It is too much exertion,--and exertion itself is
unpleasant. A quarter of an hour's hard thinking will convince each
one of us that he or she is a very worthless and ridiculous person,
and we strongly object to any process which will, in itself, bring
us to that conclusion. I say 'we' object,--that is, I and you;
particularly I. I admit at once that to appear worthless and
ridiculous to the world has always seemed to me a distressing
position, and one to be avoided. Worthless and ridiculous in my own
eyes I have always been,--but that is not your affair. It is
strictly mine! And though I feel I am not worthy 'to loose the seals
of the book or look thereon,' there is one passage in it which
strikes me as particularly applicable to the present day, and from
it I will endeavour to draw a lesson for your instruction, though
perhaps not for your entertainment."
Here he paused and glanced at his hearers with an indefinable
expression of mingled scorn and humour.
"What an absurdity it is to talk of giving a 'lesson' to you!--you
who will barely listen to a friend's advice,--you who will never
take a hint for your mental education or improvement, you who are
apt to fly into a passion, or take to the sulks when you are ever so
slightly contradicted.
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