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158
Adventures in Contentment
·
David Grayson
70
John
Starkweather
laughed.
"Well,
sir,"
he
said,
"I
see
I've
made
the
acquaintance
of
a
philosopher."
"Let
us
say,"
I
continued,
"that
you
are
willing
to
invest
twenty
years
of
your
life
in
a
million
dollars."
("Merely
an
illustration,"
said
John
Starkweather.)
"You
have
it
where
you
can
put
it
in
the
bank
and
take
it
out
again,
or
you
can
give
it
form
in
houses,
yachts,
and
other
things.
Now
twenty
years
of
my
life--to
me--is
worth
more
than
a
million
dollars.
I
simply
can't
afford
to
sell
it
for
that.
I
prefer
to
invest
it,
as
somebody
or
other
has
said,
unearned
in
life.
I've
always
had
a
liking
for
intangible
properties."
"See
here,"
said
John
Starkweather,
"you
are
taking
a
narrow
view
of
life.
You
are
making
your
own
pleasure
the
only
standard.
Shouldn't
a
man
make
the
most
of
the
talents
given
him?
Hasn't
he
a
duty
to
society?"
"Now
you
are
shifting
your
ground,"
I
said,
"from
the
question
of
personal
satisfaction
to
that
of
duty.
That
concerns
me,
too.
Let
me
ask
you:
Isn't
it
important
to
society
that
this
piece
of
earth
be
plowed
and
cultivated?"
"Yes,
but----"
"Isn't
it
honest
and
useful
work?"
"Of
course."
"Isn't
it
important
that
it
shall
not
only
be
done,
but
well
done?"
"Certainly."
"It
takes
all
there
is
in
a
good
man,"
I
said,
"to
be
a
good
farmer."
"But
the
point
is,"
he
argued,
"might
not
the
same
faculties
applied
to
other
things
yield
better
and
bigger
results?"
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