But, on the other hand, it
is good, because it restores another kind of proportion; it is like
dipping oneself in the seclusion of a monastic cell. Nowadays the
image of the world, with all its sheets of detailed news, all its
network of communications, sets too deep a mark upon one's spirit.
We tend to believe that a man is lost unless he is overwhelmed with
occupation, unless, like the conjurer, he is keeping a dozen balls
in the air at once. Such a gymnastic teaches a man alertness,
agility, effectiveness. But it has got to be proved that one was
sent into the world to be effective, and it is not even certain
that a man has fulfilled the higher law of his being if he has made
a large fortune by business. A sagacious, shrewd, acute man of the
world is sometimes a mere nuisance; he has made his prosperous
corner at the expense of others, and he has only contrived to
accumulate, behind a little fence of his own, what was meant to be
the property of all. I have known a good many successful men, and I
cannot honestly say that I think that they are generally the better
for their success.
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