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This may be held a dangerous doctrine; but I do not mean that life
must be a foolish and ingenuous indulgence of every appetite and
whim. One must make choices; and there are many appetites which
come hand in hand with their own shadow. I am not here speaking of
tampering with sin; I think that most people burn their fingers
over that in early life. But I am speaking rather of the delights
of the body that are in no way sinful, food and drink, games and
exercise, love itself; and of the joys of the mind and the artistic
sense; free and open relations with men and women of keen interests
and eager fancies; the delights of work, professional success, the
doing of pleasant tasks as vigorously and as perfectly as one can--
all the stir and motion and delight of life.
To shrink back in terror from all this seems to me a sort of
cowardice; and it is a cowardice too to go on indulging in things
which one does not enjoy for the sake of social tradition. One must
not be afraid of breaking with social custom, if one finds that it
leads one into dreary and useless formalities, stupid and expensive
entertainments, tiresome gatherings, dull and futile assemblies.
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