it express his personality. There are forms of work so rudimentary that
the touch of individuality is almost entirely absent, and there are forms
of work so distinctive and spiritual that they are instantly and finally
associated with one man. The degree in which a man individualises his work
and gives it the quality of his own mind and spirit is, therefore, the
measure of his success in giving his nature free and full expression. For
work, in this large sense, is the expression of the man; and as the range
and significance of all kinds of expression depend upon the scope and
meaning of the ideas, forces, skills, and qualities expressed, so the
dignity and permanence of work depend upon the power and insight of the
worker. All sound work is true and genuine self-expression, but work has
as many gradations of quality and significance as has character or
ability. Dealing with essentially the same materials, each man in each
generation has the opportunity of adding to the common material that touch
of originality in temperament, insight, or skill which is his only
possible contribution to civilisation.

The spiritual nature of work and its relation to character are seen in the
diversity of work which the different races have done, and in the
unmistakable stamp which the work of each race bears. First as a matter of
instinct, and later as a matter of intelligence, each race has followed,
in its activities, the lines of least resistance, and put its energies
forth in ways which were most attractive because they offered the freest
range and were nearest at hand. The attempt of some historians of a
philosophical turn of mind to fit each race into a category and to give
each race a sharply defined sphere of influence has been carried too far,
and has discredited the effort to interpret arbitrarily the genius of the
different races and to assign arbitrarily their functions. It remains
true, however, that, in a broad sense, each race has had a peculiar
quality of mind and spirit which may be called its genius, and each has