§ 28

Being imaginative, a follower of any of the Arts sees miles ahead of the less endowed crowd. Besides being a useful person in that respect, it is good for his temperament to be called away from a groove wherein, if he allows himself to remain, he becomes a machine, and his art suffers. The strongest faculty for creation cannot be used for many hours daily, it cannot keep up the tension of creation as a machine. A mind demands repose by change of work, which can be obtained in serving upon councils where special aptitudes of foresight and imagination are useful. Thus, coming into contact with other minds, the individual is broadened. He is not an ascetic except in his study; outside of that he is a man of the world and capable of dealing with what are called “plain men,” which does not always mean wise ones. It is related of an Italian philosopher that he spent his days with the peasants on his little estate, the evenings in his study. Not a bad division of the day Socrates would have told us. In the Agora of Athens, wise men found both folly and wisdom: folly to refute, wisdom to encourage. Plato’s Republic is an effort to show that a democracy, under restraint, is the fairest form of government. First, the conception of the scheme founded upon the greatest good for the greatest number, to be followed by activity in its promotion. Experience is gained as activity proceeds, discussion follows experience. The bud is before the blossom. The fruit is selected; what is rotten is thrown away. It is futile to discuss a question, and tear it into rags before it has been set in motion. There is a point in progress when not to start the top spinning is folly. The top, when once started, must be whipped continually. It stops spinning as soon as the strokes of the whip subside. The great fault of the late administration was the policy of “Wait and see.” A blind man may wait; doing so will not help him to see! To imagine that committees, based only on theories, have settled all the pros and cons, is to put the cart before the horse. Committees can do no more than propose such and such starting points for action. The rest must be left to the executive. Too often, no action follows the sittings of an elaborate scheme.