LEAF AND TENDRIL 



pictures; to the poet she is a storehouse of images, 

 fancies, a source of inspiration; to the moraUst she 

 is a storehouse of precepts and parables; to all she 

 may be a source of knowledge and joy. 



II 

 There is nothing in which people differ more 

 than in their powers of observation. Some are 

 only half alive to what is going on around them. 

 Others, again, are keenly alive: their intelligence, 

 their powers of recognition, are in full force in 

 eye and ear at all times. They see and hear every- 

 thing, whether it directly concerns them or not. 

 They never pass unseen a familiar face on the 

 street; they are never oblivious of any interesting 

 feature or sound or object in the earth or sky about 

 them. Their power of attention is always on 

 the alert, not by conscious effort, but by natural 

 habit and disposition. Their perceptive faculties 

 may be said to be always on duty. They turn to 

 the outward world a more highly sensitized mind 

 than other people. The things that pass before 

 them are caught and individualized instantly. If 

 they visit new countries, they see the characteristic 

 features of the people and scenery at once. The 

 impression is never blurred or confused. Their 

 powers of observation suggest the sight and scent 

 of wild animals ; only, whereas it is fear that sharp- 

 ens the one, it is love and curiosity that sharpens 



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