advantage until he has been so trained by work that he makes his freedom
from times and tasks more fruitful than his toil has been. When work has
disciplined a man, he may safely be left to himself; for he will not only
govern himself, but he will also employ himself. There are few worse
elements in society than an idle leisure class,--a body of men and women
who make mere recreation the business of living, and so reverse or subvert
the natural order of life.

On the other hand, there is no more valuable element in society than a
working leisure class,--a body of men and women who, emancipated from the
harder and more mechanical work of the world, give themselves to the
higher activities and enrich the common life by intelligence, beauty,
charm of habit and manners, dignity of carriage, and distinction of
character and taste. So long as men need other food than bread, and have
higher necessities than those of the body, a leisure class will be
essential to the richest and completest social development. What society
does not need is an idle class.




Chapter IX

Fellowship


The comradeship of work is an element which is rarely taken into account,
but which is of great importance from many points of view. Men who work
together have not only the same interests, but are likely to develop a
kinship of thought and feeling. Their association extends beyond working