| The Ministry of Comfort |
Chapter 18 |
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But there really is nothing manly or noble in such an attitude towards life. It may be said, first of all, that it is impossible to find a path in this world which has not in it something disagreeable. There always are thorns as well as roses, and usually they grow on the same stalk. There are some dark, unpleasant days in the brightest and most cheerful summer. It is not likely that every one of a hundred neighbours or companions in work is altogether congenial – almost certainly there will be one disagreeable person among them. Then it is not by any means certain that even one’s most congenial and best natured friend will be perfectly agreeable every hour of the three hundred and sixty five days in a year. The sweetest people are apt to have their disagreeable moods now and then. The sunniest hearted friend will likely have a day of cloud now and then.
It may be said, further, that not only is the disagreeable inevitable in life, but it is also the school in which much that is best may be learned. Nothing really noble and worthy is ever attained easily. One may get money by inheritance from an ancestor, but one cannot get education, culture, refinement, or character as an inheritance. These possessions can become ours only through our own struggle, toil, and self discipline.
Some people dream of genius as a gift which makes work unnecessary. They imagine that with this wondrous power they can do the finest things without learning to do them. They fancy, for example, that genius can sit down at a piano the first time it sees the instrument, and play exquisitely the noblest music; or put a vision of beauty on the canvas without having touched brushes before; or write a story, a poem, or an essay which will thrill all hearts, without ever having been a student and without literary training; or go into business and build up a great fortune without having had any preliminary business experience.
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