Page:Familiar letters of Henry David Thoreau.djvu/443

 JET. 42.] TO HARRISON BLAKE. 417

man who is disgusted with the fruits of finest flavor.

Whether he sleeps or wakes, whether he runs or walks, whether he uses a microscope or a telescope, or his naked eye, a man never discovers anything, never overtakes anything, or leaves anything behind, but himself. What ever he says or does, he merely reports himself. If he is in love, he loves ; if he is in heaven, he enjoys, ; if he is in hell, he suffers. It is his condition that determines his locality.

The principal, the only thing a man makes, is his condition of fate. Though commonly he does not know it, nor put up a sign to this effect, &quot;My own destiny made and mended here.&quot; [Not yours. ] He is a master-workman in the business. He works twenty-four hours a day at it, and gets it done. Whatever else he neglects or botches, no man was ever known to neglect this work. A great many pretend to make shoes chiefly, and would scout the idea that they make the hard times which they experience.

Each reaching and aspiration is an instinct with which all nature consists and cooperates, and therefore it is not in vain. But alas ! each relaxing and desperation is an instinct too. To be active, well, happy, implies rare courage. To be ready to fight in a duel or a battle implies desperation, or that you hold your life cheap.