Mental Efficiency by Arnold Bennett (best free ereader .txt) 📖
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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.
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
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