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Page 2
"Most people sleep themselves stupid."
He went on to give his opinion that nine men out of ten would have
better health and more fun out of life if they spent less time in
bed.
Other doctors have confirmed this judgment, which, of course, does
not apply to growing youths.
Rise an hour, an hour and a half, or even two hours earlier; and--if
you must--retire earlier when you can. In the matter of exceeding
programmes, you will accomplish as much in one morning hour as
in two evening hours. "But," you say, "I couldn't begin without
some food, and servants." Surely, my dear sir, in an age when an
excellent spirit-lamp (including a saucepan) can be bought for less
than a shilling, you are not going to allow your highest welfare to
depend upon the precarious immediate co-operation of a fellow
creature! Instruct the fellow creature, whoever she may be, at
night. Tell her to put a tray in a suitable position over night.
On that tray two biscuits, a cup and saucer, a box of matches and a
spirit-lamp; on the lamp, the saucepan; on the saucepan, the lid--
but turned the wrong way up; on the reversed lid, the small teapot,
containing a minute quantity of tea leaves. You will then have to
strike a match--that is all. In three minutes the water boils, and
you pour it into the teapot (which is already warm). In three more
minutes the tea is infused. You can begin your day while drinking
it. These details may seem trivial to the foolish, but to the
thoughtful they will not seem trivial. The proper, wise balancing
of one's whole life may depend upon the feasibility of a cup of tea
at an unusual hour.
A. B.
CONTENTS
PREFACE, V
I THE DAILY MIRACLE, 21
II THE DESIRE TO EXCEED ONE'S PROGRAMME, 28
III PRECAUTIONS BEFORE BEGINNING, 35
IV THE CAUSE OF THE TROUBLE, 42
V TENNIS AND THE IMMORTAL SOUL, 49
VI REMEMBER HUMAN NATURE, 56
VII CONTROLLING THE MIND, 62
VIII THE REFLECTIVE MOOD, 69
IX INTEREST IN THE ARTS, 76
X NOTHING IN LIFE IS HUMDRUM, 83
XI SERIOUS READING, 90
XII DANGERS TO AVOID, 97
I
THE DAILY MIRACLE
"Yes, he's one of those men that don't know how to manage.
Good situation. Regular income. Quite enough for luxuries
as well as needs. Not really extravagant. And yet the fellow's
always in difficulties. Somehow he gets nothing out of his
money. Excellent flat--half empty! Always looks as if he'd had
the brokers in. New suit--old hat! Magnificent necktie--baggy
trousers! Asks you to dinner: cut glass--bad mutton, or Turkish
coffee--cracked cup! He can't understand it. Explanation simply
is that he fritters his income away. Wish I had the half of it!
I'd show him--"
So we have most of us criticised, at one time or another, in our
superior way.
We are nearly all chancellors of the exchequer: it is the pride of
the moment. Newspapers are full of articles explaining how to live
on such-and-such a sum, and these articles provoke a correspondence
whose violence proves the interest they excite. Recently, in a
daily organ, a battle raged round the question whether a woman can
exist nicely in the country on L85 a year. I have seen an essay,
"How to live on eight shillings a week." But I have never seen an
essay, "How to live on twenty-four hours a day." Yet it has been
said that time is money. That proverb understates the case. Time
is a great deal more than money. If you have time you can obtain
money--usually. But though you have the wealth of a cloak-room
attendant at the Carlton Hotel, you cannot buy yourself a minute
more time than I have, or the cat by the fire has.
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