolution4
 ,it is but an instrument to help out   
the confusion of the senses1 and it is  
conditioned by the accuracy of the      
sense-perceptions with which it deals4  
,there is no appeal from experience to  
reason1 for reason is powerless to act  
save on the facts of human experience4  
,speculative philosophy can teach us    
nothing4 ,the senses and the reason are 
intensely practical and all1 our        
faculties are primarily adapted to      
immediate purposes4 ,instruments such as
 these cannot serve to probe the nature 
of the infinite4 ,but no other          
instruments lie within reach of man4 ,if
 we cannot reach the heart of reality by
 reason1 what indeed can we reach8 ,what
 right have we to know or to believe8   

,and if we can know or believe nothing1 
what should we try to do8 ,and how      
indeed can we do anything8 ,every man's 
fate is determined by his heredity and  
his environment4 ,in the ,arab proverb  
he is born with his fate bound to his   
neck4 ,in the course of life we must do 
that which has been already cut out for 
us4 ,our parts were laid for us long    
before we appeared to take them4 ,he is 
indeed a strong man who can vary the    
cast or give a different cue to those   
who follow4 ,nature is no respecter of  
persons1 and to suppose that any man is 
in any degree the arbiter of his own    
destiny is pure illusion4 ,we are thrust
 forth into life1 against our will4     
,against our will we are forced to leave
 it4 ,we find ourselves1 as has been    
said1 on a steep incline1 where we can  
veer but little to the left or right2   
whichever way we move we fall finally to
 the very bottom4 ,the fires we kindle  
die away in coals2 castles we build     
vanish before our eyes4 ,the river sinks

 in the sands of the desert4 ,the       
character we form by our efforts        
disintegrates in spite of our effort4   
,if life be spared we find ourselves    
once again helpless children4 ,whichever
 way we turn we may describe the course 
of life in metaphors of discouragement4 
,to the pessimistic philosopher the     
progress of the race is also mere       
illusion4 ,there is no progress1 only   
adaptation4 ,every creature must fit    
itself to its environment or pass away4 
,the beast fits the forest for the same 
reason that the river fits its bed4     
,life is only possible under the rare   
conditions in which life is not         
destroyed4  ,in such fashion we may ring
 the changes of the despair of          
philosophy4 ,if we are to take up the   
threads of life by the farther end only1
 we shall never begin to live1 for only 
those which lie next us can ever be in  
our hand4 ,to grasp at ultimate truth is
 to be forever empty-handed4 ,to reach  
for the ultimate end of action is never 

to begin to act4  ,deeper and more      
worthy of respect is the sadness of     
science4 ,the effort to see things as   
they really are1 to get out of all      
make-believe and to secure that absolute
 veracity of thought without which sound
 action is impossible does not always   
lead to hopefulness4  ,there is much to 
discourage in human history1--in the    
facts of human life4 ,the common man1   
after all the ages1 is still very       
common4 ,he is ignorant1 reckless1      
unjust1 selfish1 easily misled4 ,all    
public affairs bear the stamp of his    
weakness4 ,especially is this shown in  
the prevalence of destructive strife4   
,the boasted progress of civilization is
 dissolved in the barbarism of war4     
,whether glory or conquest or commercial
 greed be war's purpose1 the ultimate   
result of war is death4 ,its essential  
feature is the slaughter of the young1  
the brave1 the ambitious1 the hopeful1  
leaving the weak1 the sickly1 the       
discouraged to perpetuate the race4     

,thus all militant1 nations become      
decadent ones4 ,thus the glory of ,rome1
 her conquests and her splendor of      
achievement1 left the ,romans at home a 
nation of cowards1 and such they are to 
this day4 ,for those who survive are not
 the sons of the ,romans1 but of the    
slaves1 scullions1 the idlers and       
camp-followers whom the years of ,roman 
glory could not use and did not destroy4
 ,war blasts and withers all that is    
worthy in the works of man4  ,that there
 seems no way out of this is the cause  
of the sullen despair of so many        
scholars of ,continental ,europe4 ,the  
millennium is not in sight4 ,it is      
farther away than fifty years ago4 ,the 
future is narrowing down and men do not 
care to forecast it4 ,it is enough to   
grasp what we may of the present4 ,we   
hear the ring of the hammer on the      
scaffold4 ,let us eat and drink1 for    
tomorrow we die4 ,the sad kings1 in     
,watson's phrase1 can only pile up fuel 
for their own destruction1 and the      

failure of force will release the unholy
 brood which force has caused to        
develop4 ,the winds of freedom are      
tainted by sulphurous exhalations4 ,in  
all our merry-making we find with ,ibsen
 that there is a corpse on board4 ,the  
mask is falling only to show the        
,death's head there concealed4          
,aristocracy1 ,democracy1 ,anarchy1     
,empire1 the history of politics1 is the
 eternal round of the ,dance of ,death4 
,when we look at human nature in detail 
we find more of animal than of angel1   
and the veracity of thought and action1 
which is the choicest gift of ,science1 
is lost in the happy-go-lucky movement  
of the human mob4 ,to see things as they
 really are is the purpose of the       
philosophy of ,pessimism in the hands of
 its worthiest exponents4 ,but we know  
what is1 and that alone1 even were such 
knowledge possible1 is not to know the  
truth4 ,the higher wisdom seeks to find 
the forces at work to produce that which
 now is4 ,the present time is the       

meeting time of forces2 the present fact
 their temporary product4 ,to the       
philosophy of ,evolution1 every meanest 
day is the conflux of two eternities4   
,each meanest fact is the product of the
 world-forces that lie behind it2 each  
meanest man the resultant of the vast   
powers1 alive in human nature1          
struggling since life began4 ,and these 
forces1 omnipotent and eternal1 will    
never cease their work4  ,to the        
philosophy of ,pessimism1 the child is a
 mere human larva1 weak1 perverse1      
disagreeable1 the heir of mortality1    
with all manner of defects of doubt and 
taints of blood1 gathered in the long   
experience of its wretched parentage4   
,in the more hopeful view of ,evolution 
the child exists for its possibilities4 
,the huge forces within have thrown it  
to the surface of time4 ,they will push 
it onward to development1 which may not 
be much in the individual case1 but     
beyond it all lie the possibilities of  
its race4 ,inherent in it is the power  

to rise1 to form its own environment1 to
 stand at last superior to the blind    
forces by which the human will was made4
 ,with this thought is sure to come1 in 
some degree1 the certainty that the     
heart of the ,universe is sound1 that   
though there be so many of us in the    
world1 each must have his place1 and    
each at last be somehow needful to      
infinity4 ,we can see that each least   
creature has its need for being4 ,the   
present justifies the past4 ,it is the  
transcendent future which renders the   
commonplace present possible4    ,the   
dragons of the prime1   ,that tore each 
other in the slime1  lived and fought   
that we their descendants may realize   
ourselves in lives made beautiful and   
sweet1 through all unlikeness to        
dragons4 ,it was necessary that every   
foot of soil in ,europe should be       
crimsoned by blood1 wantonly shed1 to   
bring the relative peace and tolerance  
of the civilization of ,europe today4   
,it always needs that offense must come 

to bring about the better condition in  
which each particular offense shall be  
done away4 ,for the evolution of life is
 not in straight lines from lower to    
higher things1 but runs rather in       
wavering spirals4 ,it is the resultant  
of stress and storm4 ,the evil and      
failure which darken the present are    
necessary to the illumination of the    
future4 ,time is long4 ,god tosses back 
to man his failures one by one1 and     
gives him time and strength to try      
again4  ,according to ,schopenhauer1 we 
move across the stage of life stung by  
appetite and goaded by desire1 in pain  
unceasing1 the sole respite from pain1  
the instant in which desire is lost in  
satisfaction4 ,to do away with desire is
 to destroy pain1 but it also destroys  
existence4 ,desire is lost where the    
mouth is stopped with dust1 and with    
death only comes relief from pain4      
,thus the ,pessimist tells us that the  
only reality in life is pain4 ,but      
surely this is not the truth4 ,he who   

knows no reality save appetite has never
 known life at all4 ,the realities in   
life are love and action2 not desire1   
but the exercise of our appointed       
functions4  ,action follows sensation4  
,the more we have to do the more        
accurate must be our sensations1 the    
greater the hold environment has upon   
us4 ,broader activities demand better   
knowledge of our surroundings4 ,greater 
sensitiveness to external things means  
greater capacity for pain1 hence greater
 suffering1 when the natural channels of
 effort are closed4 ,thus arises the    
hope for nothingness in which many      
sensitive souls have indulged4 ,with no 
surroundings at all1 or with environment
 that never varies1 there could be no   
sense-perception4 ,to see nothing1 to   
feel nothing--there could be no demand  
for action4 ,with no failure of action  
there could be no weariness4 ,from the  
varied environment of earthly life      
spring1 through adaptation1 the varied  
powers and varied sensibilities1        

susceptibilities to joy and pain as well
 as the rest4 ,the greater the          
sensitiveness the greater the capacity  
for suffering4 ,hence the quenching of  
desire1 the turning toward ,nirvana1 the
 desire to escape from the hideous      
bustle of a world in which we are able  
to take no part1 is a natural impulse   
with the soul which feels but cannot or 
will not act4    ,can it be1 ,o ,christ 
in ,heaven1   ,that the highest suffer  
most1   ,that the strongest wander      
farthest   ,and most hopelessly are     
lost8--    ,that the mark of rank in    
,nature   ,is capacity for pain1   ,and 
the anguish of the singer   ,marks the  
sweetness of the strain8  ,that this    
must be so rests in the very nature of  
things4 ,the most perfect instrument is 
one most easily thrown out of           
adjustment4 ,the most highly developed  
organism is the most exactly fitted to  
its functions1 the one most deeply      
injured when these functions are altered
 or suppressed4  ,man's sensations and  

power to act must go together4 ,man can 
know nothing that he cannot somehow     
weave into action4 ,if he fails to do   
this in one form or another1 it is      
through limitations he has placed on    
himself4 ,man cannot suffer for lack of 
more worlds to conquer1 because his     
power to conquer worlds is the product  
of his own 'past life and his own past  
needs4 ,to weave knowledge into action  
is the antidote for ennui4 ,to plan1 to 
hope1 to do1 to accomplish the full     
measure of our powers1 whatever they may
 be1 is to turn away from ,nirvana to   
real life4 ,a useful man1 a helpful man1
 an active man in any sense1 even though
 his1 activity be misdirected or        
harmful1 is always a hopeful man4  ,the 
feeling that the only reality in life is
 pain1 is the sign not of philosophical 
acuteness but of bodily                 
under-vitalization4 ,the nervous system 
is too feeble for the body it has to    
move4 ,to act is to make the environment
 your servant4 ,its pressure is no      

longer pain but joy4 ,the concessions   
which life has made to time and space   
are the source of life's glory and      
power4  ,the function of the nervous    
system is to carry from the environment 
to the brain the impressions of truth1  
that action may be true and safe4 ,pain 
and pleasure are both incidental to     
sound action4 ,the one drives1 the other
 coaxes us toward the path of wisdom4   
,if pain is in excess of joy in our     
experience1 it is because we have       
wandered from the path of normal        
activity4 ,by right-doing1 we mean that 
action which makes for abundance of     
life1 and abundance of life means       
fulness of joy4 ,though life be sad1 yet
 there's joy in the living it was the   
word of the ancient ,greeks1 who ever   
with a frolic welcome took the ,thunder 
and the ,sunshine4  ,the life of man is 
dynamic1 not static2 not a condition but
 a movement4 ,not enjoyment and not     
sorrow is its end or justification4 ,it 
is a rush of forces1 an evolution       

towards greater activities and higher   
adjustment1 the growth of a stability   
which shall be ever more unstable4 ,this
 onward motion is recognized in the     
pessimistic philosophy of ,von          
,hartmann1 as a movement towards ever   
greater possibilities of pain4 ,with him
 life is the supreme blunder of the     
blind unconscious force which created   
man and developed him as the prey of    
ever-increasing suffering4  ,but the    
power to enjoy has grown in like degree1
 and both joy and pain are subordinated 
to the power to act4 ,the human will1   
the power to do1 is the real end of the 
stress and struggle of the ages4        
,however limited its individual action1 
the will finds its place among the      
gigantic factors in the evolution of    
life4 ,it is not the present1 but the   
ultimate1 which is truth4 ,not the      
unstable and temporary fact but the     
boundless clashing forces which         
endlessly throw truths to the surface4  
,another source of ,pessimism is the    

reaction from unearned pleasures and    
from spurious joys4 ,it is the business 
of the senses to translate realities1 to
 tell the truth about us in terms of    
human experience4 ,every real pleasure  
has its cost in some form of nervous    
activity4 ,what we get we must earn1 if 
it is to be really ours4 ,long ago1 in  
the infancy of civilization1 man learned
 that there were drugs in ,nature1 cell 
products of the growth or transformation
 of our brother organisms1 the plants1  
by whose agency pain was turned to      
pleasure4 ,by the aid of these outside  
influences he could clear today of past 
regrets and future fears1 and strike out
 from the sad calendar unborn tomorrow  
and dead yesterday4  ,that the joys thus
 produced had no real objective         
existence1 man was not long in finding  
out1 and it soon appeared that for each 
subjective pleasure which had no        
foundation in action1 there was a       
subjective sorrow1 likewise unrelated to
 external things4  ,but that the pains  

more than balanced the joys1 and that   
the indulgence in unearned deceptions   
destroyed sooner or later all capacity  
for enjoyment1 man learned more slowly4 
,the joys of wine1 of opium1 of tobacco 
and of all kindred drugs are mere tricks
 upon the nervous system4 ,in greater or
 less degree they destroy its power to  
tell the truth1 and in proportion as    
they have seemed to bring subjective    
happiness1 so do they bring at last     
subjective horror and disgust4 ,and this
 utter soul-weariness of drugs has found
 its way into literature as the         
expression of ,pessimism4  ,the ,city of
 the ,dreadful ,night1 for example1 does
 not find its inspiration in the misery 
of selfish1 rushing1 crowded ,london4   
,it is the effect of brandy on the      
sensitive mind of an exquisitive poet4  
,not the world1 but the poet1 lies in   
the dreadful night of self-inflicted    
insomnia4 ,wherever these subjective    
nerve influences find expression in     
literature it is either in an infinite  

sadness1 or in hopeless gloom4 ,james   
,thompson says in the ,city of the      
,dreadful ,night3    ,the city is of    
night but not of sleep2   ,there sweet  
sleep is not for the weary brain4   ,the
 pitiless hours like years and ages     
creep--   ,a night seems termless hell4 
,this dreadful strain   ,of thought and 
consciousness which never ceases1   ,or 
which some moment's stupor but          
increases4    99 99 99    ,this ,time   
which crawleth like a monstrous snake1  
,wounded and slow and very venomous4    
99 99 99    ',lo1 as thus prostrate in  
the dust ,i write   ,my heart's deep    
languor and my soul's sad tears--   ,but
 why evoke the spectres of black night  
,to blot the sunshine of exultant years6
    ,because a cold rage seizes one at  
times   ,to show the bitter1 old and    
wrinkled truth1   ,stripped naked of all
 vesture that beguiles   ,false dreams1 
false hopes1 false masks and modes of   
youth4  ,all this1 alas1 is the         
inevitable physical outcome of the      

attempt to--    ,divorce old1 barren    
,reason from my house   ,to take the    
daughter of the vine to spouse4  ,all   
subjective happiness due to nerve       
stimulation is of the nature of mania4  
,in proportion to its intensity is the  
certainty that it will be followed by   
its subjective reaction1 the ,nuit      
,blanche1 the dark brown taste1 by the  
experience of the difference in the     
morning4 ,the only melancholy drugs can 
drive away is that which they themselves
 produce4 ,it is folly to use as a      
source of pleasure that which lessens   
activity and vitiates life4  ,there are 
many other causes which induce          
depression of mind and disorder of      
nerve4 ,where nerve decay is associated 
with genius and culture1 we shall find  
some phase of the philosophy of         
,pessimism4 ,in fact1 cheerfulness is   
not primarily a result of right         
thinking1 but rather the expression of  
sound nerves and normal vegetative      
processes4 ,most of the philosophy of   

despair1 the longing to know the meaning
 of the unattainable1 vanishes with     
active out-of-door life and the         
consequent flow of good health4 ,even a 
dose of quinine may convert to          
hopefulness when both sermons and       
arguments fail4  ,for a degree of       
optimism is a necessary accompaniment of
 health4 ,it is as natural as animal    
heat1 and is the mental reflex of it4   
,pessimism arises from depression or    
irritation or failure of the nerves4 ,it
 is a symptom of lowered vitality       
expressed in terms of the mind4  ,there 
is a philosophical ,pessimism1 as ,i    
have already said1 over and above all   
merely physical conditions1 and not     
dependent on them4 ,but the melancholy  
,jacques of our ordinary experience     
either uses some narcotic or stimulant  
to excess1 or else has trouble with his 
liver or kidneys4 ,liver complaint1 says
 ,zangwill1 is the ,prometheus myth done
 into modern ,english4 ,already         
historical criticism has shown that the 

,bloody ,assizes had its origin in      
disease of the bladder1 and most forms  
of vice and cruelty resolve themselves  
into decay of the nerves4 ,it is natural
 that degeneration should bring         
discouragement and disgust4 ,but        
whatever the causes of ,pessimism1      
whether arising in speculative          
philosophy in nervous disease or in     
personal failure1 it can never be       
wrought into sound and helpful life4 ,to
 live effectively implies the belief    
that life is worth living1 and no one   
who leads a worthy life has ever for a  
moment doubted this4  ,such an          
expression as worth living has in fact  
no real meaning4 ,to act and to love are
 the twin functions of the human body   
and soul4 ,to refuse these functions is 
to make one's self incapable of them4   
,it is in a sense to die while the body 
is still alive4 ,to refuse these        
functions is to make misery out of      
existence1 and a life of ennui is       
doubtless not worth living4  ,the       

philosophy of life is its working       
hypothesis of action4 ,to hold that all 
effort is futile1 that all knowledge is 
illusion1 and that no result of the     
human will is worth the pain of calling 
it into action1 is to cut the nerve of  
effectiveness4 ,in proportion as one    
really believes this1 he becomes a      
cumberer of the ground4 ,it was said of 
,oscar ,mc,culloch1 an earnest student  
of human life1 that in whatever part of 
,god's universe he finds himself1 he    
will be a hopeful man1 looking forward  
and not backward1 looking upward and not
 downward1 always ready to lend a       
helping hand1 and not afraid to die4    
,of like spirit was ,robert ,louis      
,stevenson3    ,glad did ,i live and    
gladly die1   ,and ,i laid me down with 
a will4  ,it is through men of this type
 that the work of civilization has been 
accomplished1 men of present valor1     
stalwart1 brave iconoclasts4 ,they were 
men who were content with the order of  
the universe as it is1 and seek only to 

place their own actions in harmony with 
this order4 ,they have no complaints to 
urge against the goodness and severity  
of ,god1 nor any futile wish to remould 
it nearer to the heart's desire4 ,the   
,fanaticism for ,veracity is satisfied  
with what is4 ,not the ultimate truth   
which is ,god's alone1 but the highest  
attainable truth1 is the aim of         
,science1 and to translate ,science into
 ,virtue is the goal of civilization4   
,the third question which ,science may  
ask is the direct one4 ,in what part of 
the universe are you1 and what are you  
doing8 ,thoreau says that there is no   
hope for you unless this bit of sod     
under your feet is the sweetest to you  
in this world--in any world4 ,why not8  
,nowhere is the sky so blue1 the grass  
so green1 the sunshine so bright1 the   
shade so welcome1 as right here1 now1   
today4 ,no other blue sky1 nor bright   
sunshine1 nor welcome shade exists for  
you4 ,other skies are bright to other   
men4 ,they have been bright in the past 

and so will they be again1 but yours are
 here and now4 ,today is your day and   
mine1 the only day we have1 the day in  
which we play our part4 ,what our part  
may signify in the great whole we may   
not understand1 but we are here to play 
it1 and now is the time4 ,this we know1 
it is a part of action1 not of whining4 
,it is a part of love1 not cynicism4 ,it
 is for us to express love in terms of  
human helpfulness4 ,this we know1 for we
 have learned from sad experience that  
any other course of life leads toward   
decay and waste4  ,what1 then1 are you  
doing under these blue skies8 ,the thing
 you do should be for you the most      
important thing in the world4 ,if you   
could do something better than you are  
doing now1 everything considered1 why   
are you not doing it8  ,if every one did
 the very best he knew1 most of the     
problems of human life would be already 
settled4 ,if each one did the best he   
knew1 he would be on the highway to     
greater knowledge1 and therefore still  

better action4 ,the redemption of the   
world is waiting only for each man to   
lend a hand4  ,it does not matter if the
 greatest thing for you to do be not in 
itself great4 ,the best preparation for 
greatness comes in doing faithfully the 
little things that lie nearest4 ,the    
nearest is the greatest in most human   
lives4  ,even washing one's own face may
 be the greatest present duty4 ,the     
ascetics of the past1 who scorned       
cleanliness in the search for godliness1
 became1 sometimes1 neither clean nor   
holy4 ,for want of a clean face they    
lost their souls4  ,it was ,agassiz's   
strength that he knew the value of      
today4 ,never were such bright skies as 
arched above him2 nowhere else were such
 charming associates1 such budding      
students1 such secrets of nature fresh  
to his hand4 ,his was the buoyant       
strength of the man who can look the    
stars in the face because he does his   
part in the ,universe as well as they do
 theirs4 ,it is the fresh1 unspoiled    

confidence of the natural man1 who finds
 the world a world of action and joy1   
and time all too short for the fulness  
of life which it demands4 ,when ,agassiz
 died1 the best friend that ever student
 had1 the students of ,harvard laid a   
wreath of laurel on his bier1 and their 
manly voices sang a requiem1 for he had 
been a student all his life long1 and   
when he died he was younger than any of 
them4  ,optimism in life is a good      
working hypothesis1 if by optimism we   
mean the open-eyed faith that force     
exerted is never lost4 ,much that calls 
itself faith is only the blindness of   
self-satisfaction4  ,what if there are  
so many of us in the ranks of humanity8 
,what if the individual be lost in the  
mass as a pebble cast into the ,seven   
,seas8 ,would you choose a world so     
small as to leave room for only you and 
your satellites8 ,would you ask for     
problems of life so tame that even you  
could grasp them8 ,would you choose a   
fibreless ,universe to be remoulded     

nearer to the heart's desire1 in place  
of the wild1 tough1 virile1 man-making  
environment from which the ,attraction  
of ,gravitation lets none of us escape8 
,it is not that ,i come like water and  
like wind ,i go4 ,i am here today1 and  
the moment and the place are real1 and  
my will is itself one of the fates that 
make and unmake all things4 ,every      
meanest day is the conflux of two       
eternities1 and in this center of all   
time and space for the moment it is ,i  
that stand4 ,great is ,eternity1 but it 
is made up of time4 ,could we blot out  
one day in the midst of time1 ,eternity 
could be no more4 ,the feebleness of man
 has its place within the infinite      
,omnipotence4  ,it is a question not of 
hope or despair1 but of truth1 not of   
optimism nor of ,pessimism1 but of      
wisdom4 ,wisdom is knowing what to do   
next2 virtue is doing it4 ,religion is  
the heart impulse that turns toward the 
best and highest course of action4 ,it  
was my duty to have loved the highest4  

,what does that demand8 ,what have ,i to
 do next8 ,not in infinity1 where we can
 do nothing1 but here1 today1 the       
greatest day that ever was1 for it alone
 is mine6  ,what matter is it that time 
does not end with us8 ,neither with us  
does history begin4 ,an ,emperor of     
,china once decreed that nothing should 
be before him1 that all history should  
begin with him4 ,but he could go no     
farther than his own decree4 ,who are   
you that would be ,emperor of ,china8   
,the eternal ,saki from that bowl hath  
poured   ,millions of bubbles like us   
and shall pour4  ,why not8 ,should life 
stop with you8 ,what have you done that 
you should mark the end of time8 ,if you
 have played your part in the procession
 of bubbles1 all is well1 though the    
best you can do is to leave the world a 
little better for the next that follows4
  ,if you have not made life a little   
richer and its conditions a little more 
just by your living you have not touched
 the world4 ,you are indeed a bubble4   

,if some kind friend somewhere turn down
 an empty glass1 it will be the best    
monument you deserve4 ,but to have had a
 friend is to leave the glass not wholly
 empty1 for life is justified in love as
 well as in action4  ,the words of ,omar
 need to be read with the rising        
inflection1 and they become the         
expression of exultant hopefulness4     
,the eternal ,saki from that bowl hath  
poured   ,millions of bubbles and shall 
pour6  ,small though we are the story is
 not all told when we are dead4 ,the    
huge procession goes on and shall go on1
 till the secret of the grand symphony  
of life is reached4    ,a single note in
 the ,eternal ,song   ,a perfect ,singer
 hath had need for me4    99 99 99    ,i
 do rejoice that when of ,thee and ,me  
,men speak no longer1 yet not less but  
more   ,the ,eternal ,saki still that   
bowl shall fill   ,and ever fairer1     
clearer bubbles pour4  ,in the same way 
we must read with the rising inflection 
the lines of ,tennyson3    ,i falter    

when ,i firmly trod1   ,and falling with
 my weight of cares1   ,upon the        
,world's great altar-stairs   ,that     
slope through darkness1 up to god6      
,read these words with courage1 and with
 the upward turn of the voice at the    
end4 ,it is no longer in the darkness   
that we falter4 ,the great altar-stairs 
of which no man knows the beginning nor 
the end1 do not spring from the mire nor
 end in the mists4 ,they slope through  
darkness up to ,god1 and no one could   
ask a stronger expression of that robust
 optimism which must be the mainspring  
of successful life4