In a moment came the strength I sought; no lightening of the load, but a deeper serenity, a desire to bear it faithfully.  The very fragrance of the flowers seemed to mingle like a sweet incense with my vow.  The old walls whispered of patience and hope.  I do not know where the peace that then settled upon me came from, but not, it seemed, out of the slender resources of my own vexed spirit.

But after all, the wonder is, in this mysterious world, not that there is so much egotism abroad, but that there is so little!  Considering the narrow space, the little cage of bones and skin, in which our spirit is confined, like a fluttering bird, it often astonished me to find how much of how many people’s thoughts is not given to themselves, but to their work, their friends, their families.

The simplest and most practical cure for egotism, after all, is resolutely to suppress public manifestations of it; and it is best to overcome it as a matter of good manners, rather than as a matter of religious principle.  One does not want people to be impersonal; all one desires to feel is that their interest and sympathy is not, so to speak, tethered by the leg, and only able to hobble in a small and trodden circle.  One does not want people to suppress their personality, but to be ready to compare it with the personalities of others, rather than to refer other personalities to the standard of their own; to be generous and expansive, if possible, and if that is not possible, or not easy, to be prepared, at least, to take such deliberate steps as all can take, in the right direction.  We can all force ourselves to express interest in the tastes and idiosyncrasies of others, we can ask questions, we can cultivate relations.  The one way in which we can all of us improve, is to commit ourselves to a course of action from which we shall be ashamed to draw back.  Many people who would otherwise drift into self-regarding ways do this when they marry.  They may marry for egotistical reasons; but once inside the fence, affection and duty and the amazing experience of having children of their own give them the stimulus they need.  But even the most helpless celibate has only to embark upon relations with others, to find them multiply and increase.  After all, egotism has little to do with the forming or holding of strong opinions, or even with the intentness with which we pursue our aims.  The dog is the intentest of all animals, and throws himself most eagerly into his pursuits, but he is also the least egotistical and the most sympathetic of creatures.  Egotism resides more in a kind of proud isolation, in a species of contempt for the opinions and aims of others.  It is not, as a rule, the most successful men who are the most egotistical.  The most uncompromisingly egotist I know is a would-be literary man, who has the most pathetic belief in the interest and significance of his own very halting performances, a belief which no amount of rejection or indifference can shake, and