EXTRACTS FROM PAPERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2892, 11 August 1909, Page 85

EXTRACTS FROM PAPERS.

" Solitude is net only unsaticfactory, but it is enervating. It brings about intrcsi-ec-tioi.. aaa sure-/ that is enough to condemn it without any further arguments Then there is retrospection, and people lc.illy have r.o time to i\crry over the past Solitude :s therefore not suited to "the best interests of humanity It is no doubt a splendid then'e to discuss, but it is quiie out of keeping with modernism. All our best interests -tend tc^ird society and socialism, not perhaps political socialism, but friendliness. We shape our wits by coming into contact with the wit cf others, and lesrn more in the society of kindred spirits than perhaps in any other way."— Imvengre. " In coniD&ny good-humoured rivalry helps

f greatly io develop one's mind, -whereas in solitude there is no one to compete against, so the solitary person settles down to tha level of his surroundings. Cer&inly lie m«y have more time to devote to reading, but he has no one to discuss his book with. He can meditate upon vt himself, but he cannot get any new thoughts about it, and «,«? 'i 18 i gMa4ly by idea, tnat we develop our minds. Solitudte can scarcely teach «myone politeness and suchlike, for there is no ol« to practise upon, but m society there are so many chances given us to m«ie use of our good points" ni «- /£ Person Y ho » constantly making use of his best traits that will develop them most. — Marays. „ "!* « my firm belief that in the formation of character society plays' a much more important part than solitude. By mingling with our fellow creatures we bring info play all our faculties, we develop our inmost thoughts, and in every way mould our oh&raert«rs. The quality which 'is developed to its greatest eztent by society is sympathy, and what is any character without sympathy? By coming in contact with our friends, by sharing their joys and their sorrows, almost unconsciously we become sympathetic. This ■we can never do in solitude; by spending a j lot of our time alone we p.re inclined' to become very self-centred and have but very j little time for either the joys or the sorrows ' of our friends." — Luoeda. ! " Solitude has by far the greatest influence < in the formation of character, for in society you run unconsciously in £Be same social groove tvs your neighbour. Your thoughts are J strapped and harnessed down, in a place ' where every word and action is open to the remarks of those by whom you arc stir- . rounded, and any attempt at originality ia greeted with scorn. To an active brain loneliness is the parent of imagination, and the greatest of our colonial poets and novelists gain their richest ideas from the lonely life in the ' B^iek of Beyoiid.' About three years of my own Toying life has been spent in almost absolute solitude, and there is no interest for me in the dull round of city life. In camp when work is done and supper over J hf-re no need to think of 'down iV« strep* * O-i-re m° a ?ood fire, a bookl a pipe of Havelock, aad the billy on the hob, and I'm perfectly happy." — The Helmsman. "Your solitary ont-of-doors man amasses a wealth of out-of-the-way knowlectg-e. He | leaj-ns to read the weather signs hung out , in the sky, learns a kindly lesson from the j birds and all growing things, and learns j to look on life and his felJ-ow men with a. certain whimsical humour all his own. All great works h*ve been planned in polffude. 1 A man may need to come dtown into tile cily ] to execute "his masferpice. but the irj §pixeidon i comes to him out on the lonely hills or in | ■flip ctlenoe "* he own romn. Can you ' imagine a Michael Angelo planning one of his magnificent sculptures in the midst of » r^sitering throng a •Mowarfc oomnostng a symphony while his friends a.re clustering round him, or a Turner painting one of his exauisite pictures while companion* hummed about him like so many bees?" — Sh?«ia. Oct*va's naper an' 1 liola's are to be sent for publication in full.