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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 9, Issue 3 (June 1, 1934.)

Furore and Philosophy

Furore and Philosophy.

Philosophy is the love of Wisdom, and Wisdom lies best on the breast of Nature. Birds, beasts and the flowers of the field, the winds carrying the challenge of outer emptiness, the stormscarred face of the misty mountain, the river rushing to the ocean, the ocean assailing the shore, the whitewinged frigates of the heavens plowing athwart the horizon—these were the books from which the philosophers learnt their lessons of patience and proportion, fitness and fidelity. But man has roofed the sky, put blinkers over his inner eye, and sacked his sense of wonder.

Would he scurry through the corridors of life like a tin hare pursued by a plumber if he paused for a moment to consider that, judged by the standard of the stars, his span is but the flick of a fly's eyelid? Would he squander the seconds on portentous puttering if he realised that, judged by the age of his own earth, he is dead before he has drawn his first breath?

He might, for he seethes with synthetic sapience and prefers the delusions of a distracted de-mock-racy to the satisfying symbolism of Nature's complex simplicity. He prefers to buy “bunk” second-hand rather than get his greens fresh from the fields. Which is why fallacy flourishes and the sins of the fatheads are visited upon the children so that the only stars they know are movie stars, and their lessons are learnt from the halls of Hollywood.