There are people whom I know who do this,
and who, even though they live with some degree of wealth, are yet
themselves obviously independent of comfort to an extraordinary
degree. There is a Puritanical dislike of waste which is a very
different thing, because it often coexists with an extreme
attachment to the particular standard of comfort that the man
himself prefers. I know people who believe that a substantial
midday meal and a high tea are more righteous than a simple midday
meal and a substantial dinner. But the right attitude is one of
unconcern and the absence of uneasy scheming as to the details of
life. There is no reason why people should not form habits, because
method is the primary condition of work; but the moment that habit
becomes tyrannous and elaborate, then the spirit is at once in
bondage to anxiety. The real victory over these little cares is not
for ever to have them on one's mind; or one becomes like the bread-
and-butter fly in Through the Looking-Glass, whose food was weak
tea with cream in it. "But supposing it cannot find any?" said
Alice.
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