John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury

“ He is by no means the only man who has suffered from too much gold.
The real truth I take to be that wealth is not necessarily an advantage, but that whether it is so or not depends on the use we make of it. The same, however, might be said of most other opportunities and privileges; Knowledge and Strength, Beauty and Skill, may all be abused; if we neglect or misuse them we are worse off than if we had never had them. Wealth is only a disadvantage in the hands of those who do not know how to use it. ”

“ Sir John Lubbock is a man of wealth, who could, if he pleased, "enjoy" his liberal means—that is, spend his time in dignified idleness or elegant amusement; but he finds his pleasure, on the contrary, in all kinds of hard work, and, although he takes abundant relaxation, he never wastes an hour. ”

“ Even those who do not accept "the greatest good of the greatest number" as an absolute rule, will yet admit that we should all endeavor to contribute as far as we may to the happiness of our fellow-creatures. There are many, however, who seem to doubt whether it is right that we should try to be happy ourselves. Our own happiness ought not, of course, to be our main object, nor indeed will it ever be secured if selfishly sought. We may have many pleasures in life, but must not let them have rule over us, or they will soon hand us over to sorrow ”

“ Unquestionably the possession of wealth is by no means unattended by drawbacks. Money and the love of money often go together. The poor man, as Emerson says, is the man who wishes to be rich; and the more a man has, the more he often longs to be richer. Just as drinking often does but increase thirst; so in many cases the craving for riches does grow with wealth.
This is, of course, especially the case when money is sought for its own sake. Moreover, it is often easier to make money than to keep or to enjoy it. Keeping it is dull and anxious drudgery. ”

“ Dear Sir,—I have a great respect for Sir John Lubbock, but I do not agree with him as to systematic reading. When a particular object has to be attained reading cannot be too special; there is an enormous waste of intelligence through a neglect of this fact; but otherwise reading should "come by nature." When I look through the list of books you send me I cannot help saying to myself, "Here are the most admirable and varied materials for the formation of a prig." ”

“ In scenes like these, it is not the peaceful charm uniformly spread over the face of nature that moves the heart, but rather the peculiar physiognomy and conformation of the land, the features of the landscape, the ever-varying outline of the clouds, and their blending with the horizon of the sea, whether it lies spread before us like a smooth and shining mirror, or is dimly seen through the morning mist. ”

“ He lets himself be carried about. How can he think or act for himself? But the clouds lift, and there are the Gods still sitting on their thrones; they alone with him alone.
"The great man," he elsewhere says, "is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the serenity of solitude."
We may all, if we will, secure peace of mind for ourselves.
"Men seek retreats," says Marcus Aurelius, "houses in the country, seashores, and mountains; and thou too art wont to desire such things very much. But this is altogether a mark of the most common sort of men ”

“ We do not begin early enough with the study of science to form deep, persistent controlling impressions. Other subjects get the start, and the loss of ground can not be subsequently recovered. Sir John Lubbock recognizes that this is a great deficiency of education in England, and he has again and again brought forward measures in Parliament for extending and rationalizing scientific study in the primary schools, so as to lay a better foundation for this mental pursuit in later life. We suffer sorely from the same neglect. ”

“ SIR JOHN LUBBOCK is one of that class of men of whom each age can present only a few brilliant specimens, who are at home, and masters, in pursuits of the most diversified character. He is almost equally distinguished as a banker and man of business, as a zoölogist, ethnologist, and archæologist, and as a publicist and parliamentarian. He stands in the front rank among bankers, while he occupies a prominent position among naturalists, and "is a standing proof that an industrious man of active mind may at once be diligent in business while serving science." ”

“ To peruse the former work is education; to read the latter work is recreation, not absolutely injurious, perhaps, but scarcely beneficial. Sir John Lubbock on an ant-hill has the sublimity of the scientist: Alphonse Daudet on human nature is a mere trumpery trifler.
It does not appear even to occur to Sir John Lubbock that a fine novel contains intellectual qualities of the highest kind, and combines in itself [Pg 115] the widest effects and the most delicate minutiæ of creative art. ”

“ The Kentish rustics may know that the 'Squire' is fond of looking at queer things, and the bankers may have sometimes listened to him at the Royal Institution or in Parliament; but each set of men judge their many-sided friend by their own standard, and in each department he has rendered services which ought to command the respect in which he is indubitably held."
Sir John Lubbock derives his versatility in a very large measure by inheritance. ”

“ CHAPTER II. WEALTH. Ambition often takes the form of a love of money. There are many who have never attempted Art or Music, Poetry or Science; but most people do something for a livelihood, and consequently an increase of income is not only acceptable in itself, but gives a pleasant feeling of success.
Doubt is often expressed whether wealth is any advantage. I do not myself believe that those who are born, as the saying is, with a silver spoon in their mouth, are necessarily any the happier for it. No doubt wealth entails almost more labor than poverty, and certainly more anxiety. ”

“ As a magistrate and country gentleman, Sir John Lubbock also takes an active part in most of the varied duties incumbent on an English landowner. He has contributed to political literature, though not so voluminously as to scientific, and he has taken an active part in measures to promote the extension and improvement of science-teaching in the schools. The amount of work that he has done could have been accomplished at his age only by means of the most indefatigable industry, and the most economical use of time. ”

“ Sir,—You have proposed that I should recommend to inexperienced readers some of the books which are necessary for a liberal education; and you have kindly sent a list of works drawn out by Sir John Lubbock with this object in view, and recently published in your journal.
I am sincerely sensible of the compliment to myself which is implied in your suggestion; but I am at the same time afraid that you have addressed yourself to the wrong man. Let me own the truth. ”

“ It seems to me not easy to lay out a course of reading that shall be of universal application. So much depends upon the cast of the reader's mind, his taste (if he has any) , and the line of study he wishes to follow, that "the best laid scheme" may still "gang aft a-gley."
Sir John Lubbock's list already published is excellent, and perhaps cannot be improved. It is difficult to take from it, and, in trying to add, one encounters the embarrassment of riches. ”

“ Our climate is so happy, that even in the worst months of the year, "calm mornings of sunshine visit us at times, appearing like glimpses of departed spring amid the wilderness of wet and windy days that lead to winter. It is pleasant, when these interludes of silver light occur, to ride into the woods and see how wonderful are all the colors of decay. Overhead, the elms and chestnuts hang their wealth of golden leaves, while the beeches darken into russet tones, and the wild cherry glows like blood-red wine. ”

“ We speak of the pleasure which nature and art and music give us; what we really mean is that our whole being is quickened by the uplifting of the veil. Something passes into us which makes our sorrows more sorrowful, our joys more joyful,—our whole life more vivid. So it was with him. The long solitary wanderings over the hills, and the beautiful moonlight nights on the lake served to make the shadows seem darker that were brooding over his home. ”

“ When one considers the influence that Sir John Lubbock's Prehistoric Times has had on the reading public, and the shock that his statements as to the utter irreligiousness of certain tribes gave many of his readers, one feels inclined to question his authority as a teacher, when his quotations are submitted to the simple test of verification. One wonders how such a man as Sir John Lubbock could gather into the compass of a few concluding pages of a really great work suck a tissue of misguiding information. ”

“ The real test, it might well be urged, of a man's fondness for his books is the selection he would make for his travelling library. There can be no question, therefore, about the sincerity of the following lists.
MR. H. M. STANLEY.
Dear Sir,—If the list of books which you have sent me are really the favourite books of Sir John Lubbock, I should be inclined, without further knowledge of him, to set him down as being partial to classics, philosophy, and theology. Out of his list of non-Christian moralists we might, for the use of busy men, altogether exclude Confucius and Mohammed. ”

“ Sir John Lubbock first suggested, that it would be an interesting thing to pick out the ten books which, if one were to be confined for life, should be thought the most likely to be of enduring interest. If this favorite game were to be played with the selection limited to the authors of a single century, it is reasonably sure that most educated people would pick out the thirteenth century group of ten for their exclusive reading for the rest of life, rather than any other. ”

“ Comme la vie de l'homme, même la plus prospère, est toujours au fond plus triste que gaie, le ciel sombre nous est harmonieux. Le ciel éclatant et joyeux nous est ironique. La Nature triste nous ressemble et nous console ”

“ What a blessing it is that not our own islands only—our smiling fields and rich woods, the mountains that are full of peace and the rivers of joy, the lakes and heaths and hills, castles and cathedrals, and many a spot immortalized in the history of our country:—not these only, but the sun and scenery of the South, the Alps the palaces of Nature, the blue Mediterranean, and the cities of Europe, with all their memories and treasures, are now brought within a few hours of us.
Surely no one who has the opportunity should omit to travel. The world belongs to him who has seen it. ”

“ But the errors of choice made from carelessness are even greater than those made in ignorance; and hence no doubt it was that Sir John Lubbock, in giving the Working Men's College his list of the Best Hundred Books, added that "if a few good guides would draw up similar lists it would be most useful." Sir John Lubbock, like every other seriously minded and methodic man, had "often been astonished to see how little care people devoted to the selection of what they read." Ars longa, vita brevis ”

“ There are doubtless some to whom none of the beautiful wonders of Nature; neither the glories of the rising or setting sun; the magnificent spectacle of the boundless ocean, sometimes so grand in its peaceful tranquillity, at others so majestic in its mighty power; the forests agitated by the storm, or alive with the song of birds; nor the glaciers and mountains—there are doubtless some whom none of these magnificent spectacles can move, whom "all the glories of heaven and earth may pass in daily succession without touching their hearts or elevating their minds." ”

“ I see that Sir John Lubbock excludes living authors from his list:—
THE HEAD MASTER OF HARROW,
Dr. J. E. C. Welldon, in sending us his list, prefaced it with the following remarks:—
I wish to apologize for my delay in replying to your courteous request of the 12th inst. I have been absent from home until to-day. You will do society a great service if by drawing attention to the best books of all the ages you can succeed in making young people believe there is something very much better worth reading than the newspapers and magazines of to-day. ”

“ The Beech enlivens the country by its tender green in spring, rich green in summer, and glorious gold and orange in autumn, set off by the graceful gray stems; and has moreover, such a wealth of leaves that in autumn there are enough not only to clothe the tree itself but to cover the grass underneath.
If the Beech owes much to its delicate gray stem, even more beautiful is the reddish crimson of the Scotch Pines, in such charming contrast with the rich green of the foliage, by which it is shown off rather than hidden; and, with the green spires of the Firs, they keep the woods warm in winter. ”

“ If Sir John Lubbock, in the hurry of a busy life, has not fallen under this common temptation, then one knows not how to explain the extraordinary fact that one of the keenest minds in the English scientific world has so persistently left undone what he ought to have done, and done what he ought not to have done, as he gave to the public quotations from other writers. ”

“ Professor Jowett was similarly modest:—"I am afraid that I cannot add anything worth your having to Sir John Lubbock's list. It is a very good list, the chief fault being that it is too long."
Professor Freedman and Mr. Froude, too, agreeing for once, sent expressions of modest inability to compete with Sir John Lubbock. Mr. Froude said: "People must choose their own reading, and Sir John Lubbock's list will do for a guide as well as others. ”