THINGS LIFE HAS TAUGHT ME.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20982, 19 September 1931, Page 6 (Supplement)

THINGS LIFE HAS TAUGHT ME.

Learn to be alone. There is in every human being a little citadel which nobody can ever enter—that little bit of personality, that little "difference" which distinguishes you from everyone else. No matter how deeply you love, how exquisite is your friendship, this* little bit of you will remain untouched, just as the same little bit of your friends, .will also remain untouched by you. Live in and for your friends as much as you like; try to understand them, to enter into their lives and their feelings and ideas in every possible way. but don't be disappointed when that tiny barrier shows itself, as it will. Every .hnman being is essentially alone and most ,of the tragedies in human relationship are because people won't realise and respect this aloneness. Lose yourself in a friend or a lover for a while, but next day take hold of yourself again and be yourself without depending ori this other person. Until you have learned to be happy •without the love and comradeship of another you are not fit for that love and comradeship, .because your love will be demanding, too needy a thing. As soon as you can stand on your own feet, be as happy alone as in the company of those you love. You will be sought for by everyone because they will sense in you a power and courage found in very tew.