The result was a perpetual little
friction on the point. If both could have been perfectly sincere,
and could have confessed their weakness frankly, no harm would have
been done. But each was so sincerely anxious to present an
unblemished soul to the other's view, that they could not arrive at
an understanding on the point; each desired to appear more
disinterested than he was; and so, after coming together to a
certain extent--both were fine natures--the presence of grit in the
machinery made itself gradually felt, and the friendship melted
away. It was a case of each desiring the unalloyed pleasure of an
admiring friendship, without accepting the responsibility of
discovering that the other was not perfection, and bearing that
discovery loyally and generously. For this is the worst of a
friendship that begins in idealisation rather than in comradeship;
and this is the danger of all people who idealise. When two such
come together and feel a mutual attraction, they display
instinctively and unconsciously the best of themselves; but
melancholy discoveries supervene; and then what generally happens
is that the idealising friend is angry with the other for
disappointing his hopes, not with himself for drawing an
extravagant picture.
Pages:
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72