My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org

noMY LIFEthoroughly than to know something of many subjects.In the case of a business or profession, somethingmay be said for the latter view, but I treated it as apurely personal matter which led to the cultivationof a variety of faculties, and gave pleasurable occupationthroughout life. A few extracts may, perhaps,be permitted from this early attempt. Speaking ofa general acquaintance with history, biography, art,and science, I say, " There is an intrinsic value toourselves in these varied branches of knowledge, somuch indescribable pleasure in their possession, somuch do they add to the enjoyment of every momentof our existence, that it is impossible to estimatetheir value, and we would hardly accept boundlesswealth, at the cost, if it were possible, of their irrecoverableloss. And if it is thus we feel as to ourgeneral store of mental acquirements, still more dowe appreciate the value of any particular branch ofstudy we may ardently pursue. What pleasure wouldremain for the enthusiastic artist, were he forbiddento gaze upon the face of Nature, and transfer herloveliest scenes to his canvas ? or for the poet, werethe means denied him to rescue from oblivion thepassing visions of his imagination ? or to the chemist,were he snatched from his laboratory ere some novelexperiment were concluded, or some ardently pursuedtheory confirmed ? or to any of us, were we compelledto forego some intellectual pursuit that was boundup with our every thought And here we see the.'advantage possessed by him whose studies have beenin various directions, and who at different times hashad many different pursuits, for whatever may happen,he will always find something in his surroundings tointerest and instruct him."And further on, as illustrations of the interest in