In our time the chief peril for men of imagination and the artistic
temperament comes from that aloofness of temper which separates its victim
from his fellows, isolates him in the very heart of society, and turns his
energy inward so that he preys upon himself. The root of a great deal of
that pessimism which has found expression in modern literature is found in
inactivity. He who contents himself with looking at life as a spectator
sees its appalling contradictions and its baffling confusions, and misses
the steadying power of the common toil, the comprehension through
sympathy, the slow but deep unfolding and education which come from
participation in the world's work. He who approaches life only through his
feelings is bruised, hurt, and finally exhausted by a strain of emotion
unrelieved by thought and action. No man is sound either in vision or in
judgment who holds himself apart from the work of society. Participation
in that work not only liberates the inward energy which preys upon itself
if repressed; it also, through human fellowship, brings warmth and love to
the solitary spirit; above all, it so identifies the man with outward
activities that his personal force finds free access to the world, and he
is delivered from the peril of self-consciousness. He who cares supremely
for some worthy activity and gives himself to it has no time to reflect on
his own woes, and no temptation to exaggerate his own claims. He sees
clearly that he is an undeveloped personality to whom the supreme
opportunity comes in the guise of the discipline of work. To forget
oneself in heroic action as did Drake, or in heroic toil as did Symonds
and Stevenson, is to make even disease contribute to health and mastery.




Chapter XI