Philosophy
Read books online » Philosophy » Mental Efficiency by Arnold Bennett (best free ereader .txt) 📖

Book online «Mental Efficiency by Arnold Bennett (best free ereader .txt) 📖». Author Arnold Bennett



1 ... 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Go to page:
hard master, obediently does so. Am I, a portion of the Infinite Force that existed billions of years ago, and which will exist billions of years hence, going to allow myself to be worried by any terrestrial physical or mental event? I am not. As for the vicissitudes of my body, that servant of my servant, it had better keep its place, and not make too much fuss. Not that any fuss occurring in either of these outward envelopes of the eternal me could really disturb me. The eternal is calm; it has the best reason for being so.

So you say to yourselves: "Here is a man in a penny weekly paper advocating daily meditation upon the immortality of the soul as a cure for discontent and unhappiness! A strange phenomenon!" That it should be strange is an indictment of the epoch. My only reply to you is this: Try it. Of course, I freely grant that such meditation, while it "casts out fear," slowly kills desire and makes for a certain high indifference; and that the extinguishing of desire, with an accompanying indifference, be it high or low, is bad for youth. But I am not a youth, and to-day I am writing for those who have tasted disillusion: which youth has not. Yet I would not have you believe that I scorn the brief joys of this world. My attitude towards them would fain be that of Socrates, as stated by the incomparable Marcus Aurelius: "He knew how to lack, and how to enjoy, those things in the lack whereof most men show themselves weak; and in the fruition, intemperate."

Besides commanding my mind to dwell upon the indestructibly and final omnipotence of the Force which is me, I command it to dwell upon the logical consequence of that unity of force which science is now beginning to teach. The same essential force that is me is also you. Says the Indian proverb: "I met a hundred men on the road to Delhi, and they were all my brothers." Yes, and they were all my twin brothers, if I may so express it, and a thousand times closer to me even than the common conception of twin brothers. We are all of us the same in essence; what separates us is merely differences in our respective stages of evolution. Constant reflection upon this fact must produce that universal sympathy which alone can produce a positive content. It must do away with such ridiculous feelings as blame, irritation, anger, resentment. It must establish in the mind an all-embracing tolerance. Until a man can look upon the drunkard in his drunkenness, and upon the wife-beater in his brutality, with pure and calm compassion; until his heart goes out instinctively to every other manifestation of the unique Force; until he is surcharged with an eager and unconquerable benevolence towards everything that lives; until he has utterly abandoned the presumptuous practice of judging and condemning—he will never attain real content. "Ah!" you exclaim again, "he has nothing newer to tell us than that 'the greatest of these is charity'!" I have not. It may strike you as excessively funny, but I have discovered nothing newer than that. I merely remind you of it. Thus it is, twins on the road to Delhi, by continual meditation upon the indestructibility of Force, that I try to cultivate calm, and by continual meditation upon the oneness of Force that I try to cultivate charity, being fully convinced that in calmness and in charity lies the secret of a placid if not ecstatic happiness. It is often said that no thinking person can be happy in this world. My view is that the more a man thinks the more happy he is likely to be. I have spoken. I am overwhelmingly aware that I have spoken crudely, abruptly, inadequately, confusedly.



THE END







THE NOVELS OF ARNOLD BENNETT
WHOM GOD HATH JOINED:

  Price $1.20 Net

WHOM GOD HATH JOINED is a dramatic presentation of the working of the English divorce laws. Their injustice to woman has long been acknowledged; Arnold Bennett proves them almost as unjust to man.

The novel is a stern morality, with laughter interspersed. It possesses the sincerity and vitality which come of a careful study of the problem.

It contains passages of the most brilliant motive analysis which have been written in recent years. It presents a vivid world of actual personages.


THE GLIMPSE:

The Adventures of a Soul. Price $1.20 Net

The story is told of a man who passed over to the Other Side and remained there long enough to gain a glimpse—only to return again.

Written with the careful realism which distinguishes all Arnold Bennett's work, it is curious to note the fine use that he makes of his realistic genius in the handling of a visionary situation.


A MAN FROM THE NORTH:

  Price $1.20 Net

The story of a young man from the Five Towns, who comes up London to seek his fortune. He is grossly ignorant of life and naively curious about love. This is the history of his adventures towards love and of his enlightenment.

All the loneliness, passion and quenchless curiosity of youth are in these pages—and the magic power of youth to wrap about the commonplace the cloak of romance.


GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY, Publishers


ARNOLD BENNETT: PLAYS
CUPID AND COMMON-SENSE:

A Play in Four Acts, with a Preface on the Crisis in the Theatre.

  Price $1.00 Net

"Cupid and Common-Sense" reads well, and reads as if it would prove still more effective and enjoyable when acted.—The Scotsman.


WHAT THE PUBLIC WANTS: A Play.

  Price $1.00 Net

This clever comedy, based on modern neswpaperdom, reveals Arnold Bennett in another phase.


POLITE FARCES: Three Plays.

  Price $1.00 Net

The three farces which comprise this book deal with possible domestic and refined crises of everyday life.


THE HONEYMOON:

A Comedy in Three Acts. Price $1.00 Net

Originality without grotesquerie and satire without malice combine to make a play that is full of sparkle and genuine charm.


THE GREAT ADVENTURE:

A Play of Fancy in Four Acts. Price $1.00 Net

The play based on Mr. Bennett's successful novel, "Buried Alive." As the novel stands out among humorous fiction so THE GREAT ADVENTURE stands out among modern comedies.


ARNOLD BENNETT AND EDWARD KNOBLAUCH
MILESTONES:

A Play in Three Acts. Price $1.00 Net

This is the play which has created a sensation because of its boldness and novelty. It passes, in rapid survey, three generations—the milestones of the last half century. A big New York success.


GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY, Publishers






Typographical errors corrected in text:


Page 110:   artificialties replaced with artificialities
Page 114:   prevades replaced with pervades











End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Mental Efficiency, by Arnold Bennett

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MENTAL EFFICIENCY ***

***** This file should be named 23347-h.htm or 23347-h.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/3/4/23347/

Produced by Audrey Longhurst, Jeannie Howse and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)


Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.

Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
redistribution.



*** START: FULL LICENSE ***

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
http://gutenberg.net/license).


Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic works

1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.

1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works.  See paragraph 1.E below.

1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.

1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
States.

1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:

1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
copied or distributed:

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can
1 ... 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Go to page:

Free ebook «Mental Efficiency by Arnold Bennett (best free ereader .txt) 📖» - read online now

Comments (0)

There are no comments yet. You can be the first!
Add a comment