So it is, though it is not its
only possible crown. But I believe that it is equally the crown of a
man's life. It is perhaps true that the production of true fathers
belongs to a later stage of human evolution than the production of
mothers, for fathers are not so obviously essential to young children.
But I hazard the suggestion that one of the prime needs of the stage at
which we have now arrived is just that men should learn the arts and
powers of fatherhood, and take a larger part in the rearing of
children. And I believe men will find, as I have said, that parentage
is for them also the crown of life. With many men the emotions that
come with fatherhood are the deepest of which they are capable, and
they are also the finest. Even men who seem to me pretty low in the
scale of humanity often recover some of their lost manhood when under
the power of their own little children. And with normal men their
fatherhood comes to dominate life.
Its most obvious result is that it compels a man to work, and to work
hard. We are mostly born slackers.
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