We are to regard existence
as a raid or great adventure; it is to be judged, therefore, not by what
calamities it encounters, but by what flag it follows and what high town
it assaults. The most dangerous thing in the world is to be alive;
one is always in danger of one's life. But anyone who shrinks
from this is a traitor to the great scheme and experiment of being.
The pessimist of the ordinary type, the pessimist who thinks
he would be better dead, is blasted with the crime of Iscariot.
Spiritually speaking, we should be justified in punishing him
with death. Only, out of polite deference to his own philosophy,
we punish him with life.
-"What is Right With the World", T.P.'s Weekly (1910)
The Apostle and the Wild Ducks (collection of essays published posthumously in 1975)
Wow! And posted on the day of my birthday!
ReplyDeleteReally? Happy birthday! (Albeit a little late admittedly...lol.) :-)
ReplyDelete