[58] That on the higher planes of development, where the
individuality becomes complex and varied, the unions of
Socrateses with their Xanthippes, or fruitless celibacies,
are not universal, can only be accounted for by the fact
that, unlike the artificial blocks which the carver may
shape as he will, the men and women of any society or age
are part of one organic body and, except where unhealthy
social conditions prevent their being exposed to the
action of the same forces, will tend to develop in the
same direction, and again to meet on the higher planes of
growth as they did in the lower. Therefore the most highly
developed and individualized men and women of any society,
if they have been exposed to the action of the same
cultivating forces, may often be compared to those delicate
and intricate puzzles carved from one ball of ivory by the
Chinese, which only need to be brought into juxtaposition
to show how admirably they harmonize and how essentially
they form but one whole.
Though as the carved block once interwedged with a corresponding
surface yields a combination more stable than could ever be effected
between smooth surfaces; so, sex emotion having blossomed into its
intellectual and æsthetic stage, the unions of men and women, though
more difficult of attainment, may be when attained of more permanent
strength; till, in the case of a Pericles and an Aspasia, we may
find it possible for the most highly developed human natures to find
in sexual companionship carried out on the highest planes the same
absolute completeness of satisfaction, which an Indian hunter, on his
lower plane enjoys, when he captures a new squaw.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account