From this point of view, those are happiest of all who are conscious of the power to produce great works animated by some significant purpose:  it gives a higher kind of interest—­a sort of rare flavor—­to the whole of their life, which, by its absence from the life of the ordinary man, makes it, in comparison, something very insipid.  For richly endowed natures, life and the world have a special interest beyond the mere everyday personal interest which so many others share; and something higher than that—­a formal interest.  It is from life and the world that they get the material for their works; and as soon as they are freed from the pressure of personal needs, it is to the diligent collection of material that they devote their whole existence.  So with their intellect:  it is to some extent of a two-fold character, and devoted partly to the ordinary affairs of every day—­those matters of will which are common to them and the rest of mankind, and partly to their peculiar work—­the pure and objective contemplation of existence.  And while, on the stage of the world, most men play their little part and then pass away, the genius lives a double life, at once an actor and a spectator.

Let everyone, then, do something, according to the measure of his capacities.  To have no regular work, no set sphere of activity—­what a miserable thing it is!  How often long travels undertaken for pleasure make a man downright unhappy; because the absence of anything that can be called occupation forces him, as it were, out of his right element.  Effort, struggles with difficulties! that is as natural to a man as grubbing in the ground is to a mole.  To have all his wants satisfied is something intolerable—­the feeling of stagnation which comes from pleasures that last too long.  To overcome difficulties is to experience the full delight of existence, no matter where the obstacles are encountered; whether in the affairs of life, in commerce or business; or in mental effort—­the spirit of inquiry that tries to master its subject.  There is always something pleasurable in the struggle and the victory.  And if a man has no opportunity to excite himself, he will do what he can to create one, and according to his individual bent, he will hunt or play Cup and Ball:  or led on by this unsuspected element in his nature, he will pick a quarrel with some one, or hatch a plot or intrigue, or take to swindling and rascally courses generally—­all to put an end to a state of repose which is intolerable.  As I have remarked, difficilis in otio quies—­it is difficult to keep quiet if you have nothing to do.

SECTION 18.  A man should avoid being led on by the phantoms of his imagination.  This is not the same thing as to submit to the guidance of ideas clearly thought out:  and yet these are rules of life which most people pervert.  If you examine closely into the circumstances which, in any deliberation, ultimately turn the scale in favor of some particular course, you will generally find that the decision is influenced, not by any clear arrangement of ideas leading to a formal judgment, but by some fanciful picture which seems to stand for one of the alternatives in question.