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lay morals-第8节

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hich is at least tangible; would you do it; then; for  a doubtful forecast in politics; or another person's theory  in morals?

So intricate is the scheme of our affairs; that no man can  calculate the bearing of his own behaviour even on those  immediately around him; how much less upon the world at large  or on succeeding generations!  To walk by external prudence  and the rule of consequences would require; not a man; but  God。  All that we know to guide us in this changing labyrinth  is our soul with its fixed design of righteousness; and a few  old precepts which commend themselves to that。  The precepts  are vague when we endeavour to apply them; consequences are  more entangled than a wisp of string; and their confusion is  unrestingly in change; we must hold to what we know and walk  by it。  We must walk by faith; indeed; and not by knowledge。

You do not love another because he is wealthy or wise or  eminently respectable: you love him because you love him;  that is love; and any other only a derision and grimace。  It  should be the same with all our actions。  If we were to  conceive a perfect man; it should be one who was never torn  between conflicting impulses; but who; on the absolute  consent of all his parts and faculties; submitted in every  action of his life to a self…dictation as absolute and  unreasoned as that which bids him love one woman and be true  to her till death。  But we should not conceive him as  sagacious; ascetical; playing off his appetites against each  other; turning the wing of public respectable immorality  instead of riding it directly down; or advancing toward his  end through a thousand sinister compromises and  considerations。  The one man might be wily; might be adroit;  might be wise; might be respectable; might be gloriously  useful; it is the other man who would be good。

The soul asks honour and not fame; to be upright; not to be  successful; to be good; not prosperous; to be essentially;  not outwardly; respectable。  Does your soul ask profit?  Does  it ask money?  Does it ask the approval of the indifferent  herd?  I believe not。  For my own part; I want but little  money; I hope; and I do not want to be decent at all; but to  be good。



LAY MORALS CHAPTER IV



WE have spoken of that supreme self…dictation which keeps  varying from hour to hour in its dictates with the variation  of events and circumstances。  Now; for us; that is ultimate。   It may be founded on some reasonable process; but it is not a  process which we can follow or comprehend。  And moreover the  dictation is not continuous; or not continuous except in very  lively and well…living natures; and between…whiles we must  brush along without it。  Practice is a more intricate and  desperate business than the toughest theorising; life is an  affair of cavalry; where rapid judgment and prompt action are  alone possible and right。  As a matter of fact; there is no  one so upright but he is influenced by the world's chatter;  and no one so headlong but he requires to consider  consequences and to keep an eye on profit。  For the soul  adopts all affections and appetites without exception; and  cares only to combine them for some common purpose which  shall interest all。  Now; respect for the opinion of others;  the study of consequences; and the desire of power and  comfort; are all undeniably factors in the nature of man; and  the more undeniably since we find that; in our current  doctrines; they have swallowed up the others and are thought  to conclude in themselves all the worthy parts of man。   These; then; must also be suffered to affect conduct in the  practical domain; much or little according as they are  forcibly or feebly present to the mind of each。

Now; a man's view of the universe is mostly a view of the  civilised society in which he lives。  Other men and women are  so much more grossly and so much more intimately palpable to  his perceptions; that they stand between him and all the  rest; they are larger to his eye than the sun; he hears them  more plainly than thunder; with them; by them; and for them;  he must live and die。  And hence the laws that affect his  intercourse with his fellow…men; although merely customary  and the creatures of a generation; are more clearly and  continually before his mind than those which bind him into  the eternal system of things; support him in his upright  progress on this whirling ball; or keep up the fire of his  bodily life。  And hence it is that money stands in the first  rank of considerations and so powerfully affects the choice。   For our society is built with money for mortar; money is  present in every joint of circumstance; it might be named the  social atmosphere; since; in society; it is by that alone  that men continue to live; and only through that or chance  that they can reach or affect one another。  Money gives us  food; shelter; and privacy; it permits us to be clean in  person; opens for us the doors of the theatre; gains us books  for study or pleasure; enables us to help the distresses of  others; and puts us above necessity so that we can choose the  best in life。  If we love; it enables us to meet and live  with the loved one; or even to prolong her health and life;  if we have scruples; it gives us an opportunity to be honest;  if we have any bright designs; here is what will smooth the  way to their accomplishment。  Penury is the worst slavery;  and will soon lead to death。

But money is only a means; it presupposes a man to use it。   The rich can go where he pleases; but perhaps please himself  nowhere。  He can buy a library or visit the whole world; but  perhaps has neither patience to read nor intelligence to see。   The table may be loaded and the appetite wanting; the purse  may be full; and the heart empty。  He may have gained the  world and lost himself; and with all his wealth around him;  in a great house and spacious and beautiful demesne; he may  live as blank a life as any tattered ditcher。  Without an  appetite; without an aspiration; void of appreciation;  bankrupt of desire and hope; there; in his great house; let  him sit and look upon his fingers。  It is perhaps a more  fortunate destiny to have a taste for collecting shells than  to be born a millionaire。  Although neither is to be  despised; it is always better policy to learn an interest  than to make a thousand pounds; for the money will soon be  spent; or perhaps you may feel no joy in spending it; but the  interest remains imperishable and ever new。  To become a  botanist; a geologist; a social philosopher; an antiquary; or  an artist; is to enlarge one's possessions in the universe by  an incalculably higher degree; and by a far surer sort of  property; than to purchase a farm of many acres。  You had  perhaps two thousand a year before the transaction; perhaps  you have two thousand five hundred after it。  That represents  your gain in the one case。  But in the other; you have thrown  down a barrier which concealed significance and beauty。  The  blind man has learned to see。  The prisoner has opened up a  window in his cell and beholds enchanting prospects; he will  never again be a prisoner as he was; he can watch clouds and  changing seasons; ships on the river; travellers on the road;  and the stars at night; happy prisoner! his eyes have broken  jail!  And again he who has learned to love an art or science  has wisely laid up riches against the day of riches; if  prosperity come; he will not enter poor into his inheritance;  he will not slumber and forget himself in the lap of money;  or spend his hours in counting idle treasures; but be up and  briskly doing; he will have the true alchemic touch; which is  not that of Midas; but which transmutes dead money into  living delight and satisfaction。  ETRE ET PAS AVOIR … to be;  not to possess … that is the problem of life。  To be wealthy;  a rich nature is the first requisite and money but the  second。  To be of a quick and healthy blood; to share in all  honourable curiosities; to be rich in admiration and free  from envy; to rejoice greatly in the good of others; to love  with such generosity of heart that your love is still a dear  possession in absence or unkindness … these are the gifts of  fortune which money cannot buy and without which money can  buy nothing。  For what can a man possess; or what can he  enjoy; except himself?  If he enlarge his nature; it is then  that he enlarges his estates。  If his nature be happy and  valiant; he will enjoy the universe as if it were his park  and orchard。

But money is not only to be spent; it has also to be earned。   It is not merely a convenience or a necessary in social life;  but it is the coin in which mankind pays his wages to the  individual man。  And from this side; the question of money  has a very different scope and application。  For no man can  be honest who does not work。  Service for service。  If the  farmer buys corn; and the labourer ploughs and reaps; and the  baker sweats in his hot bakery; plainly you who eat must do  something in your turn。  It is not enough to take off your  hat; or to thank God upon your knees for the admirable  constitution of society and your own convenient situation in  its upper and more ornamental stories。  Neither is it e

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