LEAF AND TENDRIL 



the next best thing he can bring, and they usually 

 go together, is an appreciative spirit — a loving 

 and susceptible heart. If he is going to be a re- 

 former and stir up things, and slay the dragons, he 

 needs other qualities more. But if he is going to 

 get the most out of life in a worthy way, if he is 

 going to enjoy the grand spectacle of the world from 

 first to last, then he needs his life pitched in a low 

 key and well attuned to common universal things. 

 The strained, the loud, the far-fetched, the extrava- 

 gant, the frenzied — how . lucky we are to escape 

 them, and to be born with dispositions that cause 

 us to flee from them! 



I would gladly chant a paean for the world as I 

 find it. What a mighty interesting place to live 

 in ! If I had my life to live over again, and had my 

 choice of celestial abodes, I am sure I should take 

 this planet, and I should choose these men and 

 women for my friends and companions. This great 

 rolling sphere with its sky, its stars, its sunrises and 

 sunsets, and with its outlook into infinity — what 

 could be more desirable? What more satisfying? 

 Garlanded by the seasons, embosomed in sidereal 

 influences, thrilling with life, with a heart of fire 

 and a garment of azure seas, and fruitful continents 

 — one might ransack the heavens in vain for a 

 better or a more picturesque abode. As Emerson 

 says, it is "well worth the heart and pith of great 

 men to subdue and enjoy it." 

 242 



