Truth
We have been thinking about the truth between ourselves and others. There is also, and just as important, the matter of truth within ourselves. There is no more damaging weakness than self-deception; the habit of refusing to look facts in the face. Nor to put way. Then there is the old friend to which we give the description eye-wash”, but which is really no more than a form of untruth. For eyewash means that we are concerned deliberately to deceive someone into thinking that we have done something which we know we ought to have done but have not bothered to do. Credit so gained is not worth having. Quite a number of intelligent people fail to make the best of themselves because they never acquire the habit of taking pains to find out where that truth really is. No one can possess what we call good judgement whose mind is not trained to follow the truth. No one can be a good artist unless he/she seeks steadfastly after the truth. So also, with letters. For the truth it is the discipline that makes our imagination our faithful servant rather than our cruel master. One word more. Don’t suppose that truth is an easy thing to come by, for it is indeed, a most difficult one. Nor in this life can any one of us ever attain complete truth. We can do our best. Above all, don’t put off beginning your search for truth on the ground of any feeling that things will be easier to attain later on. For, believe me, as life moves on, these things become harder and not easy.
