The
world will be to each one of us very much what we make it.
The cheerful are its real possessors, for the world belongs
to those who enjoy it.
It must, however, be admitted that there are cases beyond the
reach of the moralist. Once, when a miserable-looking dyspeptic
called upon a leading physician and laid his case before him,
"Oh!" said the doctor, "you only want a good hearty laugh:
go and see Grimaldi." "Alas!" said the miserable patient,
"I am Grimaldi!" So, when Smollett, oppressed by disease,
travelled over Europe in the hope of finding health, he saw
everything through his own jaundiced eyes. "I'll tell it,"
said Smellfungus, "to the world." "You had better tell it,"
said Sterne, "to your physician."
The restless, anxious, dissatisfied temper, that is ever ready to
run and meet care half-way, is fatal to all happiness and peace of
mind. How often do we see men and women set themselves about as
if with stiff bristles, so that one dare scarcely approach them
without fear of being pricked! For want of a little occasional
command over one's temper, an amount of misery is occasioned in
society which is positively frightful. Thus enjoyment is turned
into bitterness, and life becomes like a journey barefooted
amongst thorns and briers and prickles. "Though sometimes small
evils," says Richard Sharp, "like invisible insects, inflict great
pain, and a single hair may stop a vast machine, yet the chief
secret of comfort lies in not suffering trifles to vex us; and in
prudently cultivating an undergrowth of small pleasures, since
very few great ones, alas! are let on long leases.
Pages:
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309