Many seek protection
from all hurting influences by building
some wall around themselves. But the canopy over
the earth is so high that a wall cannot be built high enough,
and the only thing one can do is to live in the midst of all
inharmonious influences, to strengthen his will power
and to bear all things, yet keeping the fineness
of character and a nobleness of manner
together with an ever-living
heart.
To become cold with the coldness
of the world is weakness, and to become broken
by the hardness of the world is feebleness, but to live in the world
and yet to keep above the world is like walking on the water. There are two
essential duties for the man of wisdom and love; that is to keep the love
in our nature ever increasing and expanding and to strengthen the
will so that the heart may not be easily broken. Balance is ideal
in life; man must be fine and yet strong, man must
be loving and yet powerful.
