CHAPTER XII--THE DISCIPLINE OF EXPERIENCE.
"I would the great would grow like thee.
Who grewest not alone in power And knowledge, but by year and hour In reverence and in charity."-- TENNYSON.
"Not to be unhappy is unhappynesse, And misery not t'have known miserie; For the best way unto discretion is The way that leades us by adversitie; And men are better shew'd what is amisse, By th'expert finger of calamitie, Than they can be with all that fortune brings, Who never shewes them the true face of things."-- DANIEL.
"A lump of wo affliction is, Yet thence I borrow lumps of bliss; Though few can see a blessing in't, It is my furnace and my mint." -- ERSKINE'S GOSPEL SONNETS.
"Crosses grow anchors, bear as thou shouldst so Thy cross, and that cross grows an anchor too."-- DONNE.
"Be the day weary, or be the day long, At length it ringeth to Evensong."-- ANCIENT COUPLET.
Practical wisdom is only to be learnt in the school of experience.
Precepts and instructions are useful so far as they go, but, without the discipline of real life, they remain of the nature of theory only.

The hard facts of existence have to be faced, to give that touch of truth to character which can never be imparted by reading or tuition, but only by contact with the broad instincts of common men and women.
To be worth anything, character must be capable of standing firm upon its feet in the world of daily work, temptation, and trial; and able to bear the wear-and-tear of actual life.

Cloistered virtues do not count for much.

The life that rejoices in solitude may be only rejoicing in selfishness.

Seclusion may indicate contempt for others; though more usually it means indolence, cowardice, or self-indulgence.