按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！
picturesqueness of life。 Nothing will afford a more durable satisfaction
than the constantly cultivated appreciation of this。 It is the end of all
science。
33
… Page 34…
How to Live on Twenty…Four Hours a Day
Cause and effect are to be found everywhere。 Rents went up in
Shepherd's Bush。 It was painful and shocking that rents should go up in
Shepherd's Bush。 But to a certain point we are all scientific students of
cause and effect； and there was not a clerk lunching at a Lyons Restaurant
who did not scienti… fically put two and two together and see in the （once）
Two…penny Tube the cause of an excessive demand for wigwams in
Shepherd's Bush； and in the excessive demand for wigwams the cause of
the increase in the price of wigwams。
〃Simple！〃 you say； disdainfully。 Everything…the whole complex
movement of the universe…is as simple as that…when you can sufficiently
put two and two together。 And； my dear sir； perhaps you happen to be an
estate agent's clerk； and you hate the arts； and you want to foster your
immortal soul； and you can't be interested in your business because it's so
humdrum。
Nothing is humdrum。
The tremendous； changeful picturesqueness of life is marvellously
shown in an estate agent's office。 What！ There was a block of traffic in
Oxford Street； to avoid the block people actually began to travel under the
cellars and drains； and the result was a rise of rents in Shepherd's Bush！
And you say that isn't picturesque！ Suppose you were to study； in this
spirit； the property question in London for an hour and a half every other
evening。 Would it not give zest to your business； and transform your
whole life？
You would arrive at more difficult problems。 And you would be able to
tell us why； as the natural result of cause and effect； the longest straight
street in London is about a yard and a half in length； while the longest
absolutely straight street in Paris extends for miles。 I think you will admit
that in an estate agent's clerk I have not chosen an example that specially
favours my theories。
You are a bank clerk； and you have not read that breathless romance
（disguised as a scientific study）； Walter Bagehot's 〃Lombard Street〃？ Ah；
my dear sir； if you had begun with that； and followed it up for ninety
minutes every other evening； how enthralling your business would be to
you； and how much more clearly you would understand human nature。
34
… Page 35…
How to Live on Twenty…Four Hours a Day
You are 〃penned in town；〃 but you love excursions to the country and
the observation of wild life…certainly a heart…enlarging diversion。 Why
don't you walk out of your house door； in your slippers； to the nearest gas
lamp of a night with a butterfly net； and observe the wild life of common
and rare moths that is beating about it； and co…ordinate the knowledge thus
obtained and build a superstructure on it； and at last get to know
something about something？
You need not be devoted to the arts； not to literature； in order to live
fully。
The whole field of daily habit and scene is waiting to satisfy that
curiosity which means life； and the satisfaction of which means an
understanding heart。
I promised to deal with your case； O man who hates art and literature；
and I have dealt with it。 I now come to the case of the person； happily very
common； who does 〃like reading。〃
35
… Page 36…
How to Live on Twenty…Four Hours a Day
XI SERIOUS READING
Novels are excluded from 〃serious reading；〃 so that the man who；
bent on self…improvement； has been deciding to devote ninety minutes
three times a week to a complete study of the works of Charles Dickens
will be well advised to alter his plans。 The reason is not that novels are not
serious some of the great literature of the world is in the form of prose
fiction the reason is that bad novels ought not to be read； and that good
novels never demand any appreciable mental application on the part of the
reader。 It is only the bad parts of Meredith's novels that are difficult。 A
good novel rushes you forward like a skiff down a stream； and you arrive
at the end； perhaps breathless； but unexhausted。 The best novels involve
the least strain。 Now in the cultivation of the mind one of the most
important factors is precisely the feeling of strain； of difficulty； of a task
which one part of you is anxious to achieve and another part of you is
anxious to shirk； and that f eeling cannot be got in facing a novel。 You do
not set your teeth in order to read 〃Anna Karenina。〃 Therefore； though you
should read novels； you should not read them in those ninety minutes。
Imaginative poetry produces a far greater mental strain than novels。 It
produces probably the severest strain of any form of literature。 It is the
highest form of literature。 It yields the highest form of pleasure； and
teaches the highest form of wisdom。 In a word； there is nothing to
compare with it。 I say this with sad consciousness of the fact that the
majority of people do not read poetry。
I am persuaded that many excellent persons； if they were confronted
with the alternatives of reading 〃Paradise Lost〃 and going round Trafalgar
Square at noonday on their knees in sack…cloth； would choose the ordeal
of public ridicule。 Still； I will never cease advising my friends and enemies
to read poetry before anything。
If poetry is what is called 〃a sealed book〃 to you； begin by reading
Hazlitt's famous essay on the nature of 〃poetry in general。〃 It is the best
thing of its kind in English； and no one who has read it can possibly be
under the misapprehension that poetry is a mediaeval torture； or a mad
elephant； or a gun that will go off by itself and kill at forty paces。 Indeed；
36
… Page 37…
How to Live on Twenty…Four Hours a Day
it is difficult to imagine the mental state of the