,,happiness3 ,,by ,,carl ,,hilty        
,illustration            ,,happiness    
,,essays ,,on ,,the ,,meaning    ,,of   
,,life ,,by ,,carl ,,hilty              
,,professor ,,of ,,constitutional ,,law 
,,university ,,of ,,bern4 ,,translated  
,,by    ,,francis ,,greenwood ,,peabody 
,,professor ,,of ,,christian ,,morals   
,,in    ,,harvard ,,university1         
,,cambridge      ,illustration          
,,new ,,york3 ,,the ,,macmillan ,,co4   
,,london3 ,,macmillan  ,,co41 ,l,,td4   
#aijc            ,,copyright1 #aijc1    
,,by ,,the ,,macmillan ,,company        
,set up and electrotyped ,january1      
#aijc4 ,reprinted ,june1    ,october1   
#aijc4      ,norwood ,press3    ,berwick
  ,smith ,co41 ,norwood1 ,mass41        
,u4,s4,a4          ,,contents           
,,essay ,i                              
,,page    ,,the ,,art ,,of ,,work       
#c      ,,essay ,,ii    ,,how ,,to      
,,fight ,,the ,,battles ,,of ,,life     
#be      ,,essay ,,iii    ,,good        
,,habits                           #de  

,,essay ,,iv    ,,the ,,children ,,of   
,,this ,,world ,,are    ,,wiser ,,than  
,,the ,,children ,,of ,,light      #fa  
,,essay ,v    ,,the ,,art ,,of ,,having 
,,time                #gc      ,,essay  
,,vi    ,,happiness                     
#ig      ,,essay ,,vii    ,,the         
,,meaning ,,of ,,life                   
#abg      ,,notes                       
#aec          ,,preface      ,great     
numbers of thoughtful people are just   
now much perplexed to  know what to make
 of the facts of life1 and are looking  
about them  for some reasonable         
interpretation of the modern world4     
,they cannot  abandon the work of the   
world1 but they are conscious that they 
have  not learned the art of work4 ,they
 have to fight the battle of life1 but  
they are not sure what weapons are fit  
for that battle4 ,they are so  beset by 
the cares of living that they have no   
time for life itself4  ,they observe    
that happiness often eludes those who   
most eagerly pursue  it2 and that the   

meaning of life is often hidden from    
those whose  way would seem to be most  
free4 ,to this state of                 
mind--hesitating1  restless1 and        
dissatisfied1 in the world but not      
content to be of the  world--the        
reflections of ,professor ,hilty1 as    
published in ,switzerland  and ,germany1
 have already brought much reassurance  
and composure2 and  their message seems 
hardly less applicable to ,english and  
,american  life4 ,here also the fever of
 commercialism threatens the vitality of
  idealism1 and here also the art of    
life is lost in the pace of living4     
,religion to a great many educated      
people still seems1 as ,bishop ,butler  
wrote in #agcf1 8not so much as a       
subject of inquiry4 ,this seems agreed  
among persons of discernment02 and a    
book about religion might still  begin  
with the words which ,schleiermacher    
wrote in #ahjf3 8,it may well  surprise 
the wise men of this age that any one   
should still venture to  ask their      

attention for a subject which they have 
so wholly abandoned40  ,and yet1 in     
regions of experience which no one fails
 sooner or later to  enter1--regions of 
great joy and sorrow1 experiences of    
serious duty  and bewildering doubts of 
the meaning of life1--many a mind that  
has  seemed to itself to have outgrown  
religion looks about for a religion     
that is real4 ,such a mind will not be  
satisfied with a left-over faith2  it   
will not be tempted by an ecclesiastical
 omniscience4 ,it demands  sanity1      
reserve1 wisdom1 and insight1 a         
competent witness of the things  of the 
,spirit4 ,this is the state of mind to  
which this little book  is addressed4   
,the author makes his appeal not to     
discussion1 but to  life4 ,he reports   
the story of a rational experience4 ,he 
walks with  confidence because he knows 
the way4 ,he accepts the saying of ,pico
  della ,mirandola3 8,philosophia       
veritatem quaerit1 444 religio          
possidet40  ,let us take life1 he says1 

just as it is and must be1 and observe  
that  the doors which lead into its     
inner meaning open only to the key of a 
reasonable faith4    ,it might be       
fancied that a writer thus described    
must be a recluse  or mystic1 remote    
from the spirit of the modern world and 
judging  experiences which he does not  
share4 ,quite the contrary is the fact4 
,the philosophy of life which he teaches
 is wrought out of large  experience1   
both of academic and political affairs1 
and that which  draws readers to the    
author is his capacity to maintain in   
the midst of  important duties of public
 service an unusual detachment of desire
 and  an interior quietness of mind4    
,his short ,essays are the ,meditations 
of  ,marcus ,aurelius1 told in the      
language of modern life2 the ,imitation 
of  ,christ1 expressed with the academic
 reserve of a modern gentleman4    ,some
 years ago ,i obtained permission from  
,professor ,hilty to translate  for     
,english and ,american readers a few of 

these ,essays which had  found such     
acceptance in ,switzerland and ,germany2
 and the present  volume1 containing his
 first series1 has been a pleasant      
occupation of  some vacation days4 ,i   
have found it necessary1 however1 to use
 much  freedom in dealing with his      
idiomatic and epigrammatic style1 and   
have  perhaps exceeded the legitimate   
right of a translator in the attempt  to
 reproduce the tone and temper of the   
author4 ,nothing1 ,i think1 is  here    
which ,professor ,hilty has not said2   
but there are many shiftings  of phrase 
and many ruptures of ,german sentences2 
and here and there  a passage has been  
omitted which seemed important to ,swiss
 readers  only4 ,the ,essay on          
,epictetus1 being rather a compilation  
and review  than an illustration of     
,hilty's own philosophy of life1 is     
omitted2  as are also the copious and   
discursive footnotes which enrich the   
original4 ,i trust that these liberties 
and omissions may not obscure  the      

qualities of ,professor ,hilty's        
mind--its insight1 sagacity1 humor1  and
 devoutness--which no one who has had   
the privilege of his personal           
acquaintance can recall without         
affection and gratitude4                
,,francis ,g4 ,,peabody4                
,cambridge1 ,massachusetts1 ,october    
#ae1 #aijb4          ,,note      ,carl  
,hilty was born ,february #bh1 #ahcc1 at
 ,chur1 ,switzerland4 ,he  was a student
 at ,gttingen1 ,heidelberg1 ,london1 and
 ,paris2 and an  advocate at ,chur1     
#ahee-ahgd4 ,in #ahgd he was appointed  
,professor of  ,constitutional ,law     
7,staats- und ,vlkerrecht7 in the       
,university of ,bern1  which position he
 still holds4 ,since #ahij he has been a
 member of  the ,swiss ,house of        
,representatives 7,nationalrat72 and in 
#aija he was  ,rector of the ,university
 of ,bern4 ,among his scientific        
writings may be  named the following3   
,theorists and ,idealists of ,democracy 
7,theoristen  und ,idealisten der       

,demokratie71 ,bern1 #ahfh2 ,ideas and  
,ideals of ,swiss  ,politics 7,ideen und
 ,ideale schweizerischer ,politik71     
,bern1 #ahge2  ,lectures on the ,swiss  
,political ,system 7,vorlesungen ber die
 ,politik  der ,eidgenossenschaft71     
,bern1 #ahgi2 ,on ,capital ,punishment  
7,ueber die  ,wiedereinfhrung der       
,todesstrafe71 ,bern1 #ahgi2 ,the       
,neutrality of  ,switzerland 7,die      
,neutralitt der ,schweiz in ihrer       
heutigen ,auffassung71  ,bern1 #ahhi    
7,french translation by ,mentha1 #ahhi72
 ,the ,referendum in  ,switzerland 7,das
 ,referendum im schweizerischen         
,staatsrecht71 ,archiv  fr ffentliches  
,recht1 #ahhg2 ,the ,boer ,war 7,der    
,burenkrieg71 ,bern1  #aijj4 ,he has    
also been the editor of the ,journal of 
,swiss ,jurisprudence  7,politisches    
,jahrbuch der schweizerischen           
,eidgenossenschaft7 since  #ahhf4    ,in
 the midst of this scientific activity  
,professor ,hilty has expressed  his    
inner life through a series of little   

books issued at intervals  during the   
last ten years1 as follows3 ,happiness  
7,glck71 ,first ,series1  #ahia1 ,second
 ,series1 #ahie1 ,third ,series1 #ahih2 
,on ,reading and ,speaking  7,lesen und 
,reden71 #ahia2 ,for ,sleepless ,nights 
7,fr schlaflose ,nchte7  ,brief         
,readings for each ,day of the ,year1   
#aija4          ,i4 ,,the ,,art ,,of    
,,work          ,i4 ,,the ,,art ,,of    
,,work      ,the most important of all  
arts is the art of work2 for if one     
could  thoroughly understand this art1  
all other knowledge and conduct would   
be infinitely simplified4 ,few people1  
however1 really know how to work1  and  
even in an age when oftener perhaps than
 ever before we hear of  8work0 and     
8workers0 one cannot observe that the   
art of work makes much  positive        
progress4 ,on the contrary1 the general 
inclination seems to be  to work as     
little as possible1 or to work for a    
short time in order to  pass the        
remainder of one's life in rest4        

,work and rest--are they then aims in   
life which are positively               
contradictory8 ,this must be our first  
inquiry2 for while every one is  ready  
with praise of work1 pleasure in work   
does not always come with  the praising4
 ,so long as the disinclination to work 
is so common an  evil1 indeed almost a  
disease of modern civilization1 so long 
as every  one as soon as possible       
endeavors to escape from the work which 
he thus  theoretically praises1 there is
 absolutely no hope for any bettering of
  our social condition4 ,indeed1 if work
 and rest were contradictories1  our    
social conditions would be wholly beyond
 redemption4    ,for every human heart  
longs for rest4 ,the humblest and least 
intellectual know the need of it1 and in
 its highest moods1 the soul  seeks     
relief from constant strain4 ,indeed1   
the imagination has found  no better    
name for a future and happier existence 
than a state of  eternal rest4 ,if work1
 then1 is necessary1 and rest is the    

cessation  of work1 then the            
saying--8,in the sweat of thy face shalt
 thou eat  bread0--is indeed a bitter   
curse and this earth is a 8vale of      
tears40  ,in every generation there are 
but few who can on such terms be said   
to lead a worthy or a human life2 and   
even these can do so only by  dooming   
other human beings to the curse of work 
and by holding these  others fast bound 
in its slavery4 ,it was from this point 
of view that  the ancient authors       
pictured the hopeless slavery of the    
many as the  condition under which the  
few might become free citizens of a     
civilized  ,state2 and even in the      
nineteenth century1 a considerable part 
of the  population of one great nation1 
with ,christian preachers1 ,bible in    
hand1 directing them1 maintained on the 
field of battle the proposition  that   
one race should be from generation to   
generation condemned to be  the slave of
 another4 ,culture1 it is said1 grows   
only under conditions  of wealth1 and   

wealth only through accumulation of     
capital1 and capital  only through      
accumulation of the work of those who   
are not justly  paid2 that is to say1   
through injustice4    ,such are the     
conceptions of society which at once    
confront us as we  approach our subject4
 ,the following pages are not1 however1 
to be  devoted to any profound          
consideration either of the relative or 
of the  absolute truth of these         
conceptions4 ,i suggest1 at this point1 
only the  obvious truth1 that if1 not   
some people1 but all1 would work and    
work  faithfully1 the 8,social          
,question10 as it is called1 would be   
forthwith  solved2 and ,i may add1 that 
by no other means whatever is it likely 
to be solved4 ,faithful work1 however1  
is not to be brought about by           
compulsion4 ,even if the physical means 
of universal compulsion were  present1  
no fruitful work would come of it4 ,it  
is the desire for work  which must be   
kindled in man2 and this brings us back 

again to consider  the principles which 
may be applied to this desire4    ,the  
desire for work1 we must1 first of all1 
admit1 cannot be attained  by           
instruction2 or even--as our daily      
experience sadly testifies--by  mere    
example4 ,it must be reached by         
reflection and experience2 and          
experience thus reflected on will reveal
 to any serious inquirer the  following 
facts4 ,rest1 such as is desired1 is not
 to be found in  complete inactivity of 
mind or body1 or in as little activity  
as  possible4 ,on the contrary1 it is to
 be found only in well-adapted and      
well-ordered activity of both body and  
mind4 ,the whole nature of man is       
created for activity1 and ,nature       
revenges herself bitterly on him who    
would rashly defy this law4 ,man is     
indeed driven out of the paradise of    
absolute rest1 and ,god gives him the   
command to work1 but with the work      
comes the consolation that work is      
essential to happiness4    ,true rest1  

therefore1 issues from work4            
,intellectual rest occurs  through the  
perception of fruitful progress in one's
 work1 and through  the solving of one's
 problems4 ,physical rest is found in   
those natural  intermissions which are  
given by daily sleep and daily food1 and
 the  essential and restful pause of    
,sunday4 ,such a condition of continuous
  and wholesome activity1 interrupted   
only by these natural pauses1 is  the   
happiest condition on earth1 and no man 
should wish for himself  any other      
outward happiness4 ,indeed1 we may go a 
step farther and add  that it does not  
very much matter what the nature of this
 activity may  be4 ,genuine activity1   
which is not mere sport1 has the        
property of  becoming interesting as    
soon as a man becomes seriously absorbed
 in it4  ,it is not the kind of activity
 which ensures happiness to us2 it is   
the  joy of action and attainment4 ,the 
greatest unhappiness which one can      
experience is to have a life to live    

without a work to do1 and to come  to   
the end of life without its fruit of    
accomplished work4    ,it is1 therefore1
 wholly justifiable to speak of the     
8right to work40  ,indeed1 it is the    
most primitive of all human rights4 ,the
 unemployed  are1 we must admit1 the    
most unfortunate of people4 ,there are1 
however1  quite as many of these1 and   
perhaps more of them1 in what we call   
the better classes than among what we   
call the working classes4 ,the  latter  
are driven to work by necessity1 while  
the former1 through  their mistaken ways
 of education1 their prejudices1 and the
 imperious  custom which in certain     
classes forbids genuine work1 find      
themselves  almost absolutely and by    
heredity condemned to this great        
unhappiness4  ,each year we see them    
turning their steps with spiritual      
weariness and  ennui to the ,swiss      
mountains and health-resorts1 from which
 in vain  they anticipate refreshment4  
,once1 the summer was enough to give    

them  at least a temporary restoration  
from their disease of idleness4 ,now1   
they have to add the winter also1 and   
soon the fair valleys which they  have  
converted into hospitals will be open   
all the year to a restless  throng1 ever
 seeking rest and never finding it1     
because it does not  seek rest in work4 
8,six days shalt thou labor10 not less  
and not  more1--with this prescription  
most of the nervous diseases of our time
  would be healed1 except so far as they
 are an inherited curse from idle       
ancestors4 ,with this prescription most 
of the physicians in sanitariums  and   
insane asylums would lose their         
practice4 ,life is not given to man  to 
enjoy1 but1 so far as may be1 to use    
effectively4 ,one who does not          
recognize this has already lost his     
spiritual health4 ,indeed1 it is not    
possible for him to retain even his     
physical health as he might under       
conditions of natural activity and      
reasonable ways of living4 ,the days  of

 our age are threescore years and ten1  
and some are so strong that  they come  
to fourscore years2 yet though there be 
labor and sorrow in  these years of     
work1 still they have been precious3    
thus we read the  ancient saying4       
,perhaps1 indeed1 this was its original 
meaning4    ,we do well1 however1 to add
 at once one limitation4 ,not all work  
is of equal value1 and there is spurious
 work which is directed to  fictitious  
ends1 and work which is itself          
fictitious in its form4  ,much1 for     
instance1 of the sewing and embroidering
 done by cultivated  women1 much of the 
parading of soldiers1 much of what is   
called art1  like the useless drumming  
on the piano by persons with no musical 
sense1 a considerable part of the       
sportsman's life1 and1 not least1  the  
time devoted to keeping one's           
accounts1--all these are occupations  of
 this fictitious nature4 ,a sagacious   
and wide-awake person must look  for    
something more satisfying than these4   

,here also is the reason why  factory   
labor1 and1 in short1 all mechanical    
occupation in which one  does but a part
 of the work1 gives meagre satisfaction1
 and why an  artisan who completes his  
work1 or an agricultural laborer1 is1 as
  a rule1 much more contented than      
factory operatives1 among whom the      
social discontent of the modern world   
first uttered itself4 ,the factory      
workman sees little of the outcome of   
his work4 ,it is the machine  that      
works1 and he is a part of it4 ,he      
contributes to the making of  one little
 wheel1 but he never makes a whole      
clock1 which might be to  him his work  
of art and an achievement worthy of a   
man4 ,mechanical  work like this fails  
to satisfy because it offends that      
natural  consciousness of human worth   
which the humblest human being feels4   
,on  the other hand1 the happiest       
workmen are those who can absolutely    
lose  themselves in their work3 the     
artist whose soul must be wholly        

occupied  with his subject1 if he hopes 
to grasp and reproduce it2 the scholar  
who has no eye for anything beyond his  
special task4 ,indeed1 the same  thing  
is to be said of those people whom we   
call 8one-idea-ed0 and  who have created
 their own little world within one      
narrow sphere4 ,all  these have at least
 the feeling--sometimes1 no doubt1      
without adequate  reason--that they are 
accomplishing real work for the world2 a
 true1  useful1 necessary work1 which is
 not mere play2 and many such persons1  
by this continuous1 strenuous1 and      
sometimes even physically unhealthy     
activity1 attain great old age1 while   
idle and luxurious men and women  of    
society1 who are1 perhaps1 the least    
useful and least productive  class of   
the modern world1 must devote much of   
their time to the  restoration of their 
health4    ,the first thing1 then1 for  
our modern world to acquire is the      
conviction and experience that          
well-directed work is the necessary and 

universal condition of physical and     
intellectual health1 and for this       
reason is the way to happiness4 ,from   
this it necessarily follows that  the   
idle class is to be regarded1 not as a  
superior and favored class1  but as that
 which they are1--spiritually defective 
and diseased persons  who have lost the 
right principle for the guidance of     
their lives4  ,as soon as this opinion  
becomes general and established1 then1  
and  only then1 will the better era for 
the world begin4 ,until that time1  the 
world will suffer from the excessive    
work of some1 balancing the             
insufficient work of others1 and it     
still remains a question which of  these
 two types is in reality the more       
unfortunate4    ,why is it then that    
these principles--to which the          
experience of  thousands of years       
testifies1 which any one1 whether he    
works or  does not work1 can test for   
himself1 and which all the religions and
  philosophies preach--have not made    

their just impression8 ,why is it1  for 
instance1 that there are still thousands
 of women who defend with  much passion 
many passages of ,bible-teaching1 and   
yet1 with astonishing  composure and in 
opposition to an express command of the 
,bible1 take  one day at the most1 or   
perhaps none at all1 for work1 and six  
for  refined idleness8 ,all this        
proceeds in large degree from an        
irrational  division and arrangement of 
work1 which thus ill-arranged may indeed
  become a positive burden4    ,and this
 brings me back to the title of my      
,essay4 ,instruction in  the art of work
 is possible only for him who is already
 convinced  of my first proposition1    
that some work is necessary1 and who    
would  gladly give himself to work if it
 were not that1 to his surprise1  some  
hindrance confronts him4 ,yet1 work1    
like every other art1 has  its ways of  
dexterity1 by means of which one may    
greatly lessen its  laboriousness2 and  
not only the willingness to work1 but   

even the  capacity to work1 is so       
difficult to acquire that many persons  
fail of  it altogether4    ,the first   
step1 then1 toward the overcoming of a  
difficulty is in  recognizing the       
difficulty4 ,and what is the difficulty 
which chiefly  hinders work8 ,it is     
laziness4 ,every man is naturally lazy4 
,it always  costs one an effort to rise 
above one's customary condition of      
physical  indolence4 ,moral laziness is1
 in short1 our original sin4 ,no one is 
naturally fond of work2 there are only  
differences of natural and              
constitutional excitability4 ,even the  
most active-minded1 if they  yielded to 
their natural disposition1 would amuse  
themselves with other  things rather    
than with work4    ,love of work must1  
therefore1 proceed from a motive which  
is stronger  than the motive of physical
 idleness4 ,and this motive is to be    
found in  either of two ways4 ,it may be
 a low motive1 as1 for instance1 a      
passion  like ambition or self-seeking1 

or1 indeed1 the sense of necessity1 as  
in the preservation of life2 or it may  
be a high motive1 like the sense  of    
duty or love1 either for the work       
itself1 or for the persons for  whom the
 work is done4 ,the nobler motive has   
this advantage1 that it is  the more    
permanent and is not dependent on the   
mere success of work4  ,it does not lose
 its force either through the           
disheartening effect of  failure1 or the
 satisfying effect of success4 ,thus it 
happens that  ambitious and self-seeking
 persons are often very diligent        
workers1 but  are seldom continuous and 
evenly progressive workers4 ,they are   
almost  always content with that which  
looks like work1 if it produce favorable
  conditions for themselves1 although it
 does nothing of this for their         
neighbors4 ,much of our mercantile and  
industrial activity--and1 alas6  we must
 add1 much of the work of scholars and  
artists--has this mark of  unreality4   
,if1 then1 one were to give to a young  

man entering into life a word  of       
preliminary counsel1 it would be this3  
,do your work from a sense  of duty1 or 
for love of what you are doing1 or for  
love of certain  definite persons3      
attach yourself to some great interest  
of human  life--to a national movement  
for political liberty2 to the extension 
of the ,christian religion2 to the      
elevation of the neglected classes2  to 
the abolition of drunkenness2 to the    
restoration of permanent peace  among   
the nations2 to social reform2 to ballot
 reform2 to prison  reform2--there are  
plenty of such causes inviting us       
to-day2--and  you will soon discover an 
impulse proceeding from these causes to 
yourself2 and in addition you will      
have--what at first is a great          
help--companionship in your work4 ,there
 should be no young person1  man or     
woman1 to-day among civilized nations   
who is not actively  enlisted in some   
such army of progress4 ,the only means  
of elevating and  strengthening youth1  

and training it in perseverance1 is     
this3 that  early in life one is freed  
from himself1 and does not live for     
himself  alone4 ,selfishness is always  
enfeebling1 and from it proceeds no work
  that is strong4    ,i go on to remark 
that the most effective instrument to   
overcome one's  laziness in work is the 
force of habit4 ,why should we use this 
mighty  force in the service of our     
physical nature and not put it to use in
  our higher life as well8 ,as a matter 
of fact1 one can as well accustom       
himself to work or to self-control1 to  
virtue1 or truthfulness1 or  generosity1
 as he can to laziness1 or              
self-indulgence1 or extravagance1  or   
exaggeration1 or stinginess4 ,and this  
is to be said further--that no  virtue  
is securely possessed until it has      
become a habit4 ,thus it is  that as a  
man trains himself to the habit of work1
 the resistance of  idleness constantly 
diminishes until at last work becomes a 
necessity4  ,when this happens1 one has 

become free from a very great part of   
the  troubles of life4    ,there remain 
a few elementary rules with which one   
can the more easily  find his way to    
this habit of work4 ,and first among    
such rules is the  knowing how to begin4
 ,the resolution to set oneself to work 
and to  fix one's whole mind on the     
matter in hand is really the hardest    
part  of working4 ,when one has once    
taken his pen or his spade in hand1 and 
has made the first stroke1 his whole    
work has already grown easier4  ,there  
are people who always find something    
especially hard about  beginning their  
work1 and who are always so busy with   
preparations1  behind which lurks their 
laziness1 that they never apply         
themselves  to their work until they are
 compelled2 and then the intellectual   
and  even the physical excitement roused
 by the sense of insufficient time  in  
which to do one's work injures the work 
itself4 ,other people wait  for some    
special inspiration1 which in reality is

 much more likely to  come by means of1 
or in the midst of1 work itself4 ,it is 
at least my  experience that one's work1
 while one is doing it1 takes on a      
different  look from that which one     
anticipated1 and that one does not reach
 so  many fruitful and new ideas in his 
times of rest as he does during  the    
work itself4 ,from all this follows the 
rule1 not to postpone  work1 or lightly 
to accept the pretext of physical or    
intellectual  indisposition1 but to     
dedicate a definite and well-considered 
amount of  time every day to one's work4
 ,then1 if the 8old man10 as ,st4 ,paul 
calls  him1 is cunning enough to see    
that he must in any event do some work  
at  a special time and cannot wholly    
give himself to rest1 he may usually  be
 trusted to resolve to do each day that 
which for each day is most  necessary4  
,again1 there are a great many men1     
occupied in intellectual work of a      
productive kind1 who waste their time   
and lose the happiness of work by       

devoting themselves to the arrangement  
of their work1 or still oftener1  to the
 introduction of their work4 ,as a      
general rule1 no artistic1  or profound1
 or remote introduction to one's work is
 desirable4 ,on  the contrary1 it       
usually anticipates unsuitably that     
which should  come later4 ,even if this 
be doubted1 the advice is at any rate   
good  that one's introduction and one's 
title should be written last4 ,thus     
composed1 they commonly cost no labor4  
,one makes a beginning much more  easily
 when he starts without any preamble1   
with that chapter of his  work with     
which he is most familiar4 ,for the same
 reason1 when one  reads a book1 it is  
well to omit at the first reading the   
preface and  often the first chapter4   
,for my own part1 ,i never read a       
preface until  ,i have finished a book1 
and ,i discover1 almost without         
exception1 that  when1 after reading the
 book1 ,i turn back for a look at the   
preface1 ,i  have lost nothing by       

omitting it4 ,of course1 it must be said
 that there  are books of which the     
preface is the best part4 ,of these1    
however1 it  may also be said that they 
are not worth reading at all4    ,and   
now ,i may safely take still another    
step and add1 that1 with the  exception 
of an introduction to your work or its  
central treatment1  it is best to begin 
with that part which is easiest to you4 
,the chief  thing is to begin4 ,one may 
indeed advance less directly in his work
 by  doing it unsystematically1 but this
 loss is more than made good by his     
gain of time4 ,under this head also     
should be added two other rules4 ,one   
is the law3 8,take no thought for the   
morrow3 for the morrow shall take       
thought for the things of itself40 ,man 
is endowed with the dangerous  gift of  
imagination1 and imagination has a much 
larger realm than  that of one's        
capacity4 ,through one's imagination one
 sees his whole  work lying before him  
as a task to be achieved all at once1   

while his  capacity1 on the other hand1 
can conquer its task only by degrees1   
and  must constantly renew its strength4
 ,do your work1 then1 as a rule1 for    
each day4 ,the morrow will come in its  
own time1 and with it will come  the    
strength for the morrow4 ,the second    
rule is this3 ,in intellectual  work one
 should1 indeed1 deal with his material 
thoroughly2 but he  should not expect to
 exhaust his material1 so that there    
shall be  nothing further left to say or
 to read4 ,no man's strength is in these
  days sufficient for absolute          
thoroughness4 ,the best principle is to 
be completely master of a relatively    
small region of research2 and to  deal  
with the larger inquiries only in their 
essential features4 ,he who  tries to do
 too much usually accomplishes too      
little4    ,a further condition of good 
work is this1--that one should not      
persist  in working when work has lost  
its freshness and pleasure4 ,i have     
already said that one may begin without 

pleasure1 for otherwise one1 as  a rule1
 would not begin at all4 ,but one should
 stop as soon as his work  itself brings
 fatigue4 ,this does not mean that one  
should1 for this  reason1 stop all work1
 but only that he should stop the       
special kind of  work which is fatiguing
 him4 ,change in work is almost as      
refreshing as  complete rest4 ,indeed1  
without this characteristic of human    
nature1 we  should hardly accomplish    
anything4    ,again1 in order to be able
 to do much work1 one must economize    
one's  force1 and the practical means to
 this is by wasting no time on  useless 
activities4 ,i can hardly make plain how
 much pleasure and  power for work is   
lost by this form of wastefulness4      
,first of all1  among such ways of      
wasting time should be reckoned the     
excessive  reading of newspapers2 and to
 this should be added the excessive     
devotion to societies and meetings4 ,an 
immense number of people1 for  instance1
 begin their morning1 the best time they

 have for work1 with  the newspaper1 and
 end their day quite as regularly in    
some club or  meeting4 ,they read each  
morning the whole of a paper1 or perhaps
  of several papers1 but it would be    
hard1 as a rule1 to say what            
intellectual acquisition remained the   
next day from such reading4  ,this1 at  
least1 is certain1 that after one has   
finished his paper1 he  experiences a   
certain disinclination for work1 and    
snatches up another  paper1 if it happen
 to be within reach4 ,any one1          
therefore1 who desires  to do much work 
must carefully avoid all useless        
occupation of his  mind1 and1 one may   
even add1 of his body4 ,he must reserve 
his powers  for that which it is his    
business to do4    ,finally1 and for    
intellectual work1--with which          
throughout ,i am  specially             
concerned1--there is one last and       
important help4 ,it is  the habit of    
reviewing1 and revising1 one's material4
 ,almost every  intellectual work is at 

first grasped only in its general       
outlines1  and then1 as one attacks it a
 second time1 its finer aspects reveal  
themselves1 and the appreciation of them
 becomes more complete4 ,one's  chief   
endeavor1 then1 should be1 as a famous  
writer of our day remarks1  8not to     
achieve the constant productiveness     
which permits itself no  pause1 but     
rather to lose oneself in that which one
 would create4 ,hence  issues the desire
 to reproduce one's ideal in visible    
forms4 ,external  industry1 the effort  
to grasp one's material and promptly    
master  it1--these are1 indeed1 obvious 
conditions of authorship1 but they are  
of less value than that higher and      
spiritual industry which steadily  works
 toward an unattained end40    ,the     
conception of work1 thus excellently    
stated1 meets a final  difficulty which 
our discussion has already recognized4  
,for work1  under this view1 maintains  
continuity1 in spite of and even during 
one's necessary rest4 ,here is the ideal

 of the highest work4 ,the mind  works  
continuously1 when it has once acquired 
the genuine industry  which comes       
through devotion to one's task4 ,in     
fact1 it is curious  to notice how      
often1 after pauses in one's work not   
excessively  prolonged1 one's material  
has unconsciously advanced4 ,everything 
has  grown spontaneously4 ,many         
difficulties seem suddenly disposed of1 
one's first supply of ideas is          
multiplied1 assumes picturesqueness1 and
  lends itself to expression2 so that   
the renewal of one's work occurs  with  
ease1 as though it were merely the      
gathering of fruit which in the         
interval had ripened without effort of  
our own4    ,this1 then1 is a second    
reward of work1 in addition to that     
which  one commonly recognizes4 ,only he
 who works knows what enjoyment and     
refreshment are4 ,rest which does not   
follow work is like eating without      
appetite4 ,the best1 the pleasantest1   
and the most rewarding--and  also the   

cheapest--way of passing the time is to 
be busy with one's  work4 ,and as       
matters stand in the world to-day1 it   
seems reasonable  to anticipate that at 
the end of our century some social      
revolution  will make those who are then
 at work the ruling class2 just as at   
the  beginning of the last century a    
social revolution gave to industrious   
citizens their victory over the idle    
nobility and the idle priests4          
,wherever any social class sinks into   
idleness1 subsisting like those  idlers 
of the past on incomes created by the   
work of others1 there  such             
non-productive citizens again must      
yield4 ,the ruling class of the  future 
must be the working class4              
,,ii4 ,,how ,,to ,,fight ,,the ,,battles
 ,,of ,,life          ,,ii4 ,,how ,,to  
,,fight ,,the ,,battles ,,of ,,life     
,many people in our day--even           
well-intentioned people--have lost their
  faith in idealism4 ,they regard it as 
a respectable form of philosophy  for   

the education of the young1 but as a    
creed of little use in later  life4     
,theoretically1 they say1 and for       
purposes of education1 idealism  has    
much to commend it1 but1 practically1   
things turn out to be  brutally         
material4 ,thus such persons divide life
 into two parts1 in one  of which we may
 indulge ourselves in fine theories and 
sentiments1 and1  indeed1 are to be     
encouraged in them2 and in the other of 
which we wake  rudely from this dream   
and deal with reality as best we can4   
,kant1 in  one of his briefer writings1 
dealt a hundred years ago with this     
state  of mind4 ,he examined the phrase 
which was even then familiar3 8,that may
  be well enough in theory1 but does not
 work in practice02 and he showed  that 
it expressed an absurd contradiction    
unworthy of a thinking being4    ,the   
logical realism of our day1 however1 is 
not concerned with  theoretical         
propositions4 ,it turns1 on the         
contrary1 to the hard fact  of the      

struggle for existence1 in which        
indifference to others and  absolute    
self-interest are not only permissible1 
but1 as one looks at  the real          
conditions of life1 seem more or less   
positively demanded4  ,these modern     
realists say3 8,the world we see about  
us is one where only  a few can succeed 
and where many must fail4 ,there are not
 good things  enough for all4 ,the      
question is not whether such a state of 
things  is right or just4 ,on the       
contrary1 it must be admitted to be a   
hard1  unreasonable1 unjust universe4   
,it is not for the individual1 however1 
set without consent of his own in such a
 universe1 to change it4 ,his  only     
problem is to make it certain that in   
such a universe he is #8the  hammer1 not
 the anvil4'0    ,such is the essence of
 that worldly wisdom which is the creed 
of many  cultivated people to-day4 ,with
 it disappears1 of course1 any need of  
moral or religious education4 ,such     
instruction in schools might as  well be

 abandoned4 ,indeed1 ,saint-,just made  
the original suggestion  that instead of
 such instruction there should be       
substituted the daily  study of the     
placards posted on the street corners   
which announce  the police regulations  
of the government as to the conduct of  
life4  ,under such a theory of          
education1 young people would grow      
immensely  clever and practical4 ,they  
would be trained to get and to keep4    
,they  would be free from every         
sentiment of honor which might be a     
hindrance  in their path4 ,most of them1
 it must be confessed1 would1 early in  
life1 lose physical1 intellectual1 and  
moral vigor1 and others would  lament1  
perhaps too late1 that their youth had  
been sacrificed to that  which was not  
worth their seeking4 ,at the best1 they 
would acquire  but uncertain possessions
 to be defended daily against a thousand
  competitors1 and these possessions    
would bring bitterness along with  them1
 both to those who have them and to     

those who have them not4 ,peace  and    
happiness would be secured to no one4   
,such seems to be the issue of  this    
view of life which is now so common     
among us1 and which we call  the view of
 the 8practical0 man4    ,but what is   
idealism8 ,it is1 as ,i understand it1 a
 form of faith1 an  inward conviction4  
,it is absolutely necessary for the     
permanence of  the world2 yet it never  
can be proved true1 and indeed for him  
who  has it needs no proof4 ,further1 no
 one becomes an idealist by being       
taught about it or by reasoning         
concerning it4 ,nor is this so strange  
as it might seem1 for the very          
trustworthiness of the human reason     
itself is proved to us only by          
experience4 ,the very truths of religion
  remain unproved unless the moral power
 which issues from them provides  their 
proof4 ,that which has power must have  
reality4 ,no other proof  of reality is 
final4 ,even our senses could not       
convince us1 if our  experience and the 

experience of all other men did not     
assure us that  we could--not           
unconditionally1 but under normal       
conditions--trust them  not to deceive4 
,that which brings conviction to one is 
his experience1  and that which rouses  
in him the desire and the inward        
disposition to  believe in his own      
experience is the testimony of others   
who have had  that experience           
themselves4    ,there is a short        
treatise1 written by one who in his     
youth was a  friend of ,goethe's1--the  
,russian ,general von ,klinger1--which  
gives its  testimony in a few words     
concerning this idealism in practical   
life4  ,it may be found in von          
,klinger's rarely opened works1 under   
the title3  8,how it is possible without
 deceit1 and even in constant conflict  
with  evil1 to overcome the world40 ,its
 contents are simply a series of        
weighty aphorisms1 of which ,i select a 
few3    8,first of all10 says von       
,klinger1 8one who would overcome the   

world  must give up thinking of what    
people call happiness1 and must with all
  his might1 without indirectness1 or   
fear1 or self-seeking1 simply do  his   
duty4 ,he must1 that is to say1 be pure 
in mind and heart1 so that  none of his 
actions shall be stained by selfishness4
 ,where justice and  right-dealing are  
called for1 there must be in him no     
distinction of  great or small1 of      
significant or insignificant4444        
8,secondly1 for the protection of his   
own strength and his purity of  conduct1
 he must be free from the desire to     
shine1 free from the  shallowness of    
vanity and the restless search for fame 
and power4 ,most  human follies proceed 
from the restlessness of ambition4      
,ambition  demoralizes both those whom  
it masters and those through whom it    
accomplishes its ends4 ,the boldest and 
most candid criticism does not  wound so
 deeply as does the foolish longing for 
praise4444    8,again1 one who is thus  
pure in motive will permit himself to be

  conspicuous only when and where his   
duty demands it4 ,for the rest1 he  will
 live a life of seclusion in his family1
 with few friends1 among  his books1 and
 in the world of the spirit4 ,thus he   
avoids that conflict  with others about 
trifles which to many persons are of    
such absorbing  concern4 ,one may be    
pardoned for eccentricity in such       
affairs by having  no place at all among
 them4 ,his life does not touch the     
circle of  society1 and he asks of      
society only to let him do his duty1 and
 then  to be permitted to live in peace4
 ,it may be that he will thus stir      
others to envy or to hate1 but it will  
be an envy and hate too petty  for      
expression1 or at any rate ineffective  
for harm4 ,he who has thus  withdrawn   
from trifles gets much out of life4     
,indeed1 he gets more than  he expects  
and more than he has intended2 for he   
finally gains that  which men in its    
coarser sense call happiness4444    8,to
 all this10 says von ,klinger1 8,i add  

another point3 that one must  withhold  
himself from all ambition to pose as a  
reformer and from  all signs of that    
desire4 ,he must not enter into         
controversy about  opinions with people 
who have nothing but opinions4 ,he must 
speak of  himself only to himself and   
think of himself only in himself4444 ,i 
have developed10 concludes von ,klinger1
 8my own character and my own  inner    
experience as my power and disposition  
have permitted2 and so far  as ,i have  
done this seriously and honestly1 so far
 has come to me of  itself what men call
 happiness and prosperity4 ,i have      
observed myself  more deeply than others
 and dealt with myself more unsparingly 
than  with others4 ,i have never played 
a part1 never felt inclined thereto1    
and have ever expressed the convictions 
,i have reached without fear1  and have 
held them fast1 so that ,i now no more  
fear the possibility  of being or doing 
other than my convictions demand4 ,one  
is safe from  the temptations of others 

only when one can no more tempt himself4
 ,i  have borne many responsibilities1  
but at the conclusion of each ,i have   
passed the rest of my time in the       
profoundest solitude and the most       
complete obscurity40#a    ,the author of
 these weighty aphorisms was dealing    
especially with  political life4 ,he    
does not seek for them any philosophical
 basis4 ,he  offers them simply as the  
result of his stirring and often        
adventurous  career1 and as such his    
testimony is far more valuable than if  
it  had issued from the closet of a     
philosopher or a theologian who had     
slight contact with practical affairs4  
,it is not my intention to  translate   
these suggestions into abstract form and
 make them less real  and persuasive4 ,i
 only desire to annotate them with a few
 practical  comments4    ,i4 ,concerning
 von ,klinger's first proposition1 it is
 to be said that  true idealism is not  
the deceiving of oneself concerning     
reality1 or  the intentional ignoring of

 reality1 or the hiding from reality1 or
 the  creating for oneself a world of   
unreality4 ,idealism1 on the contrary1  
is reached by a deeper interpretation of
 the world1 by victory over it  and     
especially by victory over oneself4 ,for
 we1 too1 are an integral  part of the  
world and we cannot conquer the whole   
unless1 first of  all1 we conquer our   
own part of it1 by strength of          
principles and force  of habit4 ,hence  
issues that right judgment of success   
which von ,klinger  lays down4 ,one of  
our own contemporaries1 ,thiers1 a man  
who had in  high degree attained        
success1 and who at certain points in   
his life  pursued it with excessive     
zeal1 once made this striking remark3   
8,men  of principle need not succeed4   
,success is necessary only to schemers40
  ,in other words1 a genuine victory    
over the world is not to be achieved    
through that kind of success which the  
,french call succs and which  for many  
men makes the end of effort4 ,he who    

plays this game of  ambition may as well
 abandon the hope of peace of mind or of
 peace with  others1 and in most cases  
he must forfeit outright his            
self-respect4    ,real success in life1 
then1 the attainment of the highest     
human  perfection and of true and       
fruitful activity1 necessarily and      
repeatedly involves outward failure4    
,success1 to von ,klinger1 means  an    
honorable career with victory at its    
close4 ,the work of life is  regarded in
 its wholeness1 as a brave and honorable
 man should wish  and hope it to be4    
,unbroken success is necessary only for 
cowards4  ,indeed1 one may go further   
and say that the secret of the highest  
success in important affairs often lies 
in failure4 ,the men who have  most     
completely commanded the admiration of  
the world1 and who are  most conspicuous
 in history1 are not those who have     
reached the goal  of life through       
success alone4 ,csar and ,napoleon would
 have been  remembered only as examples 

of tyranny if it had not been for       
,brutus1  ,waterloo and ,st4 ,helena4   
,the ,maid of ,orlans would be recalled 
as a  masterful woman like many others  
had it not been for her martyrdom4      
,hannibal would be no noble example if  
,carthage had conquered4 ,a traitor     
like ,charles ,i4 of ,england is still  
held in high honor by many persons  who 
cannot endure the memory of the most    
heroic character in modern              
history1--,cromwell4 ,had ,cromwell died
 on the scaffold and ,charles on  the   
throne1 this estimate of them would have
 been reversed4 ,the life  of the       
,emperor ,frederick ,,iii4 is another   
example and will be a still  more       
impressive one as the better future     
looks back on it4 ,the greatest  example
 of all1 the cross1 the gallows of its  
time1 became for all  the world a sign  
of honor and subdued to itself the power
 of ,rome4  ,looking at ,christianity in
 a wholly human and untheological way1  
one  may believe that its unexampled    

success would not have been possible  if
 the scholars and scribes of that day   
had welcomed it4 ,something  of such    
failure comes with all right ways of    
life4 ,without it1 life  sinks in the   
rut of commonplace4 ,this kind of       
failure should not bear  the common     
reproach of misfortune4 ,it is1 on the  
contrary1 the crown  of thorns which    
marks the way of the cross1 and proves  
to be the true  crown after all4        
,,ii4 ,concerning the second aphorism of
 von ,klinger's there is this to  add3  
that no self-seeking person ever reaches
 the end he most desires4  ,it is       
surprising to see what one may          
accomplish when he gives his  attention 
and energy wholly to the doing of one   
thing4 ,examples of this  kind of       
success meet us at every turn4 ,what    
these persons at heart  desire1 however1
 is not the wealth1 or honor1 or power1 
or learning  which they reach4 ,they    
prize these possessions only as the     
necessary  prerequisites for happiness4 

,what is it1 then1 of which they must   
first  of all be convinced8 ,it is the  
truth that happiness does not come      
through these possessions1 that1 in     
fact1 these possessions are likely  to  
bring unhappiness4 ,when this conviction
 is attained1 then1 at last1  the       
self-seeking spirit will perhaps abandon
 its aim4    ,of all self-seekers1 the  
most unfortunate are to be found among  
the  educated4 ,when they stand on the  
lower rung of the ladder which  they    
wish to climb1 they are consumed by envy
 of those above them2  and of all the   
emotions which degrade a man in his own 
eyes the most  humiliating is envy4     
,when1 on the other hand1 they have     
climbed to  the top1 then they are      
distressed by the constant fear of those
 who  are climbing toward them and whose
 thoughts and purposes they well  know  
from their own experience4 ,if they seek
 safety by surrounding  themselves by   
flatterers1 then they are never safe    
from betrayal2 for  if they seem likely 

to fall1 no one cares to hold them up4  
,if1 finally1  they shut their ears to  
these disturbing voices within their    
hearts and  give themselves to          
self-indulgence1 then they lose the very
 qualities  which are most essential to 
success4    ,besides all this1 the      
chances of success for the self-seeker  
are  slight4 ,not one in ten attains    
what he desires1 and1 even of those whom
  we call fortunate1 few should be so   
reckoned until they die4 ,it is not     
necessary to cite examples of such      
failure4 ,the daily paper reports  them 
to us every morning4 ,long ago one of   
the prophets of ,israel  described this 
unsatisfying result of life and effort  
in classic words  which we may well     
repeat3 8,ye have sown much1 and bring  
in little2 ye  eat1 but ye have not     
enough2 ye drink1 but ye are not filled 
with  drink2 ye clothe you1 but there is
 none warm2 and he that earneth wages   
earneth wages to put it into a bag with 
holes40    ,still further1 nothing is so

 exhausting as this self-seeking effort4
  ,the passion which it develops is like
 an access of fever which burns  away   
one's vitality4 ,the strength of health1
 on the other hand1 renews  itself      
through self-forgetting work2 and       
thrives on unselfish service  done for  
worthy ends4 ,only in such service are  
other people sincerely  inclined to     
help4 ,thus it happens that some people1
 though they work  hard and never retire
 to the health-resorts1 still live to a 
robust old  age1 while other people     
spend half the year or perhaps the whole
 of it  at the baths and remain without 
rest4 ,the many nervous diseases of our 
time are for the most part caused by the
 self-centred life1 and their  real cure
 must be through a renewal in health of 
mind and will4    ,,iii4 ,as to von     
,klinger's third suggestion1 it is to be
 said that  the inclination to solitude 
is absolutely necessary not only for    
happiness1 but for the tranquil         
development of one's spiritual life4    

,the happiness which can really be      
attained1 and which is independent of   
all changes1 is to be found in a life   
given to great thoughts and in a  work  
peacefully directed toward great ends4  
,such a life is1 however1  necessarily  
withdrawn from fruitless sociability4   
,as ,goethe says1 8,to  such a life1 all
 else is vanity and illusion40 ,it is by
 such a course  of life that one by     
degrees escapes from the fickleness and 
moodiness  of life4 ,he learns not to   
take people too seriously4 ,he comes to 
regard  with tranquillity the shifting  
changes of opinions and inclinations4   
,so  far as his inclination goes and his
 duties permit1 he would rather shun    
popularity than seek it4    ,,iv4 ,as to
 the last of von ,klinger's paragraphs1 
it may be said to  contain the          
philosophy of his life4 ,looking at     
people as individuals1  their lives     
appear full of contrasts2 but taking    
them all together1  their lives are in  
fact much alike4 ,one section of        

humanity1 of high  and of low estate1   
lives either consciously or             
unconsciously a merely  animal life4    
,such persons simply follow the path    
which their physical  nature indicates1 
fulfilling their little span of life1   
and knowing  no other destiny4 ,another 
group is ever seeking some escape from  
this  unsatisfying end of life4 ,dante1 
in the first canto of his ,divine       
,comedy1 very beautifully describes     
these seekers for the better life2  and 
this search makes in reality the        
spiritual experience of all great       
personalities4    ,the first step in    
this way of life is taken when one      
becomes  discontented with life as it is
 and longs for something better4 ,one's 
reason seeks an outlet from the         
labyrinth of the world and at last from 
sheer weariness resolves1 at any cost1  
to forsake the world's ways and  to seek
 peace4 ,when one has come to this      
resolution1 then he is on the  way to   
salvation1 and experiences that inner   

happiness which one gains  who has found
 at last the way he ought to go4 ,and1  
indeed1 this man is  essentially saved2 
for he is now open to the unhindered    
influences of  new spiritual forces1    
against which in his early life his will
 had set  itself4    ,yet1 as a matter  
of fact1 he is only ready for his second
 step4 ,it is  the long conflict for    
supremacy between what the ,apostle     
calls 8the  old and the new man40 ,both 
of them are in him still and his problem
 is  to realize the 8new man0 and bring 
it to fulness of life4 ,many people  who
 are striving for the better life come  
to this second step and stay  there all 
their days2 and this is the reason why  
so many lives which  are rightly        
directed still give the impression of   
imperfection1 and  why they do not seem 
to contribute much--though often more   
than we  think--to the ennobling of     
human relationships4    ,there remains  
the third step of spiritual growth1     
which1 once fairly  taken1 leads to the 

complete interpretation of life4 ,it is 
the stage  of practical activity1 the   
participating in the creation of a      
spiritual  kingdom4 ,sometimes it has   
been likened to the taking part in a    
great  work of architecture1 sometimes  
to the enlistment in an active war4     
,nothing less than this life of         
unselfish service can bring to the      
individual true content4 ,so long as one
 lives for himself and is  considering1 
even in the highest and noblest way1 his
 own self-culture1  there lingers in him
 some taint of his original selfishness1
 or1 at  best1 he but half sees his way4
 ,as ,goethe has expressed it3 8,while  
one  strives1 he errs40 ,this           
self-directed effort must1 at last1     
cease4  ,nothing is more untrue1 nothing
 is more fundamentally disheartening1   
than the maxim of ,lessing which so many
 have admired1 according to  which      
endless effort after truth is to be     
preferred to the possession  of the     
truth4 ,one might as well say that      

endless thirst1 or endless  cold1 was   
more acceptable than the finding of a   
refreshing fountain or  the warmth of   
the quickening sun4    ,here then1 in   
this attitude of life1 removed from     
religious or  philosophical             
restlessness1 is the path to continuous 
inward peace  and power4 ,it leads1     
first of all1 to humility and to freedom
 from  self-complacency4 ,it is possible
 to hold to this path through the  midst
 of all natural ills2 it is the best way
 that life has to offer4  ,what the     
happiness is which one then finds is    
hard to communicate to  another4 ,it    
comes of ceasing to think first of all  
of oneself4 ,it has1  as ,rothe says1   
8no private business to transact40 ,it  
does its work  tranquilly1 with absolute
 certainty that1 though the issue of its
  work may be unrecognized1 still it is 
secure4 ,this way of life brings  with  
it courage1 and this courage manifests  
itself1 not in feverish  excitement1 but
 in an outward habit of composure which 

testifies to  inward and central        
stability4 ,such a life trusts its way  
and its  destiny4 ,outward experiences  
and the judgments of other men have no  
power to move it4 ,it is1 perhaps1 not  
essential that in the education  of     
youth these truths should be urgently   
pressed1 for they may easily  appear    
visionary and in such a matter all      
appearance of obscurity and  unreality  
is to be deplored4 ,god permits only    
high-minded souls1 like  von ,klinger1  
fully to attain this way of life4    ,we
 need not discuss whether all this      
should be called idealism--a name  which
 would drive many clever people from its
 acceptance4 ,whatever  it may be named1
 it is a faith which has brought to     
those who have  confidently given       
themselves to it greater inward peace   
than is found  in any more familiar     
creed4 ,it needs but slight observation 
of life or  of history to be convinced  
of this4 ,and yet1 ,i fear1 most of my  
readers  may be more inclined to say    

with ,king ,agrippa3 8,almost thou      
persuadest  me10 little as ,agrippa     
profited by the success he attained4    
,a ,german poet sums up the richness of 
this spiritual peace1 which men  like   
von ,klinger exhibit1 in lines which ,i 
thus slightly adapt3      8,outward life
 is light and shadow1    ,mingled wrong 
and struggling right1    ,but within the
 outward trouble    ,shines a healing1  
inward light4      ,not to us may come  
fulfilment1    ,not below our struggles 
cease1    ,yet the heavenly vision gives
 us1    ,even here1 an inward peace40   
,,iii4 ,,good ,,habits          ,,iii4  
,,good ,,habits      ,the most important
 experience which1 sooner or later1     
meets every  thoughtful person1 both in 
his own intellectual development and in 
his observation of others1 is           
this1--that every act1 and1 indeed1     
every definite thought1 leaves behind it
 an inclination which is like  a        
material influence1 and which makes the 
next similar thought1 or  act1 easier1  

and the next dissimilar thought1 or act1
 more difficult4  ,this is the curse of 
evil conduct1--that it ever brings forth
 more  evil conduct2 and this too is the
 sure and chief reward of good          
conduct1--that it strengthens the       
tendency to good and makes permanent    
what has been gained4 ,here is the      
solemn and tragic fact which lies       
behind all human life1--that what we    
have once done we can never  change4    
,there it remains1 just as it happened1 
little as we may be  inclined to        
believe1 or to admit1 that it is there4 
,and hence it is  that history truly    
written is no entertaining drama1 ending
 in general  reconciliation and embrace1
 but a tragedy which describes the      
movement  of destiny4    ,if1 then1 one 
begins thus to take life seriously1 he  
will soon observe  that its main problem
 does not concern its thought or its    
faith1  still less any outward          
confession which may leave the soul     
within  quite undisturbed4 ,the real    

problem of life is simply and solely one
  of habit1 and the end of all education
 should be to train people to           
inclinations toward good4 ,to choose    
discreetly between good and evil is  not
 always practicable1 for human passions 
are sometimes too strong2  but what may 
be developed is a prompt and spontaneous
 instinct for the  good2 and the ideal  
of human life is one in which all that  
is good has  become sheer habit1 and all
 that is bad is so contrary to nature1  
that  it gives one even a physically    
perceptible and painful shock4 ,failing 
this1 all that one calls virtue or piety
 is but a series of those good          
intentions with which the path to evil1 
as to good1 may be paved4    ,what1     
then1 are the most important of good    
habits8 ,i propose to name a  few1 not  
in any systematic fashion2 for of       
systems of morals the modern  world     
seems to have had more than enough1 and 
it is much more likely to  give some    
attention to purely practical           

suggestions based on practical          
experience4    ,the first and chief rule
 seems to be this1--that one should try 
rather  to cultivate good habits than   
merely negatively to escape from bad    
ones4 ,it is much easier in the inner   
life1 as in the outer1 to attack        
positively than to repel defensively2   
for in aggressive conduct every  success
 brings joy1 while in mere resistance   
much of one's effort seems  to have no  
positive result4 ,the main point to be  
gained is the habit of  prompt          
resolution1 directed immediately toward 
action4 ,what ,voltaire  said of the    
history of nations is in large degree   
true of human life3  8,i have noticed   
that destiny in every case depends upon 
the act of a  moment40    ,the second   
principle of good habits is             
fearlessness4 ,perhaps this is  not     
possible to acquire in a high degree    
without a strong religious  faith4 ,this
 ,i will not discuss4 ,it is1 at any    
rate1 certain that fear  is not only the

 least agreeable of human emotions1 so  
that one should  at any cost conquer it1
 but that it is also the most           
superfluous4 ,for  fear does not prevent
 the approach of that which is feared2  
it only  exhausts beforehand the        
strength which one needs to meet the    
thing he  fears4 ,most of the things    
which we fear to meet are not in reality
 so  terrible as they appear to be when 
looked at from afar4 ,when they meet    
us1 they can be borne4 ,the imagination 
is inclined to picture evils as  more   
permanent and persistent than they are  
really to be4 ,if1 as one's  trouble    
approached1 he should say to himself3   
8,this is likely to last  about three   
days10 one would in many cases be       
justified by the event1  and1 at any    
rate1 would proceed to meet the trouble 
with a better  courage4 ,on the whole1  
the best defence against fear which     
philosophy  can provide is the          
conviction that every fear is a symptom 
of some  wrong condition in ourselves4  

,if one search for that weakness and rid
  himself of it1 then1 for the most     
part1 fear will vanish also4    ,beyond 
this philosophical defence from fear1   
however1 lie certain  spiritual         
conditions of courage4 ,the chief of    
these is determining for  oneself what  
are the best blessings of life4 ,first  
of all1 one must  acquire as soon as    
possible the habit of preferring the    
better things  to the worse4 ,he must   
especially abandon the expectation of   
possessing  at the same time different  
things which are contradictory of each  
other4 ,here is the secret of failure in
 many a career4 ,in my opinion1  a man  
may not only freely choose his aims in  
life1 but he may attain  all those aims 
which he seriously and wholly desires1  
provided that  for the sake of this     
desire he is ready to surrender all     
other desires  which are inconsistent   
with it4 ,the best possessions one can  
have in  life1 and the things which1    
with reasonable sagacity1 are the       

easiest  to get1 are these3 firm moral  
principles1 intellectual discipline1    
love1 loyalty1 the capacity for work and
 the enjoyment of it1 spiritual  and    
physical health1 and very moderate      
worldly possessions4 ,no other          
blessings can be compared with these1   
and some other possessions are          
inconsistent with these--for instance1  
great wealth1 great worldly  honor and  
power1 habitual self-indulgence4 ,these 
are the things which  people commonly   
most desire1 and which they very often  
attain1 but they  must always be        
attained through the surrender of the   
better things4    ,one must1 therefore1 
promptly and unhesitatingly determine to
 surrender  the desire for wealth1      
honor1 and luxury1 and to take in their 
place  other possessions4 ,without this 
determination1 there can be no          
religious or philosophical basis of     
spiritual education4 ,what seems  to be 
spiritual development ends in unreality1
 vacillation1 at last  hypocrisy4 ,it   

must be confessed that even the best of 
men are1 as a  rule1 but half-hearted in
 making this fundamental resolution4    
,they  give up under compulsion one or  
another fragment of their desires4 ,few 
are sagacious enough to foresee the     
choice which sooner or later must  be   
made1 and free themselves while they are
 still young from their  prolonged      
perplexity by one quick and sublime     
decision4    ,a further obstacle to any 
worthy life is the desire for praise1 or
 for  pleasure4 ,the man who is         
dominated by either of these motives is 
simply  a slave of the opinions or      
tastes of others4 ,both of these desires
 must  be1 without compromise1 expelled1
 and sympathy1 which one has always  at 
his command1 must take their place4     
,for1 if the lower desires have  been   
cast out and no higher impulses enter1  
then we have simply an  unendurable     
emptiness in life4 8,when the unclean   
spirit10 says the  ,gospel1 8is gone out
 of a man1 he walketh through dry       

places1 seeking  rest1 and findeth      
none4444 ,then goeth he1 and taketh with
 himself seven  other spirits more      
wicked than himself1 and they enter in  
and dwell  there3 and the last state of 
that man is worse than the first40      
,thus1 at any cost1 and even for the    
sake of one's own soul1 one must  make  
it his habit to cultivate love for      
others1 not first of all  inquiring     
whether they deserve that love or not--a
 question which  is often too hard to   
answer4 ,for without love life is       
without joy1  especially when one has   
outgrown his youth4 ,lacking love1 we   
sink into  indifference1 and            
indifference passes easily into         
aversion1 and one's  aversions so poison
 life that life is no better than death4
    ,further1 our dislikes must be      
directed1 not against people1 but       
against things4 ,good and evil are too  
much mingled in persons to be  justly   
distinguished1 and each unjust judgment 
reacts upon those who  have permitted   

themselves to be unjust and embitters   
their lives4  ,therefore1 permit neither
 your philosophy nor your experience to 
crowd  out of your life the power to    
love4 ,dismiss the preliminary question 
of another's right to be loved4 ,love is
 the only way of keeping one's  inner   
life in peace1 and of maintaining an    
interest in people and  in things4      
,without it1 both people and things     
become by degrees an  annoyance and     
affront4 ,thus love is1 at the same     
time1 the highest  worldly wisdom4 ,one 
who loves is always1 though             
unconsciously1 wiser  than one who does 
not4 ,if you incline to say with the    
poet3      8,this is my creed and this  
will ever be1    ,to love and hate as   
others may treat me60    live for a     
while by this creed1 and you will learn 
soon enough how much  of hate and how   
little of love you are likely to        
receive4    ,in all the points thus far 
indicated1 and especially in the last1  
there  is no place for half-way conduct4

 ,there must be a complete and absolute 
decision1 with no petty and clever      
computations of consequences4 ,and in   
addition to these more decisive rules of
 habit1 there are many smaller  ones    
which go to reinforce and make          
practicable the larger principles4  ,for
 instance1 there is the ,gospel command3
 8,let the dead bury their  dead40 ,the 
dead are the best people to do this     
work4 ,if one refrain  from controversy 
about what is past and gone1 then one   
may give himself  to tasks of positive  
construction1 and not merely to that    
destructive  work which1 even if it be  
essential1 should be subordinate4 ,many 
a  memorial has been dedicated to those 
who destroy which should have been      
reserved for those who fulfil4    ,and  
yet1 one must not let himself be        
cheated4 ,he must not even be  thought  
to be easily duped4 ,he must let the    
would-be clever people know  that he    
reads their thoughts and knows what they
 are seeking4 ,one may1  as ,i have     

already said1 read such thoughts quite  
thoroughly if one be  no longer blinded 
by any selfishness of his own4    ,apart
 from this degree of self-defence1 which
 is so far necessary1  the better plan  
in general is to see the good side of   
people and  to take for granted that    
there is good in them4 ,then it not only
  happens that they often make the      
effort to be good and become actually   
better through one's appreciation of    
them1 but it also happens that  one is  
saved from a personal experience of     
regret or distress4 ,for  intercourse   
with persons whom one recognizes as bad1
 demoralizes one's  own nature1 and in  
the case of sensitive persons may go so 
far as to  have even a physical effect4 
,what is bad needs no severity of       
criticism  or of reproach4 ,in most     
cases it needs only to be brought to the
 light4  ,then1 even if the man protest 
that he is not bad1 his conscience      
judges him4 ,therefore1 when one must   
blame others1 he should proceed  with   

great calmness1 speak of the matter     
without disguise and without  glossing1 
but simply and without passion4         
,passionate reproaches seldom  do good1 
and good people who lack sympathy are   
apt to be very trying4  ,there is a kind
 of virtuous character not unfamiliar in
 some ,protestant  circles which to     
those who differ from its convictions   
seems to have  no capacity for love4 ,it
 is especially aggravating to young     
people1 so  that they often prefer the  
company of the vicious to that of moral 
but  cold-blooded friends4    ,finally1 
it may not appear possible for you to be
 equally friendly with  everybody4      
,well1 then1 discriminate among people1 
but always in favor  of the humble1 the 
poor1 the simple1 the uneducated1 the   
children1 even  the animals and plants4 
,never1 on the other hand1 if you desire
 a quiet  mind1 seek the favor of       
important people1 and never expect      
gratitude  for condescension to the     
humble1 but count the love they have for

 you  as precious as you do your love   
for them4    ,there are many other of   
these lesser instances of good habits   
which ,i  might still further mention1  
and if my reader should recall them1 he 
is not to regard them as unrecognized by
 me4 ,i only invite him1 in the  first  
place1 to put to practical use my list  
as thus far suggested4 ,as  he does so1 
let him notice--as he soon must         
notice--that it is much  more to his    
purpose to begin practically with one   
good habit than to  begin by making a   
complete catalogue of all4 ,the real    
difficulty in  this cultivation of good 
habits--indeed the only difficulty--is  
in  ridding the heart of its natural    
selfishness4 ,for selfishness is the    
practical obstacle to good habits1      
though it may pretend to believe in     
them4 ,no one who understands himself   
will deny that there is in every  one a 
curious tendency to moral degeneration4 
,it is often something  that literally  
borders on depravity4 ,now1 this        

inclination to evil is  to be conquered 
only by a superior force2 and the whole 
problem1 both  of philosophy and of     
religion1--a problem as old as the world
 and yet  new with each individual1--is 
summed up in the question3 8,where shall
 ,i  find this superior force which     
shall make me inclined to goodness and  
shall renew that spiritual health which 
is essential for the right  conduct of  
life80    ,to this question1 there are  
still given many different answers4     
,dante1  in the famous twenty-seventh   
canto of the ,purgatorio1 says3         
8,when underneath us was the stairway   
all    ,run o'er1 and we were on the    
highest step1    ,virgilius fastened    
upon me his eyes1    ,and said3         
99       99       99       99       99  
,by intellect and art ,i here have      
brought thee40#b    ,by the guidance of 
reason1 then1 the traveller has been led
 to the ,holy  ,mountain1 where at last 
he hears his guide say3      8,take     
thine own pleasure for thy guide        

henceforth2    ,beyond the steep ways   
and the narrow art thou40    ,and       
yet--and here we notice a marked        
inconsistency in the great  medival poet
 and philosopher--it is an angel who    
bears these mortal  souls across the sea
 and brings them to the foot of this    
mountain1  and another angel repeatedly 
restrains them from returning on their  
way1 even when they have passed the     
,gate of ,grace2 and by the diamond     
threshold1 beyond which none may pass   
without his bidding1 sits a third       
angel1 to whom one may approach only by 
a miracle of ,god's grace4 ,in  all this
 journey1 then1 the 8intellect and art0 
which accompany the  traveller play1 we 
must confess1 a very limited rle4       
,this great question1 however1 of the   
moral dynamic is1 for the moment1  not  
my theme1 and its answer is1 ,i doubt   
not1 to be finally reached  only by the 
way of personal experience4 ,only this  
is to be said1 once  more1 that one's   
self-discipline begins with the         

discipline of the  will4 ,first of all  
comes the definite resolution to pursue 
one worthy  end of life with singleness 
of mind and to turn from all that is    
opposed to it4 ,given this decision of  
the will1 and there follows the         
capacity to act4 ,and this search is not
 in vain1 when one determines  to make  
it a universal and an unreserved search1
 and to recognize  the power that is    
attained as the only possible proof that
 the right  way has been found4         
,whatever brings with it no sense of    
supporting1  calming1 ethical power is  
not true1 and whatever does contribute  
this  power must1 at least1 have some   
degree of truth in it4 ,in the future1  
any philosophy of life which proposes to
 be more effective than our  present    
philosophy must meet this test4 ,all    
else leads astray4      8,why is it that
 we shrink away    ,when death1 our     
friend1 draws near some day8    ,we see 
the shadowy presence stand1    ,but not 
the gift within the hand6    ,so shrinks

 from love the human heart    ,as       
though1 like death1 love came to part1  
,for where love enters1 self must die   
,and life find love its destiny4    ,o  
death of self6 ,pass like the night1    
,and waken us from death to light60     
,,iv4 ,,the ,,children ,,of ,,this      
,,world ,,are ,,wiser ,,than ,,the      
,,children ,,of ,,light          ,,iv4  
,,the ,,children ,,of ,,this ,,world    
,,are ,,wiser ,,than ,,the ,,children   
,,of ,,light      ,i do not question the
 truth of this text1 but ,i cannot fail 
to observe  in it the most familiar     
defence of worldly wisdom against the   
spirit  of idealism4 ,the objection to  
idealism which we most commonly hear is 
this1 that it is well enough in theory1 
but that it does not work in  practice2 
and if it be really true that worldly   
wisdom and idealism are  irreconcilable1
 then most people must hold to the      
first4 ,they have to  live on this      
earth1 and to deal with life as it is2  
they must accept  the inevitable1 even  

though it costs them a moment of deep   
regret to  abandon their idealism4 ,this
 world calls for worldly wisdom2 another
  world may be blessed with light--on   
this stone of stumbling many a life     
which has already overcome the common   
temptation of selfishness is  still     
wrecked and lost4    ,the first thing   
that strikes us1 then1 in this dangerous
 text is its  high appreciation of what 
it calls the children of this world4    
,indeed1  these people are never so     
severely handled by ,christ as are the  
priests  and the devout ,pharisees of   
his time4 ,such sayings as3 8,the       
publicans  and the harlots go into the  
kingdom of ,god before you10 are not    
uttered  against the children of this   
world4 ,the children of this world know 
what they want and pursue the end they  
set before themselves with  energy and  
persistence1 putting away all that      
stands between them and  it2 and this   
the children of light1 at least in their
 earlier stages  of development1 seldom 

do4 ,still further1 the children of this
 world  are not wholly impervious to the
 higher motives of life4 ,their hearts  
are not the rock where the good seed    
falls in vain4 ,they are merely  the    
soil which is choked by other growth1   
where the seed takes root  but cannot   
prosper4 ,the children of this world may
 at any rate claim  that it is not they 
who have built the crosses and scaffolds
 for the  servants of the truth4    ,we 
must not then think of the children of  
this world as absolutely  bad or as     
unappreciative of the excellent4 ,on the
 contrary1 they are  generally better   
than they pretend to be1 and among them 
are many  persons who are1 as it were1  
hypocrites reversed2 who conceal1 that  
is  to say1 their best thoughts4 ,what  
they lack is commonly the courage  to be
 good4 ,they do not have a sufficiently 
substantial confidence  in the moral    
order of the world to guide them in the 
struggle for  existence4 ,and1 in fact1 
this assurance of the moral order does  

not at first sight appear to be         
justified4 ,on the contrary1 one who    
deserts the wisdom of the world must    
anticipate1 first of all1 that  he will 
be deserted by the world and that he    
will not improbably pass  the greater   
part of his life in uncertainty whether 
he has chosen the  better path4 ,such is
 the testimony of all who have          
practically followed  this path and have
 not merely heard of it or preached     
about it4 ,thus1  the children of this  
world are simply the people who prefer  
to travel  the common and well-known    
road4 ,the unfamiliar path may appear to
  them in theory very beautiful and     
sublime1 but they do not find it a      
practicable path to follow4    ,it is   
still more difficult to say who are the 
children of light4 ,it is  true that the
 ,gospels sometimes mention them1 but   
what is the meaning  of the light of    
which the ,gospels speak8 ,whence comes 
it1 and how does  it shine into the life
 of men8 ,here we touch at once the     

greatest of  human problems4 ,whence    
come we8 ,whither do we go8 ,what is our
 destiny8  ,all that can be said in     
plain words of the children of light is 
this3  that they are seeking that which 
is beyond reality1 and are receptive  to
 the suggestions of the ideal world4    
,the children of light are  those who   
supremely desire something better than  
to eat and drink and  to-morrow die4    
,this is the motive which most stirs    
their hearts and  wills1 and out of this
 desire comes to them by degrees1 first1
 faith1  and then conviction4    ,this  
way to the light is in a certain degree 
indicated in the ,gospel  of ,matthew3  
8,blessed are the pure in heart3 for    
they shall see ,god02  and it is more   
precisely described in the ,gospel of   
,luke3 8,if thy  whole body be full of  
light1 the whole shall be full of       
light0--a  passage whose exact meaning  
no one has clearly determined4 ,beyond  
such  evidence as this one can hardly   
go2 for1 if we do1 the children of  this

 world1 who know nothing of such        
experiences and regard them as          
extravagances or worse1 will at the best
 turn away like ,felix and the          
,athenians1 saying3 8,we will hear thee 
again of this matter02 having no  more  
inclination than ,felix to be further   
drawn into such disturbing  and         
unprofitable discussions4 ,the dreams of
 the children of light1 they  will say1 
lead to nothing and had better be       
forgotten4    ,it must be sadly         
confessed that a great part of religious
 instruction  has been singularly       
unfruitful4 ,indeed1 religion cannot be 
imparted  by instruction4 ,it assumes   
not only a faith in that which is beyond
  the world of knowledge1 but also a    
faith in the teachers of religion4  ,the
 teachers of religion1 therefore1 can1  
at the best1 only produce  in one a kind
 of mental disposition4 ,they can free  
the mind from  disinclination to their  
view or from positive incapacity to     
share it1  and they can fortify         

conviction by their teaching4 ,this     
limitation in  religious instruction has
 more than one cause4 ,it sometimes     
happens  because the hearer's way of    
life is inconsistent with idealism4 ,it 
is  also1 and quite as often1 caused by 
a false definition of religion--the     
notion that religion is a matter of     
doctrine1 a kind of science which  can  
be taught and learned4    ,wherein1     
then1 it will be asked1 lies the        
advantage of the wisdom  of the light   
over the wisdom of this world8 ,surely1 
the wisdom of  the world is a more      
obvious possession1 and guarantees to us
 more of  the good things of life than  
the children of light can secure4 ,the  
advantage of the children of light1 ,i  
answer1 is threefold4 ,it is to  be     
found1 first1 in the assurance that they
 are the possessors of  truth and are   
made thereby inwardly and wholly at     
peace4 ,lessing1 in  his well-known     
words1 announced that truth was not a   
thing which men  should desire to       

possess4 ,happiness1 he conceived1 was  
to be found in  the search for truth1   
not in its possession4 ,but the         
possession of  the truth brings with it 
the only true happiness--a happiness    
which  is abundant and unspeakable1 and 
which no man who has in any degree      
obtained it would exchange for all the  
other good things of earth4 ,for  the   
fundamental question is not of          
possessing any definite outward  thing1 
but of the inward happiness attained    
through that possession4  ,even the     
selfish1 the envious1 and the           
self-indulgent do not regard  that which
 they want to possess as their real aim4
 ,it is only in their  eyes the         
essential means to the real end1 and    
that end is their own  inward happiness4
 ,and this is precisely where they are  
self-deceived4  ,for there is this      
solemn fact about the order of the      
world1 which  reveals itself to every   
candid observer1--that such people may  
attain  all that they earnestly desire1 

yet not attain with it their own peace4 
,their attainment itself1 their very    
success1 becomes their punishment4  ,all
 this may be perhaps somewhat hard to   
understand1 but for the moment  it may  
be accepted merely as a working         
hypothesis1 and one may later  observe  
in life whether it is not true4 ,it is  
by using thus a working  hypothesis that
 even natural science most easily       
reaches the truth4    ,the second       
advantage which the spirit of the truth1
 as we may  paraphrase it1 has over the 
wisdom of this world is this3 that when 
brought to the test it is in reality    
much wiser than worldly wisdom4         
,nothing but the wisdom of the children 
of light is in harmony with  the real   
laws of the universe4 ,that is the      
reason why these seemingly  unwise      
persons still for the most part pass    
through the experiences  of life with   
less trouble and harm than the wise of  
this world4 ,the  consciences of the    
children of light are undisturbed1 and a

 troubled  conscience embitters the best
 joys4 ,they pass through life also with
  much less hurry1 worry1 and fear1 both
 of people and of events4 ,none  of     
these distresses of life is to be       
escaped except through this frame  of   
mind4 ,finally1 they live more          
peacefully--not only in their own       
hearts1 but also with other             
people--because they live without the   
passions1 hatreds1 and jealousies which 
make life hard to endure4 ,even  those  
who do not desire for themselves this   
habit of mind1 and are not  indeed      
capable of it1 as soon as they are      
convinced that the children  of light   
mean what they seem1 that their attitude
 is not merely a  cloak to cover the    
wisdom of the world1 and that they are  
not vain and  supercilious1 grow more   
attached to these 8,idealists0 than to  
people  like themselves4 ,the affection 
which goes out toward such persons is   
quite beyond parallel4 ,it is the       
reverence1 for instance1 felt toward    

characters like ,nicolaus von ,fle1 or  
,francis of ,assisi1 or ,catherine  of  
,siena1 or in our own time ,gordon      
,pasha4 ,thousands1 for example1 in  all
 lands deeply lamented ,general         
,gordon's death and felt it to be a     
national disaster1 although they had not
 the least notion of following  his     
life4 ,it is a form of sentiment which  
the most distinguished and  most        
successful political ruler of our own   
time does not inspire4  ,persons like   
these1 just because they have denied    
themselves what seem  to others the good
 things of life and have abandoned the  
competition  for them1 have become the  
true rulers of their people and the     
heroes  of humanity4 ,truth1 happiness1 
freedom from fear and care1 peace  with 
oneself and with all men1 the sincere   
respect and affection of  all1--one     
would think that these might be         
recognized as beyond a  doubt the good  
things of life1 compared with which the 
accumulation  of wealth1 the increase of

 honor1 and the resources of luxury have
 no  weight or significance4 ,indeed1   
the blessings of the children of light  
would outweigh the rewards of worldly   
wisdom1 even if these rewards  could be 
attained with certainty and without the 
bitterness1 anxiety1  and rivalry which 
inevitably accompany them4    ,lastly1  
these ideal possessions have this       
further advantage1--that when  attained1
 they are secure2 and that they are     
within any one's power to  attain4 ,one 
need only desire them seriously and     
wholly1 and cease from  a hesitating    
dependence on the wisdom and the        
successes of this world1  and then1 as  
many witnesses will testify from their  
own experience1 the  blessings of the   
children of light are surely attained4  
,it may not be  through one effort4     
,indeed1 in most cases1 it only happens 
after one or  more crises in one's      
life--crises which are in fact not      
unlike death  itself1 and in which a man
 renounces all his early hopes4 ,in such

 a  crisis1 however1 the worst of the   
way of light is passed4 ,in everything  
else it is a much easier and more       
agreeable way than the worldly way1  and
 one is sure to meet much better        
company4    ,christ has compared his way
 of life to the bearing of a yoke1 and  
indeed it always is a yoke2 but compared
 with other ways of life1 it is  a much 
easier and lighter yoke4 ,that is the   
testimony of all1 without  exception1   
who have ever borne that yoke1 and not  
one single person  has ever been found  
who1 at the end of such a life1 whatever
 may have  been its outward             
circumstances1 has looked back upon it  
with regret1 or  has confessed that the 
way of the world was better and happier4
 ,on the  other hand1 how many there    
have been since the days of ,king       
,solomon  who have come to the end of a 
life which1 to the wisdom of this world1
  seemed successful and free1 and have  
found it only 8vanity of vanities40     
,one would think that this single fact  

of human experience would be  decisive4 
,it fails of its effect only1 as we     
know1 because the lower  wisdom         
withholds one from that higher wisdom   
which ventures the larger  gain for the 
higher stake4 ,yet1 ,i will not reproach
 those who follow  the lower wisdom4 ,i 
simply leave it to the reader's own     
reflection to  decide whether1 on       
weighing the case as he best can1 and   
considering  the conditions in which    
human life is ordinarily placed1 he will
 do  better to choose the lower or the  
higher way4 ,for1 after all1 the most   
foolish people are beyond question those
 who follow this pilgrimage of  life for
 seventy or eighty years without ever   
clearly deciding whether  to choose the 
wisdom of this world or the wisdom of   
light2 and to this  class of foolish    
persons1 who1 for the most part1        
accomplish nothing in  the world1       
belong1 curiously enough1 a very        
considerable number of what  we call the
 cultivated people of our day4          

,v4 ,,the ,,art ,,of ,,having ,,time    
,v4 ,,the ,,art ,,of ,,having ,,time    
,i have no time1--that is not only the  
most familiar and convenient  excuse for
 not doing one's duty2 it is also1 one  
must confess1 the  excuse which has in  
it the greatest appearance of truth4 ,is
 it a good  excuse8 ,i must at once     
admit that within certain limits the    
excuse is  reasonable1 but ,i shall try 
to show how it is that this lack of time
  occurs1 and how one may1 at least in  
some degree1 find the time he  needs4   
,thus my sermon differs from those of   
the preachers1 in having1  not three    
heads1 but only two4 ,this ,i say to    
propitiate those who may  protest that  
they have no time for reading4    ,the  
most immediate reason1 then1 for lack of
 time is to be found in  the character  
of the present age4 ,there is just now a
 prevailing  restlessness1 and a        
continuous mood of excitement1 from     
which1 unless  one make himself a       
hermit1 he cannot wholly escape4 ,one   

who lives at  all in these days must    
live fast4 ,if one could observe the    
modern  world as a bird might look down 
upon it1 and at the same time could     
distinguish the details of its life1 he 
would see beneath him a picture  like   
that of a restless and swarming         
ant-hill1 where even the railway        
trains1 as they cross and recross each  
other by night and day1 would  be enough
 to bewilder his brain4 ,something of   
this bewilderment is1  in fact1 felt by 
almost every one who is involved in the 
movement of  the time4 ,there are a     
great many people who have not the least
 idea  why they are thus all day long in
 a hurry4 ,people whose circumstances   
permit complete leisure are to be seen  
rushing through the streets1 or         
whirling away in a train1 or crowding   
out of the theatre1 as if there  were   
awaiting them at home the most serious  
tasks4 ,the fact is that  they simply   
yield to the general movement4 ,one     
might be led to fancy  that the most    

precious and most unusual possession on 
earth was the  possession of time4 ,we  
say that time is money1 yet people who  
have  plenty of money seem to have no   
time2 and even the people who despise   
money are constantly admonishing us1 and
 our over-worked children1  to remember 
the ,apostle's saying1 and 8to redeem   
the time40 ,thus the  modern world seems
 pitiless in its exhortation to work4   
,human beings  are driven like horses   
until they drop4 ,many lives are ruined 
by the  pace1 but there are always more 
lives ready like horses to be driven4   
,yet the results of this restless haste 
are in the main not convincing4  ,there 
have been periods in history when       
people1 without the  restlessness and   
fatigue that now prevail1 accomplished  
far more in  many forms of human        
activity than men achieve to-day4 ,where
 are we now  to find a man like ,luther1
 who could write his incomparable       
translation  of the ,bible in an        
incredibly brief space of time1 and yet 

not break  down at the end of the task1 
or be forced to spend months or years   
in recreation or vacation8 ,where are   
the scholars whose works fill  thousands
 of volumes1 or the artists like        
,michael ,angelo and ,raphael1  who     
could be at once painters1 architects1  
sculptors and poets8 ,where  shall we   
find a man like ,titian1 who at ninety  
years of age could still  do his work   
without the necessity of retiring each  
year to a summer  resort or sanitarium8 
,the fact is that the nervous haste of  
our day  cannot be wholly explained by  
assuming that modern men do more work1  
or better work1 than their predecessors4
 ,it must be possible to live1  if not  
without perfect rest1 still without     
haste1 and yet accomplish  something4   
,the first condition of escape from this
 ineffective haste is1 beyond  doubt1   
the resolution not to be swept away by  
the prevailing current  of the age1 as  
though one had no will of his own4 ,on  
the contrary1 one  must oppose this     

current and determine to live as a free 
man1 and not  as a slave either of work 
or of pleasure4 ,our present system of  
the  organization of labor makes this   
resolution far from easy4 ,indeed1  our 
whole manner of thinking about          
money-making and our painstaking        
provision of money for future           
generations--our capitalist system1 in  
short--increase the difficulty4 ,here is
 the solemn background of our  present  
question1 with which ,i do not propose  
to deal4 ,we may simply  notice that the
 problem of the use of time is closely  
involved with  the problem of that      
radical change which civilization itself
 must  experience before it reaches a   
more equitable division of labor and a  
more equitable distribution of          
prosperity4 ,so long as there are       
people1  and especially educated people1
 who work only when they are forced  to 
work and for no other purpose than to   
free themselves and their  children as  
soon as possible from the burden of     

work2 so long as there  are people who  
proudly say3 8,je suis d'une famille o  
on n'avait pas  de plume qu'aux         
chapeaux10--so long must there be many  
people who have  too little time simply 
because a few have too much4 ,all this1 
however1  is of the future4 ,the only   
practical problem for our own age is to 
maintain a sort of defensive attitude   
toward our lack of time1 and to  seek   
less radical ways of fortifying         
ourselves4 ,let me enumerate some  of   
these ways4    ,the best way of all to  
have time is to have the habit of       
regular  work1 not to work by fits and  
starts1 but in definite hours of the    
day1--though not of the night1--and to  
work six days in the week1 not  five and
 not seven4 ,to turn night into day or  
,sunday into a work-day  is the best way
 to have neither time nor capacity for  
work4 ,even  a vacation fails of its    
purpose1 if it be given to no occupation
  whatever4 ,i am not without hope that 
the time may come when medical  science 

will positively demonstrate that regular
 work1 especially  as one grows older1  
is the best preservative both of        
physical and  intellectual health4 ,i   
may even add for the sake of women among
 my  readers1 that here is the best     
preservative of beauty also4 ,idleness  
is infinitely more wearisome than work1 
and induces also much more  nervousness2
 for it weakens that power of resistance
 which is the  foundation of health4    
,work1 it is true1 may be excessive1 but
 this is most obviously the  case when  
one cares more for the result of his    
work than he does for  the work itself4 
,under such conditions1 it is peculiarly
 difficult  to exercise moderation1 and 
as an ancient preacher remarks with a   
sigh3 8,work is given to every man      
according to his power1 but his  heart  
cannot abide by it40 ,in such cases1    
however1 ,nature herself  has given us a
 monitor in that physical fatigue which 
work itself  produces4 ,one need only   
take account of such fatigue1 and not   

cheat it  by stimulants1 and then1 even 
without much philosophizing1 he will not
  lack self-control4    ,the habit of   
regular work is further greatly         
encouraged by having a  definite        
vocation which involves positive tasks  
and obligations4 ,thus  the socialistic 
romances which draw a picture of the    
future of the  world are quite justified
 when they describe the universal       
organization  of industry under the form
 of an army1 for an army represents that
 way  of life in which order and duty in
 one's work are most emphasized4  ,every
 ,swiss citizen knows that1 with the    
exception of occasional  excessive      
demands1 he has never been in better    
health than when serving  his term in   
the army4 ,every hour in the day then   
had its regular and  sufficient task1   
and no one was called to consider       
whether he desired  to do things or not 
to do them1 while no one had time to    
anticipate  the tasks of the following  
day4 ,here is the misfortune of many    

rich  people in our day1--that they have
 no definite vocation4 ,as the common   
saying has it1 8,there is no #8must' for
 them40 ,for many such persons1 a       
specific business would be a redemption 
from the dilettantism which now         
threatens their peace of mind4 ,they    
might well follow the example of  that  
,bavarian prince who has undertaken the 
profession of an oculist4 ,i  am even   
inclined to believe that part of the    
movement toward the higher  education   
which is so conspicuous among women in  
our day is simply the  response to this 
demand of human nature for some definite
 vocation4    ,another question much    
discussed in our time concerns the      
division of  one's working day4 ,in     
great cities with their vast distances1 
in the  case of unmarried persons       
engaged in more or less mechanical      
tasks1  and in the case of all people   
who regard their work as a burden to be 
thrown off as soon as possible1 there is
 some advantage in working  continuously

 and without interruption4 ,this is what
 we are in the  habit of calling the    
,english method4 ,it is never possible1 
however1  to accomplish in this way so  
much intellectual work of a productive  
character as may be done under the      
,swiss custom of a pause at midday4  ,no
 one can continuously1 or even with     
momentary pauses1 devote himself  for   
six or eight hours to work of an        
intellectual character4 ,even if  he    
allow himself an hour's interval1 the   
sense of strain remains1  together with 
an abbreviation of time for work in the 
afternoon4  ,on the other hand1 under   
the ,swiss custom1 it is perfectly easy 
to  work for ten or eleven hours a      
day1--four in the morning1 four in  the 
afternoon1 and two or three in the      
evening1 and few of us could  accomplish
 our work in that eight-hour day of     
which we hear so much1  although we have
 not the honor of being reckoned as of  
the class known  as 8working-people40   
,the next essential point is not to have

 too much fussiness about one's  work1  
or1 in other words1 not to permit       
oneself elaborate preparations  as to   
time1 place1 surroundings1 inclination1 
or mood4 ,the inclination  to work comes
 of itself when one has begun his work1 
and it is even  true that a kind of     
fatigue with which one often            
begins--unless1  indeed1 it has some    
positive or physical cause--disappears  
as one  seriously attacks his work1 and 
does not simply1 as it were1 defend     
himself from it4      8,begin with      
cheerfulness thy task      ,nor ask how 
it may end1    ,farther than all that   
thou couldst ask      ,its issues surely
 tend40    ,in short1 if one permit     
himself habitually to stop and ask that 
indolent part of him which the ,apostle 
,paul calls 8the old man0 what  he would
 like to do1 or would prefer not to do1 
8the old man0 is most  unlikely to vote 
for serious work1 but betakes himself to
 excellent  religious or moral advice4  
,the bad part of one must be forced to  

the  habit of obeying1 without          
grumbling1 the 8categorical imperative0 
of the better part4 ,when one has       
achieved this amount of soldierly       
discipline in himself1 then he is on the
 right path1 and until he has  reached  
this point1 he has not found his way4   
,here he first learns  whether his life 
is saved or lost4 ,sometimes a man      
proposes to himself  to collect his     
thoughts before he begins1 or to        
meditate on the work  he is going to do4
 ,in most cases1 this is merely an      
excuse for doing  nothing1 and it is    
most obviously such an excuse1 when1 to 
encourage  this preliminary reflection1 
a man lights his cigar4 ,in short1 one's
  best ideas come while he is working1  
and often1 indeed1 while he is  working 
on a wholly different topic4 ,a         
distinguished modern preacher  has      
remarked with originality1 though not   
with strict accuracy1 that  there is not
 a single case mentioned in the ,bible  
in which an angel  appeared to a man who

 was not at work4    ,in close          
connection with this point should be    
mentioned the habit of  using fragments 
of time4 ,many people have no time      
because they always  want to have a     
large amount of uninterrupted time      
before they set  themselves to work4 ,in
 such a plan they are doubly deceived4  
,on the  one hand1 in many circumstances
 of life these prolonged periods are    
difficult to secure1 and1 on the other  
hand1 the power of work which  one      
possesses is not so unlimited that it   
can continuously utilize  long stretches
 of time4 ,this is peculiarly true of   
such intellectual  work as is devoted to
 productive effort4 ,of such work it may
 be said  without exaggeration that the 
first hour1 or even the first half-hour1
  is the most fruitful4 ,dismissing1    
however1 these large intellectual       
undertakings1 there are to be found in  
connection with every piece of  work a  
great number of subordinate tasks of    
preparation or arrangement  which are of

 a mechanical nature1 and for each of   
which a quarter of an  hour or so is    
sufficient4 ,these minor matters1 if not
 disposed of in  small fragments of time
 which would otherwise be wasted1 will  
absorb  the time and power which should 
be devoted to one's important task4 ,it 
might1 indeed1 be reasonably maintained 
that the use of these fragments  of     
time1 together with the complete        
dismissal of the thought1 8,it is  not  
worth while to begin to-day10 accounts  
for half of the intellectual  results   
which one attains4    ,another important
 means for saving time is the habit of  
changing the  kind of work in which one 
is engaged4 ,change is almost as restful
  as complete rest1 and if one acquire a
 certain degree of skill in  his ways of
 change1--a skill which comes from      
experience rather than  from            
theorizing1--one may carry on his work  
for almost the entire  day4 ,moreover1  
so far as my experience goes1 it is a   
mistake to plan  that one piece of work 

shall be finished before another is     
begun4  ,the judicious course1 on the   
contrary1 is that which prevails among  
artists1 who are often engaged on a     
whole series of sketches1 and turn1     
according to the momentary inclination  
which overmasters them1 first to  one   
piece of work and then to another4      
,here1 too1 it may be remarked is  an   
excellent way of maintaining one's      
self-control4 ,the old ,adam in us      
often persuades the better nature that  
he is not really lazy1 but is  simply   
not in the mood for a certain piece of  
work4 ,in this state of  things1 one    
should forthwith say to himself3 8,well1
 if you do not feel  inclined to this   
piece of work1 take up with another40   
,then one will  discover whether the    
difficulty is a disinclination to a     
special form  of work1 to which one     
might yield1 or a disinclination to do  
any work  at all4 ,in short1 one must   
not permit oneself to deceive oneself4  
,another point to be considered is the  

habit of working quickly1 not  giving   
too much care to outward form1 but      
devoting one's efforts to  the content  
of the task4 ,the experience of most    
workers will bear  me out when ,i say   
that the most profitable and effective  
tasks are  those which have been done   
quickly4 ,i am well aware that ,horace  
advises one to take nine years for the  
perfecting of verses2 but such          
scrupulousness presupposes an excessive 
notion of the quality of one's  work4   
,thoroughness is a very beautiful and   
necessary trait1 in so far  as it       
concerns truth1 for truth cannot be too 
thoroughly explored2 but  there is a    
spurious thoroughness which absorbs     
itself in all manner of  details and    
subordinate questions which are not     
worth investigating1  or which cannot be
 wholly known4 ,thoroughness of this    
kind is never  satisfied with itself4   
,it is sometimes mistaken for great     
learning2  for to many people learning  
is profound only when wholly detached   

from  practical usefulness1 or when an  
author1 for a whole lifetime1 has       
brooded over one book4    ,truth1       
wherever it may be sought1 is1 as a     
rule1 so simple that it  often does not 
look learned enough4 ,people feel as if 
they must  add to it something which is 
not essential to the nature of truth1   
in order to give to truth a respectable 
and academic look4 ,among  learned      
people1 it is often the case that one   
must first earn his  reputation by some 
piece of work which is of no use to     
himself or to  any one else1 and in     
which he heaps together the hitherto    
undiscovered  rubbish of some remote    
century4 ,lassalle was able to write his
 famous  work on ,herakleitos without   
forfeiting his interest in the affairs  
of modern life1 but there are few       
authors with this capacity for          
practical concerns4 ,on the contrary1   
many authors in their maiden  venture of
 learned work not only have their       
eyesight ruined by their  researches1   

but lose their inward vision1 which is a
 matter of much  more consequence4 ,they
 reach the goal of their ambition and   
become of  no further use4    ,a further
 way of saving a deal of time is to do  
one's work and be  done with it2 not to 
deal with it1 that is to say1 in a      
provisional  or preparatory manner4     
,this kind of immediate thoroughness is 
in our  day extremely rare1 and in my   
opinion much of the blame should be     
laid to the newspapers1 which accustom  
people to superficial surveys  of truth4
 ,the editorial writer says1 at the     
close of his article1 8,we  shall return
 to this subject later02 but in fact he 
never returns4 ,so  it is with the      
modern reader4 ,if he wants to make use 
of what he has  read1 he has to begin   
the reading of it afresh4 ,his skimming 
of the  subject--as the phrase is--has  
had no result1 and so the time that he  
has given to skimming has been lost4    
,this is the reason why people  have so 
little thorough knowledge in our day1   

and why1 though they  have studied a    
subject ten times1 on the eleventh      
occasion when they  need it1 they must  
study it again4 ,indeed1 there are      
people who would  be extremely glad if  
they could remember even the works of   
which they  themselves were the authors4
    ,with this point is obviously       
connected the need of orderliness and of
  the reading of original authorities4  
,the habit of orderliness saves one     
from the need of hunting for material1  
and this search for material is  not    
only1 as we all know1 a great waste of  
time1 but tempts us also to  lose       
pleasure in our work4 ,further1         
orderliness permits us to allow  one    
subject to be forgotten1 while we apply 
ourselves to the next4 ,the  reading of 
original sources1 on the other hand1    
gives one the advantage  of being sure  
of his material1 and of having his own  
judgment about  it4 ,there is this      
further advantage1 that the original    
sources are in  most cases not only much

 briefer1 but much more interesting and 
much  easier to remember than the books 
that have been written about them4      
,second-hand knowledge never gives the  
courage and self-confidence which  one  
gets from acquaintance with original    
sources4 ,one of the great  mistakes of 
modern scholarship1 as distinguished    
from that of the  classic world1 is--as 
,winkelmann has pointed out--that our   
learning in  so many cases consists in  
knowing only what other people have     
known4    ,but1 after all1 we have not  
yet named the chief element in the  art 
of having time4 ,it consists in         
banishing from one's life all           
superfluities4 ,much which modern       
civilization regards as essential1  is1 
in reality1 superfluous1 and while ,i   
shall indicate several things  which    
appear to me unnecessary1 ,i shall be   
quite content to have my  reader        
supplement them by his own impressions4 
,for instance1 one  superfluity is beer4
 ,it is superfluous at any time of the  

day and  especially when drunk in the   
morning1 after the fashion made popular 
by  ,prince ,bismarck4 ,perhaps the     
greatest contributors to waste of time  
in  this century are the brewers1 and   
the time will come when people may      
regard the excessive drinking of beer as
 they now regard the excessive  use of  
alcohol in other forms4    ,i may name  
as a second superfluity the excessive   
reading of newspapers4  ,there are in   
our day people who regard themselves as 
educated1 and who  yet read nothing but 
newspapers4 ,their houses are built and 
furnished  in all possible--and         
impossible--styles1 and yet you will    
find in  them hardly a dozen good books4
 ,they get their whole supply of ideas  
out of the newspapers and magazines1 and
 these publications are more  and more  
designed to meet the needs of such      
people4 ,this excessive1  or even       
exclusive1 reading of newspapers is     
often excused on account  of our        
political interests2 but one has only to

 notice what it is in  the newspapers   
which people are most anxious to read to
 arrive at a  judgment whether this     
excuse is sound4 ,i may add that the    
time of day  dedicated to the newspaper 
is by no means unimportant4 ,people1 for
  instance1 who devote their first hour 
in the morning to the reading of  one or
 two newspapers lose thereby the        
freshest interest in their day's  work4 
,another superfluity is the excessive   
going to meetings4 ,a man who is  much  
devoted to such gatherings can scarcely 
find time for serious  work4 ,indeed1 it
 is not necessary for him to do         
independent work2 for  he has           
substituted for his own judgment the    
judgment of the crowd1 and  the crowd   
carries him on its shoulders4 ,a great  
waste of time occurs1  further1 among   
one class of people at the present time1
 through a  pretended devotion to art4  
,i do not refer to art practised by     
oneself1  but to art as passively       
accepted2 and ,i should perhaps make    

exception  in what ,i say1 of the art of
 music4 ,in other forms of art many     
persons  permit those impulses which    
should have stirred them to idealism1   
and to responsiveness toward the        
beautiful1 to evaporate in sthetic      
satisfactions4 ,many women1 to speak    
frankly1 are educated to acquire  mere  
artistic appreciation2 and they cannot1 
without severe struggles  and against   
great hindrances1 find the way back from
 this mood to any  profitable and       
spiritually satisfying work4    ,another
 superfluity is the devotion to social  
duties and the whole  purposeless system
 of making 8calls40 ,these habits are   
the mere shadows  of genuine friendship1
 and of the intellectual stimulus       
through  personal intercourse which they
 were originally intended to express4 ,i
  need not speak of superfluous         
amusements4 ,the theatre1 for instance1 
to accomplish its legitimate aim needs  
so fundamental a reform that  there     
would be really nothing left of its     

present methods4 ,finally1  and of quite
 another category among the elements of 
culture in our  time1 ,i may name as    
superfluous the superficial and popular 
products  of materialism1 and with these
 the debasing ,french novels and dramas 
of the day4 ,people of the educated     
class in our time1 and especially       
people of the academic circle1 ought to 
have the courage to say of  such        
literature3 8,we know nothing about it40
 ,then perhaps one might  have time to  
read something each day which was       
serious and educative2  something that  
tended to strengthen the mind and to    
bring one into real  contact with the   
intellectual movement of the age4       
,and now1 lest there should be complaint
 of time wasted on such reading  as     
this1 ,i shall add but two other points4
 ,one of these1 stated by  ,rothe1 is   
the advice that it is most desirable not
 to take up one's  time with the details
 of one's business affairs4 ,even if    
this is not  altogether possible1 one   

may1 if he wish it1 greatly reduce the  
care of  details of administration1 and 
live in a world of larger and happier   
thoughts4 ,the other point1 which has   
even more practical significance1  is   
this3 ,limit yourself to that which you 
really know and which has  been         
especially committed to your care4 ,for 
your special task you will  almost      
always have time enough4 ,an ,old       
,testament saying states it even  more  
plainly3 8,he that tilleth his land     
shall have plenty of bread3 but  he that
 followeth after vain persons shall have
 poverty enough40 ,as  to the things    
which do not concern one's special      
calling1 but which  have a certain      
significance in the world and a certain 
importance for  culture1 it may be      
necessary for one1 once in his life1 to 
acquire a  superficial survey of them by
 a glance at the best original sources4 
,one should thereafter leave these      
matters alone and not concern himself   
with them further4    ,finally1 in this 

enumeration of the things which waste   
one's time1  ,i may add that one must   
not permit himself to be overburdened   
with  superfluous tasks4 ,there are in  
our day an infinite number of           
these1--correspondence1 committees1     
reports1 and not the least1  lectures4  
,all of them take time1 and it is       
extremely probable that  nothing will   
come of them4 ,when the ,apostle ,paul  
was addressing the  ,athenians1 he      
remarked that they did nothing else than
 to hear some new  thing4 ,it was not   
the serious part of his address1 or its 
spiritual  quickening1 to which they    
gave their attention1 it was its        
novelty2 and  the outcome of his sermon 
was simply that some mocked1 and the    
most  friendly said with patronizing    
kindness3 8,we will hear thee again of  
this matter40 ,indeed1 the reporter of  
the incident finds it necessary  to     
mention expressly1 that one member of   
the ,athenian ,city-,council  and one   
woman in the audience received some     

lasting good from the  ,apostle's       
address4 ,how is it1 let me ask you1    
with yourselves8 ,have  the lectures    
which you have heard been to you in any 
way positive  influences of insight and 
decision1 or have they been merely the  
evidences of the speaker's erudition8   
,such are the ways which in our present 
social conditions are open to  any one  
to use for saving time4 ,i must add1    
however1 that if one tries  to use these
 ways of saving time1 he will make      
another discovery4 ,for  one of the most
 essential elements of such happiness as
 we can reach on  earth lies in not     
having too much time4 ,the vastly       
greater proportion  of human happiness  
consists in continuous and progressive  
work1 with  the blessing which is given 
to work and which in the end makes work 
itself a pleasure4 ,the spirit of man is
 never more cheerful than when  it has  
discovered its proper work4 ,make this  
discovery1 first of all1  if you wish to
 be happy4 ,most of the wrecks of human 

life are caused by  having either no    
work1 or too little work1 or uncongenial
 work2 and the  human heart1 which is so
 easily agitated1 never beats more      
peacefully  than in the natural activity
 of vigorous1 yet satisfying1 work4     
,only  one must guard against making of 
work an idol1 instead of serving  ,god  
through one's work4 ,those who forget   
this last distinction find  themselves  
in later life doomed to intellectual or 
physical prostration4    ,there are1    
then1 but two possessions which may be  
attained by persons  of every condition1
 which never desert one through life1   
and are a  constant consolation in      
misfortune4 ,these are work and love4   
,those who  shut these blessings out of 
life commit a greater sin than suicide4 
,they do not even know what it is that  
they throw away4 ,rest without  work is 
a thing which in this life one cannot   
endure4 ,the best blessing  which can be
 promised is that last blessing of      
,moses for ,asher3 8,thy  shoes shall be

 iron and brass2 and as thy days1 so    
shall thy strength  be40 ,better than   
this one should not desire1 and if one  
has this he  should be thankful4 ,yet1  
it must be added1 this contentedness in 
continuous work is possible only when   
one abandons ambition2 for  ambition is 
always most deeply anxious not to do    
work1 but as soon as  possible to get   
the result of work1 even if that result 
is illusive4  ,ambition is the ,moloch  
of our time1 to whom we feel bound to   
sacrifice  even our own children1 and   
who1 more than all other foes1 destroys 
the  bodies and the souls of youth4     
,if1 still further1 one commit himself1 
as is so often the case1 to  that       
philosophy of materialism in which this 
brief life is the end of  opportunity1  
so that but a few years are ours for the
 accomplishment  of all which the       
pitiless and endless struggle for       
existence and the  survival of the      
fittest permit1 then there is an end of 
all restfulness  and blessedness in     

work4 ,under such a view1 time is indeed
 too short1  and every art is indeed too
 long4 ,the true spirit of work1 which  
has  no time for superfluities1 but time
 enough for what is right and  true1    
grows best in the soil of that          
philosophy which sees one's work        
extending into the infinite world1 and  
one's life on earth as but one  part of 
life itself4 ,then one gets strength to 
do his highest tasks1  and patience     
among the grave difficulties and        
hindrances which confront  him both     
within himself and in the times in which
 he lives4 ,one is  calmly indifferent  
to much which in the sight of this world
 alone  may seem important1 but which1  
seen in the light of eternity1 loses    
significance4 ,this is the meaning of   
that beautiful saying of the            
philosopher of ,grlitz1 which brings to 
our troubled time its message  of       
comfort3      8,he who1 while here1     
lives the eternal life    ,is through   
eternity set free from strife40#c       

,,vi4 ,,happiness          ,,vi4        
,,happiness      ,whatever the          
philosophers may say1 it remains true   
that1 from the first  hour of man's     
waking consciousness until that         
consciousness ceases1  his most ardent  
desire is to be happy1 and that the     
moment of his  profoundest regret is    
when he becomes convinced that on this  
earth  perfect happiness cannot be      
found4 ,here is the problem which gives 
to  the various ages of human history   
their special characters4 ,blithe are   
those ages when young and progressive   
nations still hope for happiness1  or   
when men believe that in some new       
formula of philosophy1 or of  religion1 
or perhaps in some new industrial       
programme1 the secret of  human         
happiness has at last been found4       
,gloomy are those ages in which1  as in 
our time1 great masses of people are    
burdened with the conviction  that all  
these familiar formulas have been       
illusions1 and when persons  of the     

keenest insight say--as they are now    
saying--that the very word  happiness   
has in it a note of melancholy4 ,no     
sooner1 we are told1 does  one speak of 
happiness than it flees from him4 ,in   
its very nature it  lies beyond the     
sphere of practical realization4    ,i  
do not share this opinion4 ,i believe   
that happiness can be found4  ,if ,i    
thought otherwise1 ,i should be silent  
and not make unhappiness  the more      
bitter by discussing it4 ,it is1 indeed1
 true that those who  talk of happiness 
utter therewith a sigh1 as if there were
 doubt  whether happiness could be      
attained4 ,it is still further true that
  irrational views of happiness seem to 
be for the present forced upon  us4     
,only through these imperfect views can 
individuals or communities  approach    
that degree of spiritual and material   
development which is the  necessary     
foundation for real happiness4    ,and  
here our question seems to involve a    
serious contradiction4 ,for we  have1   

first of all1 to learn from our own     
experience much that does not  bring us 
happiness4 ,each in his own way must    
pass1 with the greatest of  all poets1  
through the 8forest dark0 to the 8city  
dolent10 and climb  the steep path of   
the 8,holy ,mountain10 before he may    
learn how      8,that apple sweet1 which
 through so many branches    ,the care  
of mortals goeth in pursuit of1         
,to-day shall put in peace thy          
hungerings40#d    ,all this is to be    
attained1 not through instruction1 but  
through  experience4 ,it is a path1 and 
especially the latter part of it1 which 
each must walk alone4 ,no visible help  
is on any side1 and as one meets  each  
of those obstacles which in his own     
strength perhaps he could not  overcome1
 he is upborne by that      8444 eagle  
in the sky1 with plumes of gold1        
,with wings wide open1 and intent to    
stoop1             99       99       99 
99       99      ,then wheeling somewhat
 more1 it seemed to me1    ,terrible as 

the lightning he descended1    ,and     
snatched me upward even to the fire40#e 
,thus the suggestions which now follow  
concern themselves merely with  the many
 misleading ways which purport to lead  
toward happiness1 and  in which each new
 generation in its restless longing is  
tempted to go  astray4    ,the paths by 
which people journey toward happiness   
lie in part through  the world about    
them and in part through the experience 
of their souls4  ,on the one hand1 there
 is the happiness which comes from      
wealth1 honor1  the enjoyment of life1  
from health1 culture1 science1 or art2  
and1 on  the other hand1 there is the   
happiness which is to be found in a good
  conscience1 in virtue1 work1          
philanthropy1 religion1 devotion to     
great  ideas and great deeds4    ,the   
outward ways to happiness are1 however1 
all1 in one respect1  disappointing4    
,they are not paths which are possible  
for every one  to follow1 and therefore1
 for many cannot lead to happiness4     

,still  further1 the possession of good 
things which others do not possess      
cannot but bring with it to any noble   
soul some twinge of conscience4  ,one   
who enjoys these outward blessings1 and 
recalls the millions of  human beings by
 his side who are perishing for lack of 
them1 must be  either thoroughly selfish
 or profoundly unhappy4 ,it is of such  
persons  that ,jesus is thinking when he
 speaks of the 8unrighteous ,mammon10   
and  even goes on to say3 8,how hardly  
shall they that have riches enter into  
the kingdom40 ,no man1 that is to say1  
can attain to ,christian happiness  who 
attains distinction at the cost of      
others4 8,one that is proud in  heart10 
says the ,book of ,proverbs1 8is an     
abomination to the ,lord40    ,thus it  
was that ,francis of ,assisi1 and many a
 saint before and  after him1 resolved1 
at any price1 to break the chains of    
worldly  possessions4 ,it was a logical 
resolution4 ,wealth is the gravest of   
obstacles to the spiritual life1 and few

 men are wholly free from its           
solicitations or slavery4 ,the          
possession and administration of a large
  property1 and1 indeed1 every position 
of exceptional honor and power1  induce 
with almost absolute certainty a        
hardening of the disposition  which is  
the very opposite of happiness4 ,one    
shudders as he observes  how dull life  
seems to that spiritless throng which in
 ever-increasing  numbers visits each   
year the ,swiss mountains to escape the 
emptiness of  their prosperous lives4   
,such is the result of these external   
ways of seeking happiness4 ,but we  do  
not fare much better when we turn to    
that form of happiness which  lays claim
 to a nobler and a spiritual            
source1--the happiness of the  sthetic  
life4 ,for the boundaries between this  
form of happiness and  that of mere     
materialism are by no means easy to     
define4 sthetic  enjoyment often passes 
over into mere sensualism1 as ,goethe1  
the great  model of sthetic interest1   

has proved to us both in his poetry--as 
in the case of ,faust--and in his own   
life4 ,indeed1 the new school of        
stheticism runs grave risk of           
interpreting much in terms of art which 
is in fact mere materialism4 ,those who 
thus seek happiness should  recall the  
saying of their illustrious predecessor1
 who possessed in  an extraordinary     
degree the capacity to attain whatever  
happiness in  life stheticism had to    
offer4 8,when all is said10 remarks     
,goethe1 8my  life has been nothing but 
care and work4 ,i can even say that in  
my  seventy-five years1 ,i have not had 
four weeks of real happiness4 ,it  has  
been a continuous rolling up hill of a  
stone which must ever be  pushed again  
from the bottom40 ,four weeks of        
happiness in seventy-five  years6 ,this 
man of art declares that in his view    
life is nothing else  than misery6      
,there is hardly an honest day-laborer  
who at the end of  his life1 full as it 
may have been of genuine troubles1 could

 give so  poor an account of himself4   
,the fact is1 then1 that human nature   
seems obviously not intended for  this  
kind of happiness4 ,life is made for    
activity2 and this kind of  receptive   
enjoyment1 even in its highest forms1 is
 designed merely  to give flavor and    
change to life1 and to be sparingly     
used2 so that  those who give themselves
 too confidently to such enjoyment      
bitterly  deceive themselves4 ,genuine  
happiness cannot be arbitrarily         
produced4  ,it issues from obedience to 
a genuine demand of human nature1 and   
from  intelligent activity naturally    
employed4 ,here is the rational basis   
of that faith in human equality and that
 contentment with the simple  joys of   
life1 in which people to-day believe    
much too little1 and which  awhile ago  
people praised with perhaps exaggerated 
sentiment4    ,still further1 as regards
 such sthetic enjoyment1 it is to be    
observed that the level of sthetic      
judgments in literature and art  is now 

so visibly sinking that these resources 
cannot long satisfy  minds that can be  
called educated1 or nations that can be 
called  progressive4 ,the time may soon 
come when people will weary of this     
8efflorescence0 of science1 literature1 
and art2 and may even wish  to exchange 
it for a taste of healthy barbarism4    
,the ,austrian poet  ,rosegger has thus 
described a not impossible future3 8,we 
already  see each year a great migration
 of people passing from the cities  to  
the country and the mountains1 and not  
until the leaves are  touched with      
autumn color returning to the city      
walls4 ,the time will  come1 however1   
when prosperous city-folk will betake   
themselves  permanently to country life2
 and when the work-people of the city   
will migrate to the wilderness and      
subdue it4 ,they will abandon the       
search for book-knowledge1 they will    
find their pleasure and renewal  in     
physical work1 they will make laws under
 which an independent and               

self-respecting livelihood will be      
ensured to country-dwellers2 and the    
notion of an ignorant peasantry will    
disappear40 ,however this may be1  it is
 at least certain that we are           
approaching a period marked by a  return
 to nature1 and by a taste for          
simplicity1 such as existed at the  end 
of the last century1 when ,marie        
,antoinette played shepherdess with  her
 courtiers at the ,trianon4 ,it is a    
simplicity which is caricatured  by the 
luxurious folk who parade each summer   
through ,switzerland  in mountain       
dresses and spiked shoes1 and attempt an
 intimacy with  the life of nature4     
,even these folk1 strange as is their   
attire and  laughable as is their       
mimicry of the life of peasants and     
mountaineers1  find themselves as happy 
as their conventional lives permit4     
,one other external notion of happiness 
may be dealt with in a word4 ,it  is the
 happiness which is sought in freedom   
from care4 ,such happiness  is an ideal 

for those only who have never had the   
experience of such  freedom4 ,for the   
fact is that through our cares1 when not
 excessive1  and through our victory    
over cares1 comes the most essential    
part of  human happiness4 ,cares of a   
reasonable nature do not constitute what
 we  call care4 ,many a life of the     
widest experience would testify that the
  most unendurable experience is to be  
found1 not in a series of stormy  days1 
but in a series of cloudless ones4    ,i
 pass1 then1 from those who seek for    
happiness in material and  outward      
conditions to those more rational       
inquirers who seek it in the  spiritual 
life4 ,these persons expect that        
happiness will be secured  in the doing 
of their duty1 in a good conscience1 in 
personal work of  public good1 in       
patriotism1 or charity1 or some form of 
philanthropy1  or perhaps in conformity 
to the teachings of their ,church4 ,and 
yet1 a  very considerable part of the   
drift to pessimism which one observes in

  our day comes of the experience that  
no one of these ways leads surely  to   
happiness1 or1 at least1 that one does  
not get in such ways the  happiness for 
which he hoped4 ,indeed1 it is perhaps  
still further true  that a great part of
 the reckless 8,realism10 now so        
prevalent among us1  comes not of the   
conviction that it will make one happy1 
but only of  the despair of finding any 
other way of happiness4 ,for if it be   
true  that neither our work1 nor what we
 call our virtues1 can bring peace  to  
the soul2 if outward activity1 and      
charity1 and patriotism1 are but  a     
mockery of happiness2 if religion is for
 the most part only a form  or a phrase1
 without objective certainty2 if all is 
thus but vanity of  vanities1 then      
indeed3 8,let us eat and drink1 for     
to-morrow we die40    ,i do not join in 
the condemnation with which the         
moralists usually  meet this view of    
life4 ,i deny only the conclusions which
 are drawn  from such a view4 ,i        

recognize the honest purpose of these   
modern  philosophers4 ,they represent1  
at least1 a sincere love of truth2 they 
are hostile to all mere phrases4 ,the   
spirit of the modern world looks  for a 
happiness which is not mere             
philosophical composure1 but which  has 
objective results4 ,it demands a kind of
 contentment in which  every human being
 may have a share4 ,in all this1 the    
spirit of the  age is wholly right1 and 
this demand for objective happiness     
which it  utters is a note which has not
 been heard for two thousand years4 ,i1 
too1 desire happiness2 but ,i know that 
one who would find the way to  happiness
 must1 first of all1 and without        
hesitation1 throw overboard  all the    
false idols which have tempted him to   
worship them4 ,as he  dismisses the     
prejudices which birth1 or              
circumstances1 or habits1 have  created1
 he takes one step after another toward 
true happiness4 ,as the  ,emperor       
,maximilian of ,mexico1 one of the least

 fortunate persons of our  day1 rightly 
said3 8,the abandoning of an untruth1 or
 of a prejudice1  brings with it        
forthwith a sensation of joy40 ,here1   
then1 is our guide  along this darkened 
road1 which without some such guidance  
we could not  find at all4      8,the   
happy life lies straight before our     
eyes1--    ,we see it1 but we know not  
how to prize40    ,first of all1 then1  
we must admit that happiness does not   
consist in  the sense of virtue alone4  
,this idol of the incorruptible         
,robespierre  will not serve us4 ,for   
virtue in its completeness dwells in no 
human  heart4 ,one must have but a      
meagre conception of virtue1 or else a  
very  limited intellectual capacity1 who
 finds himself always self-contented4   
,even the vainest of men are not in     
reality contented2 their vanity  itself 
is in large degree only a sense of      
uncertainty about their  worth1 so that 
they need the constant endorsement of   
others to satisfy  them4 ,the maxim says

 that a good conscience makes a soft    
pillow1 and  he who has this unfailing  
sense of duty done no doubt has         
happiness2  but ,i have not1 as yet1    
fallen in with such a man4 ,my          
impression is  that there is not one of 
us who has ever1 even for a single day1 
done  his whole duty4 ,beyond this1 ,i  
need not go4 ,if one of my readers says 
to me3 8,i am the man who has thus done 
his duty10--well1 he may be  quite      
right1 but ,i do not care for that man's
 nearer acquaintance4  ,the farther a   
man advances in the doing of his duty1  
so much the more  his conscience and    
perception grow refined4 ,the circle of 
his duties  widens continually before   
him1 so that he understands the ,apostle
 ,paul1  when1 with perfect sincerity1  
and without false humility1 he speaks of
  himself as the 8chief of sinners40    
,are1 then1 ,i ask again1 philanthropy  
and the good deeds--public and          
private--which it suggests1 the secret  
of happiness8 ,love is a great  word1   

and the ,apostle is altogether justified
 when in the familiar  passage of his   
letters he says that among the many     
things which perish1  love abides4 ,but 
when in the same passage he says that it
 is possible  to speak with the tongues 
of angels1 and give all one's goods to  
feed  the poor1 and even give one's body
 to be burned1 and yet not have         
love1--then we comprehend without       
further explanation what he means by    
love4 ,for love is a part of ,god's own 
being1 which does not originate  in the 
hearts of men4 ,one who possesses it    
knows well enough that it  is not his   
own4 ,even the pale human reflection of 
this ,divine love  brings happiness1 but
 it is a temporary happiness2 and always
 with  the perilous uncertainty of a    
love which anticipates return1 so that  
the happiness depends upon the will of  
others4 ,he1 then1 who yields  his heart
 absolutely to others1 and stakes his   
happiness on their  affection1 may some 
day find the terrible words of the      

,jewish prophet  true3 8,cursed be the  
man that trusteth in man1 and maketh    
flesh his  arm1 and whose heart         
departeth from the ,lord40 ,all this may
 be one day  a spiritual experience1    
which may convert his love into hate4   
,that  apotheosis of hate which marks   
the talk of many a social agitator in   
our day is but the evidence of those    
bitter disillusions of affection  which 
millions have been called to feel4      
,is1 then1 happiness to be found in     
work8 ,work is certainly one great      
factor of human happiness--indeed1 in   
one sense1 the greatest2 for  without   
work all happiness which is not mere    
intoxication is absolutely  denied4 ,in 
order to get the capacity for happiness1
 one must obey the  commands3 8,six days
 shalt thou labor10 and 8,in the sweat  
of thy face  shalt thou eat bread40 ,of 
all seekers for happiness1 the most     
foolish  are those who evade these two  
conditions4 ,without work no man can be 
happy4 ,in this negative statement the  

saying is absolutely true4 ,and  yet1 it
 is a greater error to suppose that work
 is in itself happiness1  or to believe 
that every work leads to happiness4 ,it 
is not alone our  imagination that      
pictures another ideal1 so that one can 
hardly imagine  a heaven1 or an earthly 
paradise1 as devoted to unremitting     
work2 it  is also true--and it is much  
more to be remembered--that only a fool 
can be wholly contented with the work   
that he does4 ,one might even say  that 
the wisest see most clearly the         
incompleteness of their work1 so  that  
not one of them has been able1 at the   
end of his day's work1 to  say of it3   
8,behold1 it is very good40 ,this mere  
praise of work1 then1  is1 for the most 
part1 only a sort of a spur1 or whip1   
with which one  urges himself1 or       
others1 to the tasks of life2 so that   
even those  who take pride in describing
 themselves as 8working-people0 are much
  concerned to reduce as far as possible
 their working day4 ,if work were       

essentially the same as happiness1 these
 people would be seeking to  prolong as 
much as possible the hours of work4     
,of all seekers for happiness1 however1 
the most extraordinary are those  who   
look for it in the philosophy of        
pessimism2 yet of these there  are not a
 few1 and by no means of the baser sort4
 ,there is1 however1  almost always     
associated with the creed of pessimism a
 certain false  impression of one's own 
importance4 ,it has an appearance of    
magnanimity  to throw overboard all     
one's hopes1 and to believe that        
everything1  oneself included1 is bad4  
,for this1 at least1 is true1 that if   
all are  bad1 he who sees that it is so1
 and admits it1 is1 after all1 the least
  bad2 and if he is sincerely contented 
that others should regard him as  bad1  
he may be not far from the way to       
something better4 ,yet1 pessimism  as a 
permanent habit of mind is1 for the most
 part1 only a mantle of  philosophy     
through which1 when it is thrown back1  

there looks out the  face of vanity2--a 
vanity which is never satisfied and     
which withholds  one forever from a     
contented mind4    ,finally1 of all     
people who seek for happiness1 the most 
unhappy are  those who seek it in mere  
conformity to religious creeds4 ,there  
are  many such people in our day1 and   
they find themselves in the end         
bitterly disappointed4 ,for all church  
organizations are inclined to  promise  
more than they can assure1 and are like 
nets to catch all  manner of fish4 ,in a
 passage from the works of the late     
,professor  ,gelzer1 he remarks that1   
for most church-going people1 worship is
  nothing more than 8appearing at ,court
 once a week to present one's  respects 
to the throne40 ,he adds that there is  
the same formal  service of man also2   
for one sometimes does this service1 or1
 as the  ,bible says1 8,hath wrought a  
good work upon me10 only for the better 
maintenance in the future of one's own  
self-esteem4    ,i shall not contradict 

what so distinguished a man out of his  
rich  experience has said on this       
subject4 ,yet1 for my own part1 ,i must 
still  believe that if a human soul     
worships ,god even in the most          
irrational  way1 and recognizes its     
dependence on ,him1 ,god will not       
forsake that  soul4 ,i must believe1    
still further1 that the feeblest and    
most  superstitious expressions of      
religion bring to one who1 even with    
occasional sincerity1 persists in them1 
more happiness than the most  brilliant 
philosophy of atheism can offer4 ,yet   
this blessing bestowed  upon simple     
souls by the patience of ,god is not to 
be attained in  its fulness by those who
 are capable of larger insight4 ,such   
persons  have the duty laid on them to  
free the ,christian ,religion from the  
lukewarmness which for two thousand     
years has afflicted it4 ,theirs is  the 
duty of dissatisfaction with the forms  
and formulas of the ,church4  ,no mere  
science of religion should content them2

 for such a science  alone never brought
 happiness to man1 and still offers to a
 people who  do not really understand   
its teachings1 stones instead of bread4 
,so  long as people seek contentment in 
these ways1 their path to happiness     
must abound in disappointments2 and     
these disappointments become the  harder
 to bear because people1 as a rule1 do  
not dare to confess either  to          
themselves1 or to others1 that they are 
thus disappointed4 ,they must  pretend  
to themselves that they are satisfied   
because they see no path  which may lead
 them back to happiness and peace4      
,such1 then1 are some of the ways by    
which1 with slight modifications  and   
combinations1 the human race through all
 its history has sought  for happiness2 
and if we do not recognize these ways in
 history1 we may  find them all with    
more or less distinctness in our own    
experience4 ,and  yet by no one of these
 ways has the race found the happiness  
it seeks4  ,what1 then1 ,i ask once     

more1 is the path to this end8    ,the  
first and the most essential condition  
of true happiness1 ,i answer1  is a firm
 faith in the moral order of the world4 
,if one lack this1 if  it be held that  
the world is governed by chance or by   
those changeless  laws of nature which  
in their dealings with the weak are     
merciless1 or  if1 finally1 one imagine 
the world controlled by the cunning and 
power  of man1--then there is no hope of
 personal happiness4 ,in such an order  
of the world1 there is nothing left for 
the individual but to rule1 or  to be   
ruled2 to be either the anvil or the    
hammer2 and it is hard to  say which of 
the two would be to an honorable man the
 more unworthy lot4    ,in national life
 especially1 this view of the world     
leads to constant  war and preparation  
for war1 and the text-book of politics  
becomes  ,the ,prince of ,machiavelli4  
,from such a condition of war the only  
possible1 though partial1 deliverance   
would be through some vast  governmental

 control1 ruling with iron force and    
comprehending in  itself all civilized  
peoples4 ,such a ,state would1 at least1
 make war  between ,states impossible1  
as it was impossible in the ,roman      
,empire of  the ,csars1 and as ,napoleon
 ,i4 dreamed that it might be impossible
 in  ,europe4 ,every right-minded man   
must inwardly protest against a view    
which thus robs man in his person of his
 will and in his politics of  his       
freedom2 and history also teaches1 in   
many incidents1 the emptiness  and folly
 of such a view4 ,there are some persons
 who believe that they  are forced to   
accept this social creed1 because the   
conception of the  world as a moral     
order does not seem to them sufficiently
 proved4  ,to such persons1 ,i can only 
repeat that which is written above the  
entrance to ,dante's hell3              
8,through me the way is to the city     
dolent2    ,through me the way is to    
eternal dole2    ,through me the way    
among the people lost4             99   

99       99       99       99      ,all 
hope abandon1 ye who enter in60#f    ,i 
go on to say1 however1 that formal proof
 of this moral order of the  world is   
impossible4 ,the ancient ,hebrews       
believed that one could not  look upon  
the face of ,god and live1 and          
,christianity1 in its turn1  offers us  
no formal proof of the character of     
,god4 ,the only path that  leads to the 
proof of ,god is that which is followed 
in the ,sermon on  the ,mount3 8,blessed
 are the pure in heart3 for they shall  
see ,god40  ,here is a proof which any  
one may test whose heart is pure2 while 
from those who merely reason about      
,god's order of the world ,he hides     
,himself1 and no man may rend by force  
the veil that covers ,him4    ,if1 then1
 one begins simply to live as in a moral
 world1 his path to  happiness lies     
plainly before him4 ,the door is open   
and no man can shut  it4 ,within his    
heart there is a certain stability1     
rest1 and assurance1  which endure and  

even gather strength amid all outward   
storms4 ,his  heart becomes1 as the     
,psalmist says1 not froward or fearful1 
but  8fixed40 ,the only peril from which
 he now has to guard himself is  the    
peril of regarding too seriously the    
changeful impressions and  events of    
each day4 ,his desire must be to live   
resolutely in one even  mood1 and to    
look for his daily share of conscious   
happiness not in  his emotions1 but in  
his activity4 ,then for the first time  
he learns  what work really is4 ,it is  
no more to him a fetish1 to be served   
with anxious fear2 it is no longer an   
idol through which he worships  himself2
 it is simply the natural and healthy   
way of life1 which frees  him not only  
from the many spiritual evils which are 
produced by  idleness1 but also from    
numberless physical evils which have the
 same  source4 ,happy work is the       
healthiest of human conditions4 ,honest 
sweat  on the brow is the source of     
permanent and self-renewing power and of

  light-heartedness2 and these together 
make one really happy4 ,indeed1  the    
later discoveries of medical science are
 teaching us that physical  health is   
secured only by a high degree of power  
of resistance against  enemies which    
life cannot avoid4 ,but this power of   
resistance--as one  may soon            
discover--is not a merely physical      
capacity2 it is quite as  much a moral  
quality and in large part the product of
 moral effort4  ,here1 then1 are two    
secrets of happiness which are          
fundamentally  inseparable3 ,life       
directed by faith in the permanent moral
 order of  the world1 and ,work done in 
that same faith4 ,beyond these two1 and 
one  other which ,i shall mention later1
 all other ways of happiness are        
secondary1 and indeed all else comes of 
its own accord1 according to  one's     
special needs1 if only one holds firmly 
to these primary sources  of spiritual  
power4    ,i go on to mention a few of  
these subordinate rules for happiness   

which  may be deduced from the          
experience of life4 ,they are mere      
maxims of  conduct to which many others 
might be added4    ,we need1 for        
instance1 to be at the same time both   
brave and humble4  ,that is the meaning 
of the strange word of the ,apostle3    
8,when ,i am  weak1 then am ,i strong40 
,either quality alone does more harm    
than good4    ,again1 one must not make 
pleasure an end1 for pleasure comes of  
its own  accord in the right way of     
life1 and the simplest1 the cheapest1   
and  the most inevitable pleasures are  
the best4    ,again1 one can bear all   
troubles1 except two3 worry and sin4    
,further1 all that is really excellent  
has a small beginning4 ,the good  does  
not show its best at once4    ,finally1 
all paths which it is best to follow1   
are entered by open  doors4    ,there   
are1 it must be added1 some difficulties
 and problems which  thoughtful people  
should take into account in their       
intercourse with  others4 ,one must not 

hate other people1 or1 on the other     
hand1 idolize  them1 or take their      
opinions1 demands1 and judgments too    
seriously4  ,one must not sit in        
judgment on others1 or1 on the other    
hand1 submit  himself to their judgment4
 ,one must not court the society of     
those who  think much of themselves4    
,indeed1 ,i may say in general that1    
except  in certain callings1 one should 
not cultivate acquaintance with great   
people1 or fine people1 with the rich1  
or the fashionable1 but so far  as      
possible1 without repelling them1 should
 avoid their company4 ,among  the best  
sources of happiness is the enjoyment   
found in small things  and among humble 
people2 and many a bitter experience is 
avoided by the  habit of an unassuming  
life4 ,the best way to have permanent   
peace with  the world is not to expect  
much of it2 not to be afraid of it2 so  
far  as one can without self-deception  
see the good in it2 and to regard the   
evil as something powerless and         

temporary which will soon defeat itself4
    ,in short1 ,i may in conclusion say1
 that one must not take this life too   
seriously4 ,as soon as we live above it1
 much of it becomes unimportant1  and if
 the essentials are secure we must not  
care too much for the  subordinate4     
,many of the best people suffer from    
this magnifying  of trifles1 and        
especially from their dependence on     
other people's  opinions2 and this lack 
of proportion makes for such people each
 day's  work much more difficult than it
 would otherwise be4    ,i have said    
that these practical rules might be     
indefinitely  multiplied4 ,but they are 
all1 as ,i have also said1 in reality   
superfluous4 ,for if the soil of the    
heart is fertilized1 as ,i  have already
 described1 then these fruits of life   
grow out of it  spontaneously1 and serve
 the special needs of the individual4   
,the  essential question concerns the   
soil itself1 without which not one  of  
these practical fruits can grow4 ,thus  

,i may say in general that  ,i take no  
great interest in what people call      
systems of morals1 or  in the rules of  
conduct which they prescribe4 ,a system 
of morals  either issues spontaneously  
from a habit of mind1 which in its turn 
issues from a view of life1 attained    
even through the death of one's  old    
self2 or else such a system is nothing  
but a series of beautiful  maxims1      
pleasant to hear1 good to record in     
diaries and calendars1 but  incapable of
 converting the human heart4    ,i do   
not care to multiply the material for   
these collections of maxims4  ,i shall  
only add one last and solemn truth4 ,it 
is this1--that under  the conditions of 
human life unhappiness also is          
necessary4 ,indeed1  if one cared to    
state it in a paradox1 he might say that
 unhappiness  is essential to happiness4
 ,in the first place1 as the experience 
of  life plainly shows1 unhappiness is  
inevitable1 and one must in one way  or 
another reconcile himself to it4 ,the   

most to which one can attain  in this   
human lot is perfect adjustment to one's
 destiny2 that inward  and permanent    
peace which1 as ,isaiah says1 is like an
 8overflowing  stream40 ,it is this     
peace and this alone which ,christ      
promises to  his disciples1 and it is   
this1 and no outward satisfaction1 which
 the  ,apostle ,paul expects for his    
fellow-,christians1 when1 at the end of 
his  unpeaceful life1 he prays that 8the
 peace of ,christ may rule0 in their    
hearts4    ,thus1 for real happiness the
 outward issue of events may come to    
have no high importance4 ,stoicism      
endeavored to solve the problem of      
happiness by developing insensibility to
 pain1 but its endeavor was  vain4 ,the 
problem of happiness is to be solved in 
quite another way4  ,one must accept his
 suffering and unhappiness1 and adjust  
himself to  them4 ,and to this end one  
is1 first of all1 helped by considering 
what  unhappiness implies1 and by living
 consistently above the sway of         

momentary feeling4 ,for unhappiness does
 us good in no less than three          
ways1--ways which are cumulative in     
their effect4 ,it is1 in the first      
place1 a punishment1 the natural        
consequence of our deeds4 ,it is1  thus 
considered1 a part of those deeds       
themselves1 and therefore must  follow  
them as surely as a logical consequence 
follows its premise4  ,unhappiness is1  
secondly1 a cleansing process1 waking us
 to greater  seriousness and greater    
receptivity to truth4 ,thirdly1         
unhappiness  recalls us to              
self-examination and fortifies us by    
disclosing what is  our own strength1   
and what is ,god's strength4 ,by no     
other experience  does one attain that  
spiritual courage which is far removed  
from  self-confidence and very near to  
humility4 ,in a word1 it must be said   
that the deeper life of man and that    
noble bearing which we remark in  some  
people1 and which no one1 whatever be   
his station1 can falsely  assume1 are   

attained only through faithful endurance
 of misfortune4  ,that word of the      
,apostle ,paul1 8,we glory in           
tribulations10 is1 like  many of his    
sayings1 absolutely unintelligible to   
any one who has not  experienced what   
renewal of power and what profound      
happiness may be  discovered through    
misfortune itself4 ,it is a form of     
happiness which  one never forgets if he
 has once really experienced it4        
,this1 then1 is the riddle of life which
 perplexes many a man and turns  him    
from the right way1--that good people do
 not get the good things  which might   
seem to them their due4      8,the      
prophet host1 the martyr throng1        
,reckoned1 the world as dross1          
,despised the shame1 endured the wrong1 
,counting their gain1 their loss2       
,and ,he1 to whom they sang their song1 
,was nailed upon the cross40            
,suffering1 then1 lies on the road to   
life1 and one must expect to meet  it if
 he would be happy4 ,many a person1 when

 he sees this lion in  his path1 turns  
about and contents himself with         
something less than  happiness4 ,and yet
 it is also true1 as experience teaches1
 that in  our misfortunes1 as in our    
enjoyments1 imagination greatly outruns 
reality4 ,our pain is seldom as great as
 our imagination pictures it4  ,sorrow  
is often the gate which opens into great
 happiness4 ,thus the  true life calls  
for a certain severity of dealing1 as if
 one should  say to himself3 8,you may  
like to do this thing1 or you may not   
like  to do it1 but you must do it02 and
 true education rests on these two      
foundation stones1--love of truth and   
courage for the right4 ,without  them1  
education is worthless4 ,it is like the 
kingdom of ,god which is to  be taken by
 violence1 8,and the violent take it    
with force40 ,and thus1  of all the     
human qualities which lead to happiness1
 certainly the most  essential is       
courage4    ,we look back1 then1        
finally1 over what has been said1 and   

repeat what  a gifted authoress of our  
time1 ,gisela ,grimm1 has said in her   
drama  of ,old ,scotland3 8,happiness is
 communion with ,god1 and the central   
spiritual quality which attains this    
communion is courage40 ,other  happiness
 than this is not to be found on earth1 
and if there were  happiness without    
these traits1 it would not be the       
happiness we  should desire4 ,and this  
kind of happiness is real4 ,it is not1  
like  every other dream of happiness1 an
 illusion from which sooner or  later   
one must wake4 ,it does not issue from  
our achievements or our  compulsions4   
,on the contrary1 when we have once     
accepted and made our  own the view of  
life which ,i have described1 and have  
ceased to look  about us for some other 
view1 then happiness comes to us by the 
way4  ,it is a stream of inward peace2  
broadening as we grow older1 first      
enriching our own souls and then pouring
 itself forth to bless other  lives4    
,this is the goal to which our life must

 attain1 if it hope for  happiness1 and 
to this goal it can attain4 ,indeed1 if 
once the first  decision be made1 and   
the first steps taken1 then1 as ,dante  
says3      444 8,this mount is such1    
that ever    ,at the beginning down     
below 'tis tiresome1    ,and aye the    
more one climbs1 the less it hurts4     
,therefore1 when it shall seem so       
pleasant to thee1    ,that going up     
shall be to thee as easy    ,as going   
down the current in a boat1    ,then at 
this pathway's ending thou wilt be40#g  
,below at the foot of the mountain the  
fixed decision is demanded4 ,there  one 
must absolutely determine to pay any    
price which shall be asked  for the     
happiness which is real4 ,no further    
step can be taken without  this first   
resolution1 and by no easier path has   
any one attained the  happiness he      
sought4 ,goethe1 the teacher of those   
who sought happiness  in other ways1    
admitted--as ,i have said--that in      
seventy-five years of  life he had had  

four weeks of content1 and no one who   
has followed him  can1 at the end of    
life1 when asked what his conscience    
testifies1 make  better reply4 ,we1 on  
the other hand1 should be able1 at the  
last1 to  say3 8,the days of our years  
are threescore years and ten1 and though
 we  be so strong as to come to         
fourscore years1 and though there has   
been  much labor and sorrow1 still it   
has been a life of happiness40          
,,vii4 ,,the ,,meaning ,,of ,,life      
,,vii4 ,,the ,,meaning ,,of ,,life      
,this is the question of questions4 ,a  
man must be wholly superficial or       
wholly animal who does not at some time 
in his life ask what is the  meaning of 
his life4 ,yet1 sad to say1 most men end
 their lives without  finding an answer4
 ,some repeat1 in their darker moods1   
the melancholy  confession of a medival 
philosopher3 8,i live1 but know not how 
long2  ,i die1 but know not when2 ,i    
depart1 but know not whither4 ,how is it
  possible for me to fancy myself       

happy60 ,others drive from their minds  
these morbid reflections which1 as they 
say1 8lead to nothing10 and  repeat3    
8,let us eat and drink1 for to-morrow we
 die40    ,even among what we call      
cultivated people1 where education has  
made a  profounder view accessible1 the 
number of those who find the meaning  of
 life is by no means large4 ,after some 
vain and superficial attempts  to save  
themselves they yield at last1 and often
 far too soon1 to the  pitiful programme
 of self-indulgence4 ,and what is their 
next step8 ,it  is to pursue            
consistently this programme4 ,but there 
is not long left  the health which is   
necessary for this life of eating and   
drinking1 and  then in throngs they make
 their pilgrimages1 the women at the    
front1  to ,pastor ,kneipp1 or ,dr4     
,metzger1 or some other infallible      
healer1  hoping for a quick restoration 
and a second chance to waste their      
lives4    ,still others there are who   
have not the means to adopt this plan of

  life4 ,many of these seek a substitute
 for it in some form of social          
scrambling2 or if this fails1 commit    
themselves to the new doctrine  of      
economics1 according to which the only  
real problem of life is the  8stomach   
problem10 and which teaches that in     
satisfying the stomach the  social      
ideals of the race will be also         
satisfied4    ,still others there are   
who are more subtle and more critical4  
,they have  come to see how             
impracticable are all these schemes to  
redeem life  from its troubles4 ,thus1  
after they have tried many half-way     
measures1  they come at last to the     
confession of the wisest of kings3      
8,vanity  of vanities1 all is vanity40  
,they commit themselves to scepticism   
concerning any meaning in life and to   
the worship of non-existence4 ,to  them 
the end of life is to be ,nirvana1      
annihilation1 the forgetfulness  of that
 which life has been2 and they fancy    
that they have attained  a very noble   

attitude toward life when1 after many   
years of sharp  contention with their   
healthy human nature1 which steadily    
protests  against these subtle          
negations1 they are able at last to     
repeat the  words of the ,hindoo sage3  
8,through birth and rebirth's endless   
round    ,i ran and sought1 but never   
found    ,who framed and built this     
house of clay4    ,what misery6--birth  
for ay and ay6      ,o builder6 thee at 
last ,i see6    ,ne'er shalt thou build 
again for me4      ,thy rafters all are 
broken now1    ,demolished lies thy     
ridgepole1 low4      ,my heart1         
demolished too1 ,i ween1    ,an end of  
all desire hath seen40#h    ,such is the
 final word of their philosophy4        
,neither light nor hope  is left for    
human life4 ,he does the best who       
earliest recognizes the  hopelessness of
 life and hastens to its end4    ,human 
nature1 however1 is so abounding in life
 and so eager for life  that except in  
those transitory and morbid conditions  

which we have  come to describe as fin  
de sicle moods1 it is never long content
 to  interpret experience in terms of   
universal bankruptcy4 ,on the contrary1 
it insists that the problem of          
philosophy must be in the future1 as it 
has been in the past1 the shedding of   
light on the meaning of life4 ,it  is a 
problem which philosophy has often      
answered with mere phrases1  which have 
brought no meaning or comfort to the    
troubled heart of man1  and it is not   
surprising that since the climax of this
 hollow formalism  was reached in       
,hegel1 there has been a natural        
distrust of philosophy4    ,and what is 
it in this speculative philosophy which 
creates this  distrust8 ,it is its      
attempt to regard the universe as       
self-explanatory4  ,here1 even at the   
present time1 is one of the fundamental 
propositions  of most philosophizing1   
against which no argument may be        
permitted4  ,it seems an essential      
assumption of philosophy2 since if other

 ways  of explanation of the universe   
were superadded1 philosophy as an       
independent science would seem to be    
superfluous4 ,is it certain1  however1  
that the subordination of philosophy    
thus apprehended would  be1 after all1 a
 great misfortune8 ,what the human mind 
is concerned  about is not the          
perpetuation of philosophy as a science1
 but the  discovery of some meaning in  
life itself1 its destiny1 its past and  
its future2 and one is quite justified  
in losing interest in any  science which
 does not in the end contribute to the  
interpretation and  amelioration of     
human life4 ,we have a right to demand  
of philosophy  that she contribute to   
this end1 and that she shall speak also 
with  some degree of simplicity of      
language1 dismissing the attempt to     
satisfy with empty and unintelligible   
phrases the hunger of the soul  for     
fundamental truth4    ,and yet1 from the
 time of ,plato to that of ,hegel1      
,schopenhauer1 and  ,nietzsche1 the     

making of phrases has been the special  
business of  philosophy4 ,it has created
 a language of its own1 which separates 
it  as by an impenetrable hedge from the
 region of men's common talk2 and  when 
one translates such language into the   
familiar speech of his own  time1 where 
words have a definite meaning1 it is as 
though he withdrew  from a veiled       
goddess the disguise which gave her all 
her power and  dignity4 ,the fact is    
that abstract philosophy has never      
explained to  any satisfaction either   
the existence or the development of the 
world2  still less has philosophy       
brought into unity these two            
conceptions1  and interpreted them      
through a single cause4 ,on the         
contrary1 the  history of philosophy has
 been a history of words1 conveying no  
real  interpretation1 and it would seem 
as if in the thousands of years of      
philosophic speculation either some     
interpretation should have been         
attained or that there should at last be

 heard the confession that  philosophy  
can throw no further light on these     
fundamental facts4  ,here1 it would     
seem1 we should reach the end of        
philosophy1 and should  assume that the 
first cause of things is unknowable4    
,philosophy1 however1 has seldom        
consented to this confession of         
impotence4 ,on the contrary1 it has     
repeatedly reverted to some absolute    
assumption of an adequate cause which   
lies behind the possibility of  proof4  
,sometimes it is the assumption of a    
vital ,substance1 one and  unchangeable2
 sometimes it is the assumption of an   
infinite concourse  of atoms4 ,yet such 
conceptions are in the highest degree   
elusive1 and  force us to inquire whence
 such substance1 be it simple or        
infinitely  divided1 comes1 how it      
becomes quickened with life1 and how it 
imparts  the life it has4 ,the          
transition from such mere movements of  
atoms to  phenomena of feeling or       
thought or will1 makes a leap in nature 

which  no man has in the remotest degree
 proposed to explain4 ,on the contrary1 
instead of bridging such a chasm the    
most famous inquirers simply  record the
 melancholy confession3 8,ignoramus1    
ignorabimus40    ,sometimes1 again1     
philosophy has taught1 with many and    
large words1  that the meaning of the   
world resides in an opposition between  
,being  and ,not-being4 ,this is no new 
doctrine and it is at least intelligent 
and intelligible4 ,yet what we really   
need to know concerns ,being  alone4 ,it
 is the world that lies before our eyes 
that interests us4 ,how  has this world 
come to be1 we ask1 or is it perhaps a  
mere illusion1  the mirage of our own   
thought1 with no reality but that which 
our own  minds assign1 as people in     
their despair have sometimes believed it
 to  be8 ,as for ,non-existence1 what   
rational interest has this for us8 ,is  
it even an intelligible conception8     
,does it not rather set before us a     
contradiction which we may conceive1 but

 can never verify1 and which  has for   
life itself no significance at all8     
,still other philosophers invite us to  
turn from the outward world whose  final
 cause thus eludes us1 and to consider  
our own self-conscious  nature1 the     
,ego1 concerning which no one can doubt 
and which no  philosophy is needed to   
prove4 ,yet no sooner does this poor    
,ego issue  from its own                
self-consciousness and1 as it were1 take
 a step into the  outward world1 as     
though to interpret through itself the  
meaning of  life1 than it becomes aware 
that some further and external cause is 
necessary to explain even the ,ego to   
itself4    ,finally1 philosophy1 in its 
search for the meaning of life1 bows to 
the authority of natural science and    
proposes to interpret experience        
through some doctrine of development1 or
 evolution1 or heredity1  or natural    
selection4 ,all that exists1 it         
announces1 comes of some  primitive     
protoplasm1 or even of some single      

primitive cell4 ,yet  still there       
presses the ancient question how such   
cells may have been  made and how there 
has been imparted to them their infinite
 capacity  for life and growth4 ,it is  
the question which the keen and         
practical  ,napoleon asked as he stood a
 century ago under the mystery of the   
stars in ,egypt4 ,turning to the scholar
 ,monge1 he said3 8,qui a fait  tout    
cela80 ,to such a question neither      
abstract philosophy nor natural  science
 has as yet given and1 so far as we can 
judge1 will ever give  any answer4      
,to interpret the world1 then1 by itself
 or through itself is  impossible1 for  
there is in the world itself no final   
cause4 ,if  the mind of man is the final
 interpreter of the world1 then it      
becomes itself the ,god it seeks1 and   
the philosophers become the  object of a
 kind of worship4 ,here1 indeed1 is the 
outcome of much  philosophy to-day4 ,if1
 however1 the philosophers have any     
power of  observation1 they soon        

discover one positive barrier to this   
excessive  self-importance4 ,it is the  
humbling consciousness of limitation in 
their own powers and in their own hold  
on life itself2 the inevitable          
impression1 which no human praise can   
remove1 of their own defects2  the      
impossibility of finding a meaning even 
for their own lives within  those lives 
themselves4    ,here is the weakness of 
that pantheism which1 from the time of  
,spinoza1 has so largely controlled     
speculative thought1 and1 from  the time
 of ,hegel1 ,schopenhauer1 and ,goethe1 
has been the prevailing  creed of       
cultivated people1 so far as they       
concern themselves with  philosophy4 ,no
 form of philosophy is so demoralizing  
in its ethical  consequences as this4   
,it breeds contempt of moral activity2  
it  forfeits the right of the will to   
oppose what is evil and to create  what 
is good4 ,sooner or later the corollary 
of such a faith appears in  some form of
 superstition1 crude but                

compelling1--like hypnotism or          
spiritualism1 or the vulgar and noisy   
substitutes for religion which  are now 
so conspicuous4 ,thus the cycle of      
philosophical speculation  fulfils      
itself1 and returns after centuries to  
the same point at which  it began4 ,the 
final form of truth may come to be1 not 
the systems of  abstract philosophy or  
of speculative theology1 which have     
proved so  misleading and unsatisfying1 
but simply a summing-up of the          
experience  of mankind1 as it has       
affected human destiny through the      
history of  the world2 and in this      
experience we have a philosophy better  
than  abstractions1 and always within   
one's reach4    ,and where do we find   
this philosophy which discovers the     
meaning of  life not through speculative
 reasoning but through the              
interpretation  of experience1 and which
 observes in experience a spiritual     
power  creating and maintaining both the
 world and the individual8 ,this is  the

 view of life which had its origin in   
,israel and was fulfilled in            
,christianity4 ,it cannot indeed be     
called in the technical sense a         
philosophy1 for philosophy would feel   
itself called upon to explain  still    
further that ,cause which it thus       
reached4 ,theology as a positive        
science meets the same fate as          
philosophy4 ,it cannot prove its ,god1  
as philosophy cannot interpret the world
 or human life in or through            
themselves4 ,what people call ontology1 
or the proofs of the being of  ,god1 is 
no real science1 and convinces none but 
him who is already  pledged4 ,it is in  
the nature of ,god to be beyond our     
interpretations4  ,a god who could be   
explained would not be ,god1 and a man  
who could  explain ,god would not be    
man4 ,the legitimate aim of life is not 
to  see ,god as ,he is1 but to see the  
affairs of this world and of human  life
 somewhat as ,god might see them4 ,it   
is1 therefore1 no new thing to  question

 whether theology can be fairly called a
 science at all4 ,on  this point1 for   
instance1 the evidence of ,christ is in 
the negative1  and the theological      
speculations of ,christians are1 in     
fact1 not  derived from him4 ,they      
proceed1 on the contrary1 from the      
,apostle ,paul1  who applied to the     
proving of ,christianity the subtlety of
 theological  training which he had     
received under ,judaism2 and even in his
 case it  must be remembered that his   
teaching was directed to convince those 
who  had been1 like him1 trained in the 
theology of ,israel4    ,it must not be 
imagined1 therefore1 that the final     
,cause of the world  which we call ,god1
 can be philosophically proved4 ,faith  
in ,god is first  of all a personal     
experience4 ,nothing should disguise    
this proposition1  though it is the     
stone of offence where many stumble who 
are seeking  an adequate meaning of     
life4 ,nothing can be done to help those
 who  refuse this experience4 ,no       

argument can convince them4 ,there is no
  philosophical refutation of a         
determined atheism4    ,here is an      
admission which must gravely affect not 
only our religious  and philosophical   
relations with others1 but even our     
practical and  political life4 ,here is 
the fundamental difference between      
people  of the same nation1 or          
condition1 or time1 or even family4 ,in 
other  differences of opinion there may 
be found some common ground1 but        
between faith and denial there is no    
common ground1 because we are  dealing  
with a question of the will and because 
the human will is free4  ,the saying of 
,tertullian1 that the human soul is     
naturally ,christian1  is in a literal  
sense quite untrue4 ,every man who      
reflects on his  responsibilities       
recognizes that he is not naturally     
,christian4 ,he  is1 at the most1 only  
possibly ,christian1 as ,tertullian     
perhaps meant  to say4 ,he is capable of
 becoming ,christian through the        

experience of  life4 ,atheism and       
,christianity are equally accessible to 
the nature of  man4    ,faith in ,god1  
then1 is a form of experience1 not a    
form of proof4 ,if  experience were as  
unfruitful as proof1 then faith in ,god 
would be  nothing more than a nervous   
condition1 and the answer of            
,festus--8,paul1  thou art beside       
thyself60--would be the just estimate of
 a faith  like that of ,paul4 ,each     
period of history has in fact produced  
many  a ,festus1 sedulously guarding his
 reason and conscience against all  that
 cannot be proved4 ,other faith1        
however1 than that which proceeds  from 
experience is not expected by ,god from 
any man2 while to every  man1 in his own
 experience and in the witness of       
history1 this faith  is abundantly      
offered4 ,there is1 therefore1 in the   
refusal of faith a  confession1 not     
merely of intellectual error1 but of    
moral neglect2 and  many a man who has  
surrendered his faith would be slow to  

confess to  others how well aware he is 
that the fault is his own4    ,here1    
then1 is the first step toward the      
discovery of the meaning of  life4 ,it  
is an act of will1 a moral venture1 a   
listening to experience4  ,no man can   
omit this initial step1 and no man can  
teach another the  lesson which lies in 
his own experience4 ,the prophets of the
 ,old  ,testament found an accurate     
expression for this act of will when    
they  described it as a 8turning10 and  
they went on to assure their people  of 
the perfect inward peace and the sense  
of confidence which followed  from this 
act4 8,look unto me1 and be ye saved10  
says ,isaiah2 8,incline  your ear1 and  
come unto me3 hear1 and your soul shall 
live40 ,from that  time to this1        
thousands of those who have thus changed
 the direction  of their wills have     
entered into the same sense of peace2   
while no man  who has thus given his    
will to ,god has ever felt himself      
permanently  bewildered or forsaken4    

,here1 also1 in this free act of the    
will1 is attained that sense of  liberty
 which in both the ,old and ,new        
,testaments is described as             
8righteousness40 ,it is a sense of      
initiative and power1 as though one     
were not wholly the subject of arbitrary
 grace1 but had a certain  positive     
companionship with ,god4 ,it is what the
 ,old ,testament calls a  8covenant10   
involving mutual rights and obligations4
 ,no man1 however1  who accepts this    
relation is inclined to urge overmuch   
his own rights1  knowing as he well does
 that his part in the covenant falls    
ever short  and is even then made       
possible only through his steady        
confidence in  ,god4 ,grace1 unearned   
and undeserved1 he still knows that he  
needs2  yet behind this grace lies ever 
the initiative of personal 8turning10   
and the free assertion of the will as   
the first step toward complete          
redemption4 ,to say with ,paul that a   
man is 8justified by faith10 or to      

emphasize as ,luther does1 even more    
strongly1 the province of grace1 is  to 
run some risk of forgetting the constant
 demand for an initial step  of one's   
own4    ,this step once taken1 both the 
world in which one lives and one's own  
personal life get a clear and           
intelligible meaning4 ,on the one hand  
stands the free will of ,god1 creating  
and directing the world1 not  restricted
 by the so-called laws of nature1 yet a 
,god of order1 whose  desires are not   
arbitrary or lawless4 ,on the other hand
 is the free  will of man1 with the free
 choice before it of obedience or       
refusal2--a  will1 therefore1 which may 
choose the wrong though it may not      
thereby  thwart the ,divine purpose4    
,the evil-doer1 if impenitent1 must     
suffer1  but his evil is converted into 
good4 ,in such a philosophy what is a   
wisely adjusted human life8 ,it is a    
life of free obedience to the  eternal  
and unchangeable laws of ,god2 a life1  
therefore1 which attains  through       

self-discipline successive steps of     
spiritual power4 ,life on  other terms  
brings on a progressive decline of      
spiritual power and with  this a sense  
of self-condemnation4 ,what is the happy
 life8 ,it is a life  of conscious      
harmony with this ,divine order of the  
world1 a sense1  that is to say1 of     
,god's companionship4 ,and wherein is   
the profoundest  unhappiness8 ,it is in 
the sense of remoteness from ,god1      
issuing into  incurable restlessness of 
heart1 and finally into incapacity to   
make  one's life fruitful or effective4 
,if1 then1 we are at times tempted to   
fancy that all this undemonstrable      
experience is unreal1 or metaphysical1  
or purposeless1 or imaginary1  it is    
best to deal with such returning        
scepticism much as we deal with  the    
selfish or mean thoughts which we are   
trying to outgrow4 ,let all  these      
hindrances to the higher life be quietly
 but firmly repelled4  ,the better world
 we enter is indeed entered by faith and

 not by sight2  but this faith grows    
more confident and more supporting1     
until it is  like an inward faculty of  
sight itself4 ,to substitute for this a 
world  of the outward senses is to find 
no meaning in life which can convey     
confidence and peace4 ,it is but to     
embitter every noble and thoughtful     
nature with restless doubts from which  
there is no escape4    ,such was        
religion as it disclosed itself to the  
early ,hebrews4 ,soon1  indeed1 that    
religion was overgrown by the formalism 
which converted  its practical teaching 
into mere prohibitions or mere          
mechanism2 but  behind these abuses of  
later history lay the primitive         
simplicity of  spiritual liberty and    
life4 ,such also was the historical     
beginning  of the ,christian religion4  
,the mission of ,christ1 like that of   
each  genuine reformer1 was to recall   
men to their original consciousness  of 
,god2 and it is perhaps the greatest    
tragedy of history1 while at  the same  

time the best proof of the free will of 
man1 that the ,hebrew  people1 to whom  
,christ announced that he was expressly 
sent1 could  not1 as a whole1 bring     
themselves to obey his call4 ,they were 
held in  bondage by their accumulated   
formalism1 as many a man has been ever  
since4 ,they could not rise to the      
thought of a worship which was in       
spirit and in truth4 ,had they1 with    
their extraordinary gifts1 been  able to
 hear ,christ's message1 they would have
 become the dominant  nation of the     
world4    ,and what is to be said of    
those ,gentile peoples who listened more
  willingly to the message of ,christ1  
those 8wild olive trees10 as ,st4  ,paul
 calls them1 which were grafted on the  
8broken branches08 ,they also  have had 
the same history4 ,they also1 in their  
own way1 have become  enslaved by the   
same formalism2 and they also must      
regain their liberty  through the return
 of individual souls to a personal      
experience of the  method of ,christ4   

,here is the evidence of the            
indestructible truth and the            
extraordinary  vitality of the          
,christian religion4 ,to subdue its     
opponents was but a  slight achievement2
 for every positive truth must in the   
end prevail4  ,its real conflict has    
been with the forces of accumulated     
opinion1 of  superfluous learning1 of   
sickly fancies among its friends1 and   
with  the intellectual slavery to which 
these influences have led4 ,through     
these obstructions the light and power  
of genuine ,christianity have  broken   
like sunshine through a mist2 and with  
such ,christianity have  appeared in    
history the political liberty on which  
the permanence of  civilization rests1  
the philosophical truth which solves the
 problems  of human life1 and the       
present comfort for the human heart1    
beyond the  power of misfortune to      
disturb4    ,we reach1 then1 a          
philosophy of life which is not         
speculative or  fanciful1 but rests on  

the facts of history4 ,this is 8the way1
  the truth1 and the life40 ,better is  
it for one if he finds this  8way0      
without too many companions or          
professional guides1 for many  a        
religious teaching1 designed to show the
 way1 has repelled young  lives from    
following it4 ,as one follows the way1  
he gains1 first of  all1 courage1 so    
that he dares to go on in his search4   
,he goes still  further1 and the way    
opens into the assurance that life1 with
 all its  mystery1 is not lived in vain4
 ,he pushes on1 and the way issues into 
health1 not only of the soul but even of
 the body2 for bodily health  is more   
dependent on spiritual condition than   
spiritual condition on  bodily health2  
and modern medicine can never restore   
and assure health  to the body if it    
limit its problem to physical relief    
alone4 ,nor is  even this the end of the
 8way0 of ,christ4 ,it leads not only to
 personal  health1 but to social health 
as well2 not by continually inciting the

  masses to some social programme1 but  
by strengthening the individuals  of    
which the masses are made4 ,here alone  
is positive social redemption2  while   
the hopes that turn to other ways of    
social reform are for the  most part    
deceptive dreams4    ,finally1 the way  
is sure to lead every life which follows
 it1 and is  willing to pay the price   
for the possession of truth1 into the   
region  of spiritual peace4 ,no other   
way of life permits this comprehensive  
sense of peace and assurance4 ,apart    
from it we have but the unremitting  and
 bitter struggle for existence1 the     
enforcement of national  self-seeking1  
the temporary victory of the strong1 the
 hell of the weak  and the poor2 yet1 at
 the same time1 no peace even for the   
strong1 who  have their little day of   
power1 but live in daily fear that this 
power  will fail and leave them at the  
mercy of the wolves1 their neighbors4   
,meantime1 on every page of the world's 
history1 and in the experience  of daily

 life1 ,god writes the opposite         
teaching1 that out of the midst  of evil
 issues at last the mastery of the good2
 and that1 in modern  as in ancient     
time1 the meek both inherit and control 
the earth4  ,history is not a record of 
despotic control like that of a ,roman  
,csar1  effective and intelligent1 but  
necessarily involving a progressive     
degeneration of his subjects2 it is a   
story of progressive amelioration  in   
moral standards and achievements2 and   
this fact of moral progress is  the most
 convincing proof of the being of ,god4 
,thus it happens that to one who loves  
liberty and who reads history1  the     
logic of thought leads to faith in ,god4
 ,without such faith it  is difficult to
 believe in human progress through      
freedom1 or to  view the movement of the
 modern world with hope4 ,without such  
faith  the popular agitations of the    
time are disquieting and alarming1  and 
the only refuge of the spirit is in     
submission to some human  authority     

either of ,church or of ,state4 ,without
 such faith it would  be increasingly   
impossible to maintain a democratic     
republic like  ,switzerland in the midst
 of the autocratic monarchies of        
,europe4 ,with  profound truthfulness   
the ,swiss ,parliament at ,aarau opened 
its session  with these simple words3   
8,our help is in the ,lord our ,god1 who
 hath  made heaven and earth40 ,and1    
finally1 without political liberty there
  would be but a brief survival of      
religious liberty itself1 and it  too   
would be supplanted by a condition of   
servitude4 ,a ,state-,church  is a      
self-contradictory expression4 ,state   
and ,church alike need  self-government 
for self-development4 ,a free ,church   
and a free ,state  are not only most    
representative of ,christianity1 but are
 beyond  doubt the forms of ,christian  
citizenship which are to survive4 ,not  
compulsion1 nor any form of authority1  
will in the end dominate the  world1 but
 freedom1 in all its forms and its      

effects4 ,the end of social  evolution  
is to be the free obedience of men and  
nations to the moral  order of the      
world4    ,and yet1 we must repeat1 the 
secret of true progress is not to be    
found in an achievement of philosophy1  
or a process of thought2 but  in a      
historical process1 a living experience4
 ,to each man's will is  offered the    
choice of this way which leads to       
personal recognition  of the truth and  
personal experience of happiness4 ,to   
each nation  the same choice is         
presented4 ,no philosophy or religion   
has real  significance which does not   
lead this way4 ,no man can rightly call 
it  mere misfortune1 or confess his     
unbelief with sentimental regret1 when  
he misses the way and forfeits his peace
 of mind4 ,his pessimism is not1  as he 
fondly thinks1 a mark of distinction2 it
 is1 on the contrary1 as  a rule1 an    
evidence of moral defect or weakness1   
and should stir in him  a positive moral
 scorn4    ,what is it1 then1 which     

makes one unable to find the way of     
,jesus8 ,it  is1 for the most part1     
either unwillingness to make a serious  
effort to  find it1 or disinclination to
 accept the consequences of the choice4 
,to take up with some philosophical     
novelty1 involving no demand upon  the  
will2 to surrender oneself to the       
pleasures of life2 to attach  oneself1  
with superficial and unreflecting       
devotion1 to some form of  ,church or   
sect2--how much easier is any one of    
these refuges of the  mind than serious 
meditation on the great problems of life
 and the  growth of a personal          
conviction6 ,and yet1 how unmistakable  
have been  the joy1 and the strength to 
live and to die1 and the peace of mind  
and  sense of right adjustment to the   
,universe1 which those have found who   
have followed with patience the way ,i  
have described6 ,in the testimony  of   
such souls there is complete accord4    
,consciously or unconsciously1  every   
heart desires the satisfactions which   

this way of life can give1  and without 
these satisfactions of the spirit no    
other possessions or  pleasures can     
insure spiritual peace4    ,what        
infinite pains are taken by people in   
the modern world for the  sake of their 
health of body or the welfare of their  
souls6 ,for health  of body they go     
barefoot in the daytime or sleep in wet 
sheets at  night2 for the good of their 
souls they go on pilgrimages and into   
retreats1 or submit themselves to other 
forms of spiritual exercise4  ,they go  
even farther in their pious credulity4  
,there is not a hardship  or a folly1 or
 a risk of body or soul1 or any form of 
martyrdom1 which  is not accepted by    
thousands in the hope that it will save 
their souls4  ,and all the time the     
simple way to the meaning of life lies  
straight  before their feet1--a way1    
however1 let us last of all remember1   
which  it is not enough to know1 but    
which is given us to follow4 ,this is   
the  truth which a scholar of the time  

of ,luther teaches1 though he himself   
had not fully attained the truth4 ,not1 
he writes1 by knowing the way  but by   
going it1 is the meaning of life to be  
found4 ,he put into the  mouth of       
,christ his lesson3      8,why art thou 
then so faint of heart1      ,o man of  
little faith8    ,have ,i not strength  
to do ,my part      ,as ,god's word     
promiseth8      ,why wilt thou not      
return to ,me      ,whose pity will     
receive8    ,why seek not ,him whose    
grace can free      ,and every fault    
forgive8      ,why was it hard the way  
to find1      ,which straight before    
thee ran8    ,why dost thou wander as   
though blind8      ',tis thine own      
choice1 ,o man60          ,,notes       
,,note #a    8,friedrich ,max von       
,klinger10 says ,professor ,hilty1 8was 
born in #ageb1  at ,frankfort4 ,his     
family were poor1 and after he had with 
difficulty  pursued his studies at the  
,university of ,giessen1 he became at   
first  a play-writer for a travelling   

company4 ,he then served during the     
,bavarian ,war of ,succession in a corps
 of volunteers4 ,later he became  reader
 and travelling companion to the        
,czarevitch ,paul of ,russia1           
afterwards the ,emperor4 ,he was made   
,director of the corps of cadets  of the
 nobility1 as well as of the ,emperor's 
pages1 and of the girls'  school for the
 nobility4 ,under ,alexander ,i4 he was 
also made ,curator  of the ,university  
of ,dorpat4 ,in all these relations of  
life1 which  were as difficult as can be
 imagined1 in his contact with actors1  
crown-princes1 ,czars1 noble pages and  
women of the court1 diplomats  and      
professors--who1 taken together1 are    
certainly not of the classes  most easy 
to deal with--and living at a court     
thoroughly degraded and  beset by       
self-seekers of the lowest kind as was  
the court of ,catherine  ,,ii41 von     
,klinger preserved his candid character 
and moral courage and  gained the high  
respect of his contemporaries4 ,in      

,goethe's ,wahrheit  und ,dichtung1 he  
mentions von ,klinger as follows3       
#8,this maintenance  of a sterling      
character is the more creditable when it
 occurs in the  midst of worldly and    
business life and when a way of conduct 
which  might appear to many curt and    
abrupt1 being judiciously followed1     
accomplishes its ends4 ,such was his    
character4 ,without subservience        
7which1 indeed1 has never been a quality
 of the natives of ,frankfort7  he      
attained to the most important          
positions1 was able to maintain  himself
 there and to continue his services with
 the highest approval  and gratitude of 
his noble patrons4 ,through all this1 he
 never forgot  either his old friends or
 the paths which he had come4' ,in the  
later  years of his life1 ,goethe       
renewed the study of von ,klinger's     
writings1  #8which recalled to me his   
unwearied activity and his remarkable   
character4'0      ,,note #b    ,dante1  
,purgatorio1 xxvii1 #abf1 #aca4         

,,note #c    ,jakob ,bhme1 from a       
supplement to his works 7,historische   
,uebersicht74      ,,note #d    ,dante1 
,purgatorio1 xxvii1 #aae4      ,,note #e
    ,dante1 ,purgatorio1 ix1 #ai4       
,,note #f    ,dante1 ,inferno1 iii1 #a1 
#i4      ,,note #g    ,dante1           
,purgatorio1 iv1 #hh4      ,,note #h    
,dhammapada1 transl4 ,charles ,r4       
,lanman1 in ,hymns of the ,faith1 ,a4   
,j4  ,edmunds1 ,chicago1 #aijb1 page    
#ch4            ,,the ,,quest ,,of      
,,happiness      ,a ,,study ,,of        
,,victory ,,over ,,life',s ,,troubles   
,,by ,,newell ,,dwight ,,hillis         
,pastor of ,plymouth ,church1 ,brooklyn2
 author of 8,the    ,influence of       
,christ in ,modern ,life10 etc4         
,cloth1 ,decorated ,borders1 #a4ej net  
,,comments    ,i find 8,the ,quest of   
,happiness0 a very rich and beautiful   
work4 ,it  is eminently a book for the  
home4 ,wherever it is known it must make
  life sweeter and more wholesome4      
,,philip ,s4 ,,moxom1 ,pastor of ,south 

,congregational ,church1 ,springfield1  
,mass4    ,it is a book full of help and
 sympathy1 marked by a wide acquaintance
  with literature and with life1 and by 
a true insight into those  conditions   
which make for the truest and best      
existence4 ,s4 ,p4 ,,cadman1  ,pastor of
 ,central ,congregational ,church1      
,brooklyn4    ,it is a consummate       
statement of the highest conception of  
the nature  of human life1 and of the   
only methods by which its meaning and   
possibilities can be attained4 ,dr4     
,hillis is not only a great master of   
style1 but a serene satisfaction with   
,god's method of moral government       
breathes from every page and makes the  
teacher trustworthy4 ,,charles          
,,frederic ,,goss4    8,the ,quest of   
,happiness0 is ,dr4 ,hillis's very best 
book4 ,it is strong1  vivid1 clear1 and 
has a certain indefinable human quality 
which will  be sure to give it a large  
circulation and make it a source of     
great  helpfulness4 ,i especially       

enjoyed the 8,forewords40 ,they would   
make an  attractive volume in           
themselves4 ,,amory ,h4 ,,bradford1     
,pastor of ,first  ,congregational      
,church1 ,montclair1 ,n4 ,j4            
,,the ,,pleasures ,,of ,,life      ,,by 
,,sir ,,john ,,lubbock      ,,lord      
,,avebury      ,cloth1 #ab mo1 #a4be    
,it is good to read his cheery chapters1
 and to rejoice that there is  one such 
glad optimist in this sad world4 ,boston
 ,herald4    ,the tone of the work      
throughout is harmlessly optimistic1 and
 it has a  hearty and cheery drift1 very
 salutary for disheartened or           
over-wearied  people4 ,the ,dial4    ,a 
good wholesome book4 ,the literary      
variety of expression is charming4      
,home ,journal4            ,,the ,,use  
,,of ,,life      ,,by      ,,sir ,,john 
,,lubbock      ,author of 8,the         
,pleasures of ,life10 etc41 etc4        
,cloth1 #ab mo1 #a4be      ,one of the  
most astounding men of letters of       
to-day4 ,an exceptional  weight attaches

 to the kindly philosophy of his latest 
long talk 8,the  ,use of ,life10 and    
everybody will rise the better from the 
perusal of  his meditations4            
,philadelphia ,record4    ,inspired by a
 wholesome optimism1 sound common sense1
 and a reverent  recognition of the     
higher truths of existence4 ,just the   
volume that  needed to be written on a  
subject full of vital interest to every 
thoughtful man and woman4 ,the ,bookman4
      ,,the ,,macmillan ,,company    #ff
 ,,fifth ,,avenue1 ,,new ,,york         
,,transcriber',s ,,notes3               
,italicized text is surrounded by       
underscores3 italics4                   
,superscripted text is preceded by a    
carat character3 ,l,,td4      ,obvious  
typographical errors have been          
corrected4      ,inconsistencies in     
hyphenation have been standardized4     
,archaic or variant spelling has been   
retained4