How to be happy though human / by W. Béran Wolfe.
115/400
- Publication/creation
- London : George Routledge, 1932.
- Physical description
- xiv, 374 pages ; 22 cm
- Contributors
- Wolfe, W. Béran 1900-1935.
- Notes
-
This edition was reprinted in 1933, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1942, 1944, 1945, 1946 and 1948.
Copy 1 Note: 1937 reprint. X158203
- Attribution and usage
-
Wellcome Collection
Conditions of use: it is possible this item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
The image contains the following text:
contain the measure of satisfaction that is open to a
Samoan savage who lives, hunts, works, fights, dances,
and plays daily with his fellow villagers. The need of
creative outlets is all the greater, therefore, for the modern
city dweller.
Fortunately the cities which sin most egregiously
against the development of a true social spirit and a deep
communal relationship also offer the greatest oppor¬
tunities for creative outlets, another evidence of the
compensatory tendency. The adult education movement
is making greater and greater contributions to the
increasing number of intelligent men and women who
realize that intellectual stagnation is far worse than
death. Libraries are so common nowadays that we have
blunted our awareness of the enormous sources of
personal growth proffered by the world of books. Wire¬
less, at once the curse and the blessing of modern
civilization, is rapidly coming to afford more and more
extensive cultural opportunities.
There are literally thousands of men and women who
suffer from holiday neuroses because they have not
developed inner compensations. If you have not learned
how to get along with yourself, week-ends become
hideous nightmares of boredom and despair. We see
case after case of compulsion and anxiety neuroses in
men and women who hold important positions and
capably fulfil their normal responsibilities toward society,
but who find themselves completely unable to solve the
problems of a holiday away from their work. Many of
these individuals find an asylum from normal social
contacts in the turmoil of their daily tasks. Many of
them are socially maladjusted.
I have always advised people to begin the task of social
adjustment at home. The civilized man must be capable
of holding converse with himself without becoming
pathologically introspective. The art of getting along
with yourself demands an initial investment of self-
confidence. Self-esteem is not only derived from the
degree of usefulness to your neighbours—the ability to