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349
The Journal of a Disappointed Man
·
W. N. P. Barbellion
2
INTRODUCTION
By
H.G.
WELLS
Your
egoist,
like
the
solitary
beasts,
lives
only
for
himself;
your
altruist
declares
that
he
lives
only
for
others;
for
either
there
may
be
success
or
failure
but
for
neither
can
there
be
tragedy.
For
even
if
the
altruist
meets
nothing
but
ingratitude,
what
has
he
to
complain
of?
His
premises
abolish
his
grounds
of
complaint.
But
both
egoist
and
altruist
are
philosophical
abstractions.
The
human
being
by
nature
and
necessity
is
neither
egoist
nor
altruist;
he
trims
a
difficult
course
between
the
two;
for
the
most
part
we
are,
within
the
limits
of
our
powers
of
expression,
egotists,
and
our
desire
is
to
think
and
if
possible
talk
and
write
about
this
marvellous
experiment
of
ourselves,
with
all
the
world--or
as
much
as
we
can
conveniently
assemble--for
audience.
There
is
variety
in
our
styles.
Some
drape
the
central
figure;
some
let
it
rather
appear
than
call
attention
to
it;
some
affect
a
needless
frankness:
"I
am
an
egotist,
mind
you,
and
I
pretend
nothing
else";
some
by
adopting
a
pose
with
accessories
do
at
least
develop
so
great
and
passionate
an
interest
in
the
accessories
as
to
generalise
and
escape
more
or
less
completely
from
self.
An
egotism
like
an
eggshell
is
a
thing
from
which
to
escape;
the
art
of
life
is
that
escape.
The
fundamental
art
of
life
is
to
recover
the
sense
of
that
great
self-forgetful
continuous
life
from
which
we
have
individually
budded
off.
Many
people
have
done
this
through
religion,
which
begins
with
a
tremendous
clamour
to
some
saviour
god
or
other
to
recognise
us
and
ends
in
our
recognition
of
him;
or
through
science,
when
your
egotist
begins
with:
"Behold
me!
I,
I
your
humble
servant,
am
a
scientific
man,
devoted
to
the
clear
statement
of
truth,"
and
ends
with
so
passionate
a
statement
of
truth
that
self
is
forgotten
altogether.
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