This
reminds one of Thorwaldsen's four seasons; in which spring and summer
are represented by an out-of-door life, in autumn the corner of a house
appears, and winter is wholly within doors. We expect a certain change
of opinion in the course of years: it is the sign of a veracious
character. Neither is it inconsistent for a practical man to sometimes
deviate from the rules he has laid down for himself.
Emerson's real fault, if he may be said to have had one, was his
optimism. Because he had been born with genius and was otherwise
fortunate he thought every one else might succeed as easily as he had.
In this way he often did people great injustice. If they were
unfortunate he concluded that it must be their own fault. "Wherever
there is failure," he said, "there is some giddiness, some lack of
adaptation of means to ends." If he heard of anyone who could not obtain
work he would say there is always plenty to do for willing hands. Those
who were incapacitated by nature from earning their own living fared no
better. He thought there was something which every one could do better
than anybody else--which might possibly be true if there were as many
professions as individuals. When some one spoke of a young German poet,
whom it was thought but for his untimely death might have been the rival
of Schiller, he said, "Yes, but he died: that was against him.
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