The fashion of the day is rarely the judgment of posterity. You will recall what Byron wrote to Coleridge: "I trust you do not permit yourself to be depressed by the temporary partiality of what is called 'the public' for the favorites of the moment; all experience is against the permanency of such impressions. You must have lived to see many of these pass away, and will survive many more." LITERATURE AND LIFE [CW#21][cwlal10.txt]3117 All the world is diseased and in need of remedies Arrive at the meaning by the definition of exclusion Care of riches should have the last place in our thoughts Each in turn contends that his art produces the greatest good Impress and reduce to obsequious deference the hotel clerk Opinions inherited, not formed Prejudice working upon ignorance Pursuit of office--which is sometimes called politics Rab and his Friends Refuge of the aged in failing activity Riches and rich men are honored in the state Set aside as literature that which is original To the lawyer everybody is or ought to be a litigant Touching hopefulness Very rich and very good at the same time he cannot be Want of the human mind which is higher than the want of knowledge What we call life is divided into occupations and interest Without Plato there would be no Socrates EQUALITY [CW#22][cweql10.txt]3118 In accordance with the advice of Diogenes of Apollonia in the beginning of his treatise on Natural Philosophy--"It appears to me to be well for every one who commences any sort of philosophical treatise to lay down some undeniable principle to start with"--we offer this: "All men are created unequal." It would be a most interesting study to trace the growth in the world of the doctrine of "equality." Every one talked of "the state of nature" as if he knew all about it. "The conditions of primitive man," says Mr. Morley, "were discussed by very incompetent ladies and gentlemen at convivial supper-parties, and settled with complete assurance." That was the age when solitary Frenchmen plunged into the wilderness of North America, confidently expecting to recover the golden age under the shelter of a wigwam and in the society of a squaw. It is to be noticed that rights are mentioned, but not duties, and that if political rights only are meant, political duties are not inculcated as of equal moment. It is not announced that political power is a function to be discharged for the good of the whole body, and not a mere right to be enjoyed for the advantage of the possessor; and it is to be noted also that this idea did not enter into the conception of Rousseau. We are attempting the regeneration of society with a misleading phrase; we are wasting our time with a theory that does not fit the facts. WHAT IS YOUR CULTURE TO ME [CW#23][cwctm10.txt]3119