would but wake up to the fact that in her bit of the world there are
other people who need the love she might give them. She would thus find
a noble outlet for her emotions, become a boon to other people, and in
the process discover her own happiness--possibly to her own surprise.

I know very well what is likely to happen to some girls who read these
words and who are involved in a passionately affectionate attachment. I
can almost hear one such saying, "Of course I see that these things
ought to be said, and that some girls are very silly about their
friendships, and it only makes me the more thankful that in my case
everything is so natural, and right, and good."

We are all like that! We are extraordinarily slow to recognize in our
own lives the evils and dangers which we can see so clearly in the
lives of others. And so I would like to make a direct appeal to all
girls, and to all men too, who are involved in these relationships. Do
face the facts openly! Do look ahead! Do ask yourselves what you are
going to do about these affairs as time goes on! You must know they
cannot last in their present form. You would be right if you even said
that they to last. You may drift along, always postponing any definite
action, and just enjoying the present while it lasts. But that is
exactly the way in which calamity is allowed to enter people's lives.
And you and she, or you and he, might forthwith face the unalterable
facts I have been referring to, and take all danger by the throat and
throttle it. You might do that _now_. That is to say, you and your dear
friend might agree that you will at once get the passionate element out
of your relationship, and forego the pleasure you have in
that respect. You might begin now to learn true friendship, and get rid
of what is really a sickly thing. It might hurt--it probably would at
first. But none of us human beings need be the mere creatures of our