April 25, 2020. Epidemic, Catching in a Curious Way

“The second Dæmon of Imagination is Sin. Have you ever heard people say, ‘There seems to be quite an epidemic of burglaries’ or ‘of murders’? They are quite right. There is an epidemic of these things. They are catching in a curious way. People read of a crime in the newspapers, they allow their Imagination to dwell upon all the details; the whole thing becomes … Continue reading April 25, 2020. Epidemic, Catching in a Curious Way

Ourselves Volume 4 Book 1 Pt 2. Chapter 4

CHAPTER IV MY LORD CHIEF EXPLORER           Living Pictures.—My Lord Chief Expires Imagination, deserves a more complete introduction than the by-the-way mention he has had as a colleague of Intellect. He is an amazing personage, with power to produce, as we have seen, a procession of living pictures in every region open to Intellect. Great artists, whether they be poets or painters, builders or musicians, … Continue reading Ourselves Volume 4 Book 1 Pt 2. Chapter 4

It Happens Every Day

  “A Basis of Facts.—Of the teaching of Natural Philosophy, I will only remind the reader of what was said in an earlier chapter—that there is no part of a child’s education more important than that he should lay, by his own observation, a wide basis of facts towards scientific knowledge in the future. He must live hours daily in the open air, and, as … Continue reading It Happens Every Day

Ourselves Volume 4 Book 1 Pt 2. Chapter 3

CHAPTER III THE DÆMONS OF INTELLECT           Inertia will not let us begin.—Like the Body, the Mind, too, has his Dæmons. The two which beset Intellect are, first, a sort of sloth or inertia which makes us unwilling to begin to think of anything but the small matters of everyday life. If we will only begin, Intellect bestirs himself, strong and eager for his work:— … Continue reading Ourselves Volume 4 Book 1 Pt 2. Chapter 3

Formation of Character Volume 5 Pt 4. Chapter 4

          IV “YOUNG CROSSJAY” A GOLD thread running through a sombre stuff, a streak of sunlight in a lurid sky,—something like these is the fitful appearance of young Crossjay in that rather dreary study wherein a ‘Patterne’ English gentleman is exhibited, resting, fold upon fold, upon himself, every serpentine movement, stealthy, sudden, even vindictive, betraying the wiles and ways of the Egoist. But it is … Continue reading Formation of Character Volume 5 Pt 4. Chapter 4

Formation of Character Volume 5 Pt 4. Chapter 3. IV

IV           Like Goethe, again, Pen was a person of casual education. It is quite open to contention that persons thus educated do a good deal of the work of the world; that, indeed, men and women of great parts and original mind are often persons who have managed to evade the regular routine of the schools. Like Pen, they have got out of working … Continue reading Formation of Character Volume 5 Pt 4. Chapter 3. IV

Formation of Character Volume 5 Pt 4. Chapter 3. III

III           Pen, was like young Goethe, a mother’s boy; the son of a fonder, sweeter, less humorous mother; but he, too, was the son of parents of unequal age, and was his mother’s companion. We get charming glimpses of this companionship. There was that evening when the two walked on the lawn of Fairoaks, and watched the trees in the opposite park of Clavering … Continue reading Formation of Character Volume 5 Pt 4. Chapter 3. III

Ourselves Volume 4 Book 1 Pt 2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER II MY LORD INTELLECT           Introduction Mansoul to Delightful Realms.—To begin with my Lord Intellect: he is the Foreign Secretary, because he conducts affairs and establishes relations with many foreign kingdoms. Through him Mansoul obtains the freedom of rich provinces and mighty states.           Science. A Vast and Joyous Region.—Science is one of these provinces. Here, the stars are measured, the ocean sounded, and … Continue reading Ourselves Volume 4 Book 1 Pt 2. Chapter 2

Formation of Character Volume 5 Pt 4. Chapter 3. II

II           Is it ill-natured to suggest, as second amongst the causes which sent Pen astray, the influence of that consummate personage, Major Pendennis? How great he is in his own line, how absurd and how respectable; how one likes him in spite of himself, and how convincing is the neatness and finish of his unworthy code! Is the title of the novel in truth … Continue reading Formation of Character Volume 5 Pt 4. Chapter 3. II

Ourselves Volume 4 Book I Pt 2. Chapter 1

PART II THE HOUSE OF MIND CHAPTER 1 OURSELVES ‘Ourselves,’ a Vast Country not yet Explored.—When we think of our bodies and of the wonderful powers they possess, we say, under our breath, “Great and marvellous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty.” Now, let us consider that still more wonderful Self which we cannot see and touch as we can our bodies, but which thinks … Continue reading Ourselves Volume 4 Book I Pt 2. Chapter 1