Friday 15 June 2012

Godfrey Blount on Happiness

Godfrey Blount,
from a magic lantern slide,
courtesy of the Dartford Warbler

“It is naturally difficult for most of us to realise that the thing we think we want most is probably the last thing it is good for us to have.  Nine people out of ten, for instance, think they want bigger wages, while as a matter of fact it is less and not more wages they really want.  The happiest person I have ever met, among the poor, of course – the rich are never exactly happy – was a potter who retired from business because his kiln was cracked and he had not enough sparse cash to have it repaired, but he had land enough all the same to keep himself and his family in all the necessities and many of the luxuries of life.”  The New Freewoman, July 1913.

4 comments:

  1. Lovely to see one of DW's slides (what a treasure they are) and I think it shows a very pensive and artistic expression on Blount's face. Almost - vulnerable . . .

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  2. I think he is smouldering a bit! A very intriguing shot. DW's pictures are priceless.

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  3. I love this image too. I wonder who took the photo ?

    His description of the poor potter, keeping himself and his family off the land, sounds like something from Tolstoy. I expect that life without his kiln was harder for the potter than the relatively well heeled Blount could ever know.

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  4. The more you desire the unhappier you are.

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