On Nothing and Kindred Subjects |
|
| Author:
| Belloc, Hilaire |
| ISBN: | 978-1-4927-4679-9 |
| Publication Date: | Sep 2013 |
| Publisher: | CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
|
| Book Format: | Paperback |
| List Price: | USD $6.95 |
Book Description:
|
"Mr. Belloc's weapon is surprise; he beings gravely and suddenly explodes a jest; he beings humorously and suddenly waxes grave, or he leads readers into a blind alley and leaves them facing a dead wall but always he amuses. He has tried his hand at many species of writing but seldom with more success than has been granted to him in this volume." -The Living Age, Volume 261, April 3, 1909
Well then, the pen is of pure gold, a pen that runs straight away like a willing horse,...
More Description
"Mr. Belloc's weapon is surprise; he beings gravely and suddenly explodes a jest; he beings humorously and suddenly waxes grave, or he leads readers into a blind alley and leaves them facing a dead wall but always he amuses. He has tried his hand at many species of writing but seldom with more success than has been granted to him in this volume." -The Living Age, Volume 261, April 3, 1909
Well then, the pen is of pure gold, a pen that runs straight away like a willing horse, or a jolly little ship; indeed, it is a pen so excellent that it reminds me of my subject: the pleasure of taking up one's pen. The pleasure of taking up one's pen has also this, peculiar among all pleasures, that you have the freedom to lay it down when you will. Not so with love. Not so with victory. Not so with glory. Had I begun the other way round, I would have called this Work, "The Pleasure of laying down one's Pen." But I began it where I began it, and I am going on to end it just where it is going to end. What other occupation, avocation, dissertation, or intellectual recreation can you cease at will? Not bridge--you go on playing to win. Not public speaking--they ring a bell. Not mere converse--you have to answer everything the other insufficient person says. Not life, for it is wrong to kill one's self; and as for the natural end of living, that does not come by one's choice; on the contrary, it is the most capricious of all accidents.
But the pen you lay down when you will. At any moment: without remorse, without anxiety, without dishonour, you are free to do this dignified and final thing (I am just going to do it).... You lay it down.