this would be to use vain repetitions as the Gentiles do.
She would have been as much bewildered by him as if he had
been a centipede.

All pessimism has a secret optimism for its object. All surrender
of life, all denial of pleasure, all darkness, all austerity,
all desolation has for its real aim this separation of something
so that it may be poignantly and perfectly enjoyed. I feel
grateful for the slight sprain which has introduced this mysterious
and fascinating division between one of my feet and the other.
The way to love anything is to realise that it might be lost.
In one of my feet I can feel how strong and splendid a foot is;
in the other I can realise how very much otherwise it might
have been. The moral of the thing is wholly exhilarating.
This world and all our powers in it are far more awful and
beautiful than even we know until some accident reminds us.
If you wish to perceive that limitless felicity, limit yourself
if only for a moment. If you wish to realise how fearfully
and wonderfully God's image is made, stand on one leg.
If you want to realise the splendid vision of all visible things--
wink the other eye.


VIII

The End of the World

For some time I had been wandering in quiet streets in the curious
town of Besancon, which stands like a sort of peninsula
in a horse-shoe of river. You may learn from the guide books