If sentiment is the nearest that a man can come to
emotion, I think he had better take it thankfully. It is this
ethical prudence which is always weighing issues, and pulling up
the plant to see how it grows, which is the weakening and the
stunting thing. Of course any principle can be used sophistically;
but I think that many people commit a kind of idolatry by
worshipping their rules and principles rather than by trusting God.
It develops a larger and freer life, if one is not too cautious,
too precise. Of course one must follow what light one has, and all
lights are lit from God; but if one watches the lanterns of
moralists too anxiously, one may forget the stars.
July 8, 1889.
I lose myself sometimes in a dream of misery in thinking of the
baseness and meanness and squalor that condition the lives of so
many of the poor. Not that it is not possible under those
conditions to live lives of simplicity and dignity and beauty. It
is perfectly possible, but only, I think, for strong natures
possessing a combination of qualities--virtue, industry, sense,
prudence, and above all good physical health. There must still be
thousands of lives which could be happy and simple and virtuous
under more secure conditions, which are marred and degraded by the
influences under which they are nurtured.
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