t very often happens that the temperaments which most claim help and
support are actuated by the egotistical desire to find themselves
interesting to others, while those who willingly assume the direction
of other lives are attracted more by the sense of power than by genuine
sympathy.

But it is clear that it is in the region of our affections that the
greatest risks of all have to be run. By loving, we render ourselves
liable to the darkest and heaviest fears. Yet here, I believe, we ought
to have no doubt at all; and the man who says to himself, "I should
like to bestow my affection on this person and on that, but I will keep
it in restraint, because I am afraid of the suffering which it may
entail,"--such a man, I say, is very far from the kingdom of God.
Because love is the one quality which, if it reaches a certain height,
can altogether despise and triumph over fear. When ambition and delight
and energy fail, love can accompany us, with hope and confidence, to
the dark gate; and thus it is the one thing about which we can hardly
be mistaken. If love does not survive death, then life is built upon
nothingness, and we may be glad to get away; but it is more likely that
it is the only thing that does survive.

XIX

SIN

It is every one's duty to take himself seriously--that is the right
mean between taking oneself either solemnly or apologetically. There is
no merit in being apologetic about oneself. One has a right to be
there, wherever one is, a right to an opinion, a right to take some
kind of a hand in whatever is going on; natural tact is the only thing
which can tell us exactly how far those rights extend; but it is
inconvenient to be apologetic, because if one insists on explaining how
one comes to be there, or how one comes to have an opinion, other
people begin to think that one needs explanation and excuse; but it is
even worse to be solemn about oneself, because English people are very
critical in private, though they are tolerant in public, because they
dislike a scene, and have not got the art of administering the delicate
snub which indicates to a man that his self-confidence is exuberant
without humiliating him; when English people inflict a snub, they do it
violently and emphatically, like Dr. Johnson, and it generally means
that they are relieving themselves of accumulated disapproval. An
Englishman is apt to be deferential, and one of the worst temptations
of official life is the tempt