THE SCIENCE OF HAPPINESS 



of old age cannot be expected to perform any further 

 useful work; though this interpretation has been put 

 upon it by some rash critics. It requires only the 

 briefest turning of the pages of a biographical dictionary 

 to dispel any such illusion as that. It is one thing to say 

 that the man who has not begun to show promise of 

 success by middle life will probably never attain the 

 heights; it is quite another to say that achievement 

 must have reached its maximum at that period. To 

 assert the latter, would be to fly in the face of the most 

 patent and familiar life-histories. If most men have 

 laid the foundations of their life-edifice at forty, few 

 indeed have completed the superstructure. 



But even as regards the beginnings, there are notable 

 exceptions; and sweeping generalisations, based on 

 observation of the average man, are sure to run amuck 

 of that rule-breaker, the exceptional man. Whoever 

 cares to compile a list of notable achievements accom- 

 plished by men past middle age, will find himself 

 confronted not only with a formidable list of workers 

 who have added to their fame or fortune in later years, 

 but also with a not inconsiderable list of men who 

 entered new fields after middle life, and attained great 

 distinction in these new fields. 



Julius Caesar, for example, second to none among 

 military conquerors, had no military reputation till he 

 was past forty. Oliver Cromwell was an untried tyro in 

 military art when he entered the field against his king 

 at forty-three. Blake, who by common consent must be 

 remembered as one of the greatest of admirals, was 

 past fifty before he first set foot on a war ship. Grant, 



