XII 

 AN OUTLOOK UPON LIFE 



THIS chapter, with its personal and autobio- 

 graphical note, seems to call for some word 

 of explanation. A few years since, a magazine 

 editor asked me, as he asked others, to tell his 

 readers something of what life meant to me, basing 

 the paper largely upon my own personal experi- 

 ences. The main part of the following essay was 

 the result. The paper was so well received by a 

 good many readers that, with some additions, I 

 have decided to include it in this collection. 



I have had a happy life, and there is not much 

 of it I would change if I could live it over again. 

 I think I was born under happy stars, with a keen 

 sense of wonder, which has never left me, and which 

 only becomes jaded a little now and then, and with 

 no exaggerated notion of my own deserts. I have 

 shared the common lot, and have found it good 

 enough for me. Unlucky is the man who is born 

 with great expectations, and who finds nothing in 

 life quite up to the mark. 



One of the best things a man can bring into the 

 world with him is natural humility of spirit. About 

 £41 



