IV, I need not have written
the above.
Waste-Paper Baskets
Every one should keep a mental waste-paper basket and the older he
grows the more things he will consign to it--torn up to irrecoverable
tatters.
Flies in the Milk-Jug
Saving scraps is like picking flies out of the milk-jug. We do not
mind doing this, I suppose, because we feel sure the flies will never
want to borrow money off us. We do not feel so sure about anything
much bigger than a fly. If it were a mouse that had got into the
milk-jug, we should call the cat at once.
My Thoughts
They are like persons met upon a journey; I think them very agreeable
at first but soon find, as a rule, that I am tired of them.
Our Ideas
They are for the most part like bad sixpences and we spend our lives
in trying to pass them on one another.
Cat-Ideas and Mouse-Ideas
We can never get rid of mouse-ideas completely, they keep turning up
again and again, and nibble, nibble--no matter how often we drive
them off. The best way to keep them down is to have a few good
strong cat-ideas which will embrace them and ensure their not
reappearing till they do so in another shape.
Incoherency of New Ideas
An idea must not be condemned for being a little shy and incoherent;
all new ideas are shy when introduced first among our old ones. We
should have patience and see whether the incoherency is likely to
wear off or to wear on, in which latter case the sooner we get rid of
them the better.
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