It seems to me a proof
of the small advance our race has made in true wisdom, that we find it so hard
to give up doing anything we have meant to do. It matters very little whether
the affair is one of enjoyment or of business, we feel the same bitter need of
pursuing it to the end. The mere fact of intention gives it a flavor of duty,
and dutiolatry, as one may call the devotion, has passed so deeply into our
life that we have scarcely a sense any more of the sweetness of even a
neglected pleasure. We will not taste the fine, guilty rapture of a deliberate
dereliction; the gentle sin of omission is all but blotted from the calendar of
our crimes.
Yes, some people are like that. Once they decide on
something then pursuing it becomes a duty from which deviation is simply not
allowed. Maybe we need such people but they can be frustrating to deal with.
5 comments:
Another nice divagation.
Germans.
That reminds me the car needs washing.
Duty, a very useful concept and best laid on other people.
Sackers - I thought so too, although not in those words, as a nagging touch of dutiolatry compels me to admit.
Sam - indeed.
Demetrius - so does ours but not today.
Roger - it certainly is.
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