The Rambles of an Idler 



I have known those who had the merit of 

 being great in their littleness. What they did, 

 they did well. A community made up of such 

 men is as useful as congregated geniuses. Any 

 one of these may set a complicated work in 

 motion, but earnest, though less gifted, men are 

 needed to keep it from going astray or stopping 

 for want of trivial attentions. Because there is 

 nothing extraordinary about the most of us is 

 no reason for thinking little of ourselves, and, 

 above all, for being envious of those who have 

 accomplished wonders. That place is honorable 

 always, the outcome of which is the result of 

 honest endeavor. The fruit of effort in a small 

 way is not always small. Tender vines bring 

 forth big pumpkins. 



Men are to be judged not alone by the com- 

 pany they keep. There are other evidences of 

 whether a man is as Nature proposed or as 

 misguided artificiality makes him. Take a look 

 into the house in which he lives. I have always 

 thought that the inconsequential carelessness of 

 trifles out of place give a home-like appearance 

 to a human habitation that spick-and-span or- 

 der can never do. The healthy man lives not 



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