THE FIRST STEP[1]
I
WHEN a man is working, not for show, but with the desire of accomplishing what he has undertaken, he inevitably shapes his actions into a certain order of succession, this order being determined by the nature of the work. If a man postpones to a later time that which, from the nature of the work, should be done first, or altogether omits some essential part,—he is certainly not working seriously, but is only making a pretense. This rule holds unalterably true, whether the work be material or not. As one cannot have any serious intention of baking bread, unless one first kneads the flour and then heats the oven, sweeps out the ashes, and so on, exactly in the same way one cannot seriously desire to lead a righteous life, without adopting a certain order of succession in the attainment of the necessary qualities.
This rule is especially important in connection with righteousness of life; for whereas in the case of material work, such for instance as making bread, it is easy to discover, by the result of his actions, whether a man is seriously engaged in work, or only pretending, in the case of leading a righteous life this verification is impossible. If people, without kneading the dough, or heating the oven, only pretend to make bread,—as on the stage,—then from the result, the absence of bread, it becomes evident that they were only pretending; but when a man pretends to be leading a righteous life, we have no such
- ↑ Written as a preface to a Russian translation of "The Ethics of Diet," by Howard Williams.
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