other people? Is it open to us to choose to be genuine? I see
nothing insuperable in the way, except for those who are
hopelessly lacking in a sense of humor. It depends upon the range
and scale of your observation whether you can strike the balance
of genuineness or not. If you live in a small and petty world,
you will be subject to its standards; but if you live in a large
world, you will see that standards are innumerable--some old,
some new, some made by the noble-minded and made to last, some
made by the weak-minded and destined to perish, some lasting from
age to age, some only from day to day--and that a choice must be
made among them. It is then that your sense of humor will assist
you. You are, you will perceive, upon a long journey, and it will
seem to you ridiculous to change your life and discipline your
instincts to conform with the usages of a single inn by the way.
You will distinguish the essentials from the accidents, and deem
the accidents something meant for your amusement. The strongest
natures do not need to wait for these slow lessons of
observation, to be got by conning life: their sheer vigor makes
it impossible for them to conform to fashion or care for times
and seasons. But the rest of us must cultivate knowledge of the
world in the large, get our offing, reaching a comparative point
of view, before we can become with steady confidence our own
masters and pilots. The art of being humans begins with the
practice of being genuine, and following standards of conduct
which the world has tested. If your life is not various and you
cannot know the best people, who set the standards of sincerity,
your reading at least can be various, and you may look at your
little circle through the best books, under the guidance of
writers who have known life and loved the truth.