Page:The reflections of Lichtenberg.djvu/103

 There is one way of lengthening life that stands altogether in our power :to rise early, to make an economical use of time, to chose the means best suited to the end, and, when chosen, to go cheerfully through with the work. In this way, a man may grow to a great age, provided that he does not reckon life according to the calendar: and the best of it is that even this life, as measured by the calendar, will be lengthened where the standard is merit. When we have once undertaken a task, it is best when working at it not to think of the whole, for thisat least in my own casehas a discouraging effect: one ought rather to concentrate on the immediate subject in hand, and when that is finished take up what follows. To begin a thing at once, and not postpone it a minute, much less an hour or a day, is another way to lengthen out time. It is permissible to blame the faults of a great man, but we ought not on that account to blame the man. That we often despise a man on account of some trifle, arises not so much from the act considered in itself, as because we conjecture of what such a man would be capable in other instances. This is why we so easily despise a man who accepts an insult without resenting it. There can surely be few duties in life of such importance as those connected with the perpetuation of the human race and the conservation of the