54 Teachings of Thomas II ix ley 



need is there that any one should live in such 

 a hotbed of iniquity as constantly presents 

 itself before his myopic vision. He professes 

 only a love for others, while thinking entirely 

 of himself; and as to the real causes, effects 

 and ultimate results of this or that action he 

 is as utterly bewildered as a lost babe in a 

 London fog. 



The altruist is also an extremist, but he errs 

 on the better side. He does not believe that 

 the struggle for existence is a natural outcome 

 of uncontrollable physical forces; but if he did 

 he would onlv wish for their annihilation and 



t/ 



for a reconstruction of "this sorry scheme" to 

 something more akin to the heart's desire. 

 Strife is for him a sad, sad thought, and in his 

 ideal world he would see only perfect harmony, 

 and orderly sequence in human relations. His 

 sphere would be characterized by a sort of un- 

 diluted politeness, by which each person would 

 court self -extermination in order to bring about 

 the greatest good to the greatest number. Hux- 

 ley was neither a pessimist nor an altruist, I 

 do not know that he would have liked the name 

 of optimist or even that of meliorist; yet he 

 was always full of hope for the future what- 

 ever it might hold in store. He believed that 

 "The w T orhl is neither so good nor so bad as 

 it conceivably might be; and as most of us have 

 reason now and again to discover that it can 

 be." He was a moralist without being a senti- 



