It is, perhaps,no accident that many of the outstanding figures of the past were exceptionally versatile men.Right up until comparatively recent times,it was possible for an intelligent person to acquaint himself with almost every branch of knowledge.Thus, men of genius like Leonardo da Vinci or Sir Philip Sidney,engaged in many careers at once as a matter of course.
Da Vinci was so busy with his numerous inventions,that he barely found the time to complete his paintings;Sidney, who died in battle when he was only thirty-two years old,was not only a great soldier,but a brilliant scholar and poet as well.Both these men came very near to fulfilling the Renaissance ideal of the “universal man”,the man who was good at everything.
Today, we rarely, if ever,hear that a musician has just invented a new type of submarine.Knowledge has become divided and sub-divided into countless,narrowly-defined parts.The specialist is respected;the versatile person, far from being admired,is more often regarded with suspicion.The modern world is a world of highly-skilled “experts”who have had to devote the greater part of their lives to a very limited field of study in order to compete with their fellows.
With this high degree of specialization,the frontiers of knowledge are steadily being pushed back more rapidly than ever before. But this has not been achieved without considerable cost.The scientist,who outside his own particular subject is little more than an idiot,is a modern phenomenon; as is the man of letters who is barely aware of the tremendous strides that have been made in technology.
Similarly,specialization has indirectly affected quite ordinary people in every walk of life.Many activities which were once pursued for their own sakes,are often given up in despair:they require techniques,the experts tell us,which take a life-time to master.Why learn to play the piano,when you can listen to the world’s greatest pianists in your own drawing-room?
Man is, at one and the same time,a solitary being and a social being.As a solitary being,he attempts to protect his own existence and that of those who are closest to him,to satisfy his personal desires,and to develop his innate abilities.As a social being,he seeks to gain the recognition and affection of his fellow human beings,to share in their pleasures,to comfort them in their sorrows,and to improve their conditions of life.
Only the existence of these varied,frequently conflicting, strivings accounts for the special character of a man,and their specific combination determines the extent to which an individual can achieve and in an inner balance and can contribute to the well-being of society.
It is quite possible that the relative strength of these two drives is,in the main, fixed by inheritance.But the personality that finally emerges is largely formed by the environment in which a man happens to find himself during his development,by the structure of the society in which he grows up,by the tradition of that society,and by its evaluation of particular types of behavior.
The abstract concept “society” means to the individual human being the sum total of his direct and indirect relations to his contemporaries and to all the people of earlier generations.The individual is able to think, feel, strive, and work by himself;but he depends so much upon society —in his physical, intellectual,and emotional existence —that it is impossible to think of him,or to understand him,outside the framework of society.
It is “society” which provides man with food, clothing,a home, the tools of work, language, the forms of thought,and most of the content of thought;his life is made possible through the labor and accomplishments of the many millions past and present who are all hidden behind the small word “society”
If I were a boy again,I would practice perseverance oftener,and never give up a thing because it was hard or inconvenient.If we want light,we must conquer darkness.If I were to live my life over again,I would pay more attention to the cultivation of the memory.I would strengthen that faculty by every possible means,and on every possible occasion.
It takes a little hard work at first to remember things accurately;but memory soon helps itself,and gives very little trouble.It only needs early cultivation to become a power.If I were a boy again,I would look on the cheerful side.Life is very much like a mirror if you smile upon it,it smiles back upon you;but if you frown and look doubtful on it,you will get a similar look in return.
Inner sunshine warms not only the heart of the owner,but of all that come in contact with it.“Who shuts love out, in turn shall be shut from love.”If I were a boy again,I would school myself to say “No” oftener.I might write pages on the importance of learning very early in life to gain that point where a young boy can stand erect,and decline doing an unworthy act because it is unworthy.
If I were a boy again,I would demand of myself more courtesy towards my companions and friends,and indeed towards strangers as well.The smallest courtesies along the rough roads of life are like the little birds that sing to us all winter long,and make that season of ice and snow more endurable.Finally, instead of trying hard to be happy,as if that were the sole purpose of life,I would, if I were a boy again,try still harder to make others happy.
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