THE DIFFERENCES OF THINGS. 57 



a place for charity toward the poor devil whom as yet neither charity 

 nor logic can dispose of. 



But there are other philosophers, among whom I count myself I 

 say it in all modesty, it runs in our family who are not satisfied with 

 any of these explanations, and very naturally ask: "Is the world a 

 failure? Is it not a very good world? Is it not, in fact, as good as 

 it can be ? Were the united wisdom and goodness of the race supple- 

 mented with omnipotence and allowed to reconstruct the universe, 

 could they improve upon the world as it is? Are these, that we name 

 so, evils, or is it that we have failed to find out their character and 

 use?" I purpose to answer these questions by applying to them the 

 Law of Difference, which I conceive to be the panacea for the ills of 

 life. Keep in mind that, as all knowledge comes to us as the result of 

 the different, so do all emotions of pain or of pleasure. Every quality 

 that is thinkable implies its opposite, or at least its different in de- 

 gree. Happiness and misery are only relative terms. Absolute happi- 

 ness cannot exist any more than a magnetic needle with only one pole. 

 The sick man who rises for the first time for weeks from a bed of pain 

 and is led out into the sunshine is very happy; while the strong man 

 who has not known sickness for years is unhappy from some slight in- 

 disposition which scarcely interferes with his daily work. \\ hy this 

 difference ? Simply from the contrast with the previous condition. 

 He who would enjoy must suffer. The lives of some people pass so 

 smoothly that we count them happy. They are simply in the posses- 

 sion of something whose value they have never known, hence it is to 

 them worthless. If you want to know the full value of a clear con- 

 science you must go through the hands of remorse. If you want to 

 know the comfort of owning two shirts at a time, you must know the 

 discomfort of owning no shirt at a time. Whence comes the pleasure 

 we feel from our progress in knowledge ? From the difference between 

 the knowing and the not knowing of anything. Take the happiness 

 that comes from social position in life. It arises from the fact that 

 we are higher up than some one else. Bring all to the same level 

 and it would be enough to make an angel weep to see how much hap- 

 piness some people w r ould lose. Many would be bankrupt. Take the 

 tramps and vagabonds out of society, and the whole fabric would be 

 cut down one story ; for, to change the figure, they put one more round 

 into the ladder it matters not that it is at the bottom and give the 

 climber a chance to go one round higher. It is the length of the lad- 

 der that counts, no matter where the bottom is placed. What are 

 wealth and poverty? Only relative terms. There is none so rich as 

 the poor boy who has just received his first dollar after a week of hard 

 work. We waste a great deal of pity on those who are born in the 

 humbler ranks of life. It is my impression that, on the Avhole, it is 

 better to be born poor, and work your way up to wealth and honor, 

 than to have wealth and honor thrust upon you at birth, even though 

 retained through life. 



