VOCATION VERSUS AVOCATION 



and assemblies of one sort or another to facilitate per- 

 sonal intercourse. 



This means that life-long friendships may be formed 

 between persons of kindred tastes, through the inter- 

 position of the hobby. And after all, there is no one 

 other source of happiness that is so certain and so last- 

 ing as communion with friends. "The best of life is 

 conversation," says Emerson; and conversation im- 

 plies mutual interests and common knowledge. It is 

 useless, for example, to talk of your hobby to some one 

 who does not even understand its terminology. 



The friendships thus formed differ, too, from those 

 formed in business circles, in that they are likely to be 

 more unselfish and hence more sincere. Business 

 competition brings out the sordid side of a man's char- 

 acter; and your pure man of affairs is likely to take a 

 pessimistic view of human nature. He doubts even the 

 common honesty of his fellows, and contends that 

 "every man has his price." Hard knocks in business 

 have made him suspicious of his competitors. He 

 knows that the business maxim of at least a large pro- 

 portion of them is: "Get money; get it honestly if 

 you can but get it!" He is the rare exception if he 

 has not been more than tempted to do as he sees the 

 others doing; and at the very best he tends to grow 

 selfish and unsympathetic and cynical. He must ever 

 challenge the sincerity of the friendship that presently 

 in the course of business events, may have to be weighed 

 against a monetary consideration. 



But the friendships that have their origin in the mutual 

 interests of the avocation are put to no such test. Here 



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