give them the stimulus they need. But even the most helpless
celibate has only to embark upon relations with others, to find
them multiply and increase. After all, egotism has little to do
with the forming or holding of strong opinions, or even with the
intentness with which we pursue our aims. The dog is the intentest
of all animals, and throws himself most eagerly into his pursuits,
but he is also the least egotistical and the most sympathetic of
creatures. Egotism resides more in a kind of proud isolation, in a
species of contempt for the opinions and aims of others. It is not,
as a rule, the most successful men who are the most egotistical.
The most uncompromisingly egotist I know is a would-be literary
man, who has the most pathetic belief in the interest and
significance of his own very halting performances, a belief which
no amount of rejection or indifference can shake, and who has
hardly a good word for the books of other writers. I have sometimes
thought that it is in his case a species of mental disease, because
he is an acute critic of all work except his own. Doctors will
indeed tell one that transcendent egotism is very nearly allied to
insanity; but in ordinary cases a little common sense and a little
courtesy will soon suppress the manifestations of the tendency, if
a man can only realize that the forming of decided opinions is the
cheapest luxury in the world, while a licence to express them
uncompromisingly is one of the most expensive. Perhaps the hardest
kind of egotism to cure, is the egotism that is combined with a
deferential courtesy, and the power of displaying a superficial
sympathy, because an egotist of this type so seldom encounters any
checks which would convince him of his fault. Such people, if they
have natural ability, often achieve great success, because they
pursue their own ambitions with relentless perseverance, and have
the tact to do it without appearing to interfere with the designs