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BYWAYS TO BLESSEDNESS 57

he comprehend and overcome those most deeply rooted and subtlest of sins which appear like
virtues deceiving the elect, and to which all but the truly wise succumb.

“True dignity abides with him alone,
Who, in the silent hour of inward thought,
Can still suspect and still revere himself
In lowliness of heart.”

He who lives, without ceasing in outward excitement lives most in disappointments and griefs.
Where the sounds of pleasure are greatest heart-emptiness is the keenest and deepest. He, also,
whose whole life, even if not one of lust for pleasure, is centered in outward works, who deals only
with the changing panorama of visible things, never falling back, in solitude, upon the inner and
invisible world of permanent being, such a man does not attain knowledge and wisdom, but
remains empty; he cannot aid the world, cannot feed its aspirations, for he has no food to offer it,
his spiritual store being empty. But he who courts solitude in order to search for the truth of
things, who subdues his senses and makes quite his desires, such a man is daily attaining
knowledge and wisdom; he becomes filled with the spirit of truth; he can aid the world, for his
spiritual store is full, and is kept well replenished.
While a man is absorbed in the contemplation of inward realities he is receiving knowledge
and power; he opens himself, like a flower, to the universal light of Truth, and receives and drinks
in its life-imparting rays; he also goes to the eternal foundation of knowledge and quenches his
thirst in its inspiring waters. Such a man gains, in one hour of concentrated thought, more
essential knowledge than a whole year’s reading could impart. Being is infinite and knowledge is
illimitable and its source inexhaustible, and he who draws upon the innermost depths of his being
drinks from the spring of divine wisdom which can never run dry, and quaffs the waters of
immortality.
It is this habitual association with the deep realities of being, this continual drinking in of the
Water of Life at its perennial source, that constitutes genius. The resources of genius are
inexhaustible because they are drawn from the original and universal source, and for the same
reason the works of genius are ever new and fresh. The more a genius gives out the fuller he

becomes. With the accomplishment of every work his mind extends and expands, reaches out
more vastly, and sees wider and ever wider ranges of power. The genius is inspired. He has
bridged the gulf between the finite and infinite. He needs no secondary aids, but draws from that
universal spring which is the source of every noble work. The difference between a genius and an
ordinary man is this — the one lives in inward realities, the other in outward appearances; the one
goes after pleasure, the other after wisdom; the one relies on books, the other relies upon his own
being. Book-learning is good when its true place is understood, but is not the source of wisdom.
The source of wisdom is in life itself, and is comprehended by effort, practice, and experience.
Books give information but they cannot bestow knowledge; they can stimulate but cannot
accomplish — you must put forth effort, and achieve for yourself. The man who relies entirely
upon books, and does not go to the silent resources within himself, is superficial, and becomes
rapidly exhausted. He is uninspired (though he may be extremely clever), for he soon reaches the