Page:Anti-slavery and reform papers by Thoreau, Henry David.djvu/133

 122 A lit i- Slavery and Reform Papers.

all be hit by point-blank shots, but the other, however low and unsuccessful his life may be, constantly elevates his aim, though at a very slight angle to the horizon. I should much rather be the last mau, — though, as the Orientals say, '^ Greatness doth not approach him who is forever looking down ; and all those who are looking high are growing poor." It is remarkable that there is little or nothing to be remembered written on the subject of getting a living : how to make getting a living not merely honest and honorable, but altogether inviting and glorious ; for if X getting a living is not so, then living is not. One would think, from looking at literature, that this question had never disturbed a solitary individual's musings. Is it that men are too much disgusted with their experience to speak of it ? The lesson of value which money teaches, which the Author of the Universe has taken so much pains to teach us, we are inclined to skip altogether. As for the means of living, it is wonderful how indifferent men of all classes are about it, even reformers, so-called, — whether they inherit, or earn, or steal it. I think that Society has done nothing for us in this respect, or at least lias undone what she has done. Cold and hunger seem more friendly to my nature than those methods which men have adopted and advise to ward them off.

The title wise is, for the most part, falsely applied.

How can one be a wise man, if he does not know any better how to live than other men ? — if he is only more cunning and intellectually subtle? Does wisdom work in a tread-mill ? or does she teach how to succeed hg her example ? Is there any such thing as wisdom not applied to life ? Is she merely the miller who grinds the finest