They are the
shadows of our childishness, and they show that we have a long
journey before us; and they gain their strength from the fact that
we gather them together out of the future like the bundle of sticks
in the fable, when we shall have the strength to snap them singly
as they come.
The real way to fight them is to get together a treasure of
interests and hopes and beautiful visions and emotions, and above
all to have some definite work which lies apart from our daily
work, to which we can turn gladly in empty hours; because fears are
born of inaction and idleness, and melt insensibly away in the
warmth of labour and duty.
Nothing can really hurt us except our own despair. But the problem
which is difficult is how to practise a real fulness of life, and
yet to keep a certain detachment, how to realise that what we do is
small and petty enough, but that the greatness lies in our energy
and briskness of action; we should try to be interested in life as
we are interested in a game, not believing too much in the
importance of it, but yet intensely concerned at the moment in
playing it as well and skilfully as possible.
Pages:
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171