"
And this difference is exactly what I have been trying to put before
you. The mollusk conformed, but the vertebrate conformed in a very
different way, and was transformed, "metamorphosed," to translate
the Greek word literally, into something higher. And let us not
forget that man conforms consciously and voluntarily, if at all; he
is able to read in himself and environment the law to which lower
forms have been compelled unconsciously to conform.
These facts merely illustrate a great law of life. No man's eye,
much less hand, can grasp the whole of the present and at the same
time the future. Rather what we usually call present advantage is
not advantage at all, but the first step in degeneration. If one
will be rich in old age he must deny himself some gratifications in
youth; his present reward is his self-control. If a man will climb
higher than his fellows he must expect to be sometimes solitary; his
reward is the ever-widening view, though the path be rougher and the
air more biting than in their lower altitude. If he point to heights
yet to attain, the majority will disbelieve him or say, "Our present
height was good enough for our ancestors, it is good enough for us.
Why sacrifice a good thing and make yourself ridiculous scrambling
after what in the end may prove unattainable?" If you discover new
truths you will certainly be called a subverter of old ones.
Pages:
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264