THE SCIENCE OF HAPPINESS 



Obviously, then, the development of the mind along 

 aesthetic and philosophical lines may serve on the one 

 hand to effect a direct enhancement of the opportuni- 

 ties for happiness, and on the other as a warder off 

 of ills. So, clearly enough, it is the part of wisdom to 

 cultivate such mental and emotional development as 

 will facilitate these ends. Learn to see the picture in 

 the landscape, and so develop mental pictures that can 

 be carried everywhere. Strive on occasions to direct 

 the inward eye along by-paths of the mind that lead 

 toward no practical result but only toward the solution 

 of abstract problems of what the old Greeks called 

 "being and becoming." 



In other words, permit yourself, on occasion, to 

 practise the invocation of visions and the dreaming of 

 dreams. 



Does this seem antagonistic to what I have said in 

 previous chapters about keeping one's feet on the 

 ground? There is no real contradiction. The most 

 practical man may be also the most pronounced ideal- 

 ist; just as the best worker may be also the best player. 

 In the final analysis, idealism and materialism may be 

 reduced to the same terms. They are but two sides of 

 the same shield. 



"When I have lain on the ground for days and 

 looked into the clouds," says Taine, speaking of Words- 

 worth's "Ode on the Intimations of Immortality," "I 

 shall love this poetry." The critic spoke sarcastically, 

 but there was better reason than he knew in his words. 

 Well might it be wished that every seeker of happiness 

 should now and again find time to "lie on the ground 



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