On the Feelings of Immortality in Youth PDF

In the essay Hazlitt says at a young age `No young man believes he shall ever die.... There is a feeling of Eternity in youth which makes us amend for everything. To be young is to be as one of the Immortals. One half of time is spent- the other half remains in store for us with all its countless...

In the essay Hazlitt says at a young age `No young man believes he shall ever die.... There is a feeling of Eternity in youth which makes us amend for everything. To be young is to be as one of the Immortals. One half of time is spent- the other half remains in store for us with all its countless treasures, for there is no line drawn, and we see no limit to our hopes and wishes.... Death, old age are words without a meaning, a dream, a fiction, with which we have nothing to do. Others may have undergone, or may still undergo them. The youth "bear a charmed life," which laughs to scorn all such idle fancies. As in setting out on a delightful journey, we strains our sight ever forward... and sees no end to prospect after prospect, new objects presenting themselves as we advance, so in the outset of life we see no end to our desires nor to the opportunities of gratifying them.” So according to him this is the reason why young people do not care for religion because they never have done but have always thought of themselves as gods, Immortals, as Hazlitt puts it, and there is really only room for one god at a time in each life. Hazlitt's statement, "We know our existence only by ourselves" gives us insight into his emphasis upon impressions made in life and the importance of personal experience in his writing. He writes: "Our first and strongest impressions are borrowed from the mighty scene that is opened to us, and we unconsciously transfer its durability as well as its splendor to ourselves". What Hazlitt is pointing to is a tendency to turn inward to define one's reality. We see ourselves in relation to nature as not a microscopic portion, like the flower that blooms and then withers away, but as having the same regenerative power and immortality as nature. He writes: To see the golden sun, the azure sky, the outstretched ocean; to walk upon the green earth, and be lord of a thousand creatures; to look down yawning precipices or over distant sunny vales; to see the world spread out under one's feet on a map; to bring the stars near. Hazlitt uses images of the natural world throughout his essay; he compares dying people to falling leaves and compares the joy and hope of youth to flowers. In fact, Hazlitt suggests an interchangeability between the human race and nature and writes, "Like a rustic at a fair, we are full of amazement and rapture, and have no thought of going home, or that it will soon be night. "On the Feeling of Immortality in Youth" helps to illustrate Hazlitt's strong connection to the philosophy of the Romantic Movement and his distaste for impermeable intellectualism. He continues: "...if by our intellectual superiority we survive ourselves in this world, by our virtues and faith we may attain an interest in another, and a higher state of being, and may thus be recipients at the same time of men and of angel". Hazlitt expresses a parallel between the station of man and the station of God, which aligns with his argument that in youth, men indeed feel God like, and have difficult in coming to terms with their own mortality. As we see the flowers both bloom and wither, trees shed their leaves in the winter and sprout new ones in the spring, and the circularity of the natural world and its ability to renew itself on a continual basis we tend to imagine ourselves with this same transformative power. He notes that our earliest experiences with natural world that surrounds us are those which are burned most vividly into our minds. We and Nature are therefore one". Hazlitt expands upon this. Indeed Hazlitt imagines human beings as having the same power to shape and define their experiences and their morality as God has to shape the universe. He positions humans with altitude, and says we are "lord(s) of a thousand creatures" that "look down yawning precipices or over distant sunny vales". For Hazlitt, the answer lies in construction sentences that mimic the immenseness of nature in terms of their size and attempt to do justice to its natural splendor by employing eloquent language. The tendency for humans to compare themselves to supernatural forces brings out another of Hazlitt's personal views upon religion. Hazlitt gives imagination a pivotal role in the moral life of man.  27.6 ON THE DISADVANTAGES OF INTELLECTUAL SUPERIORITY The essay „On the Disadvantages of Intellectual Superiority‟ came out in Table Talk as the 29 th essay. In the essay Hazlitt says that intellectual superiority brings the power of knowing more and seeing farther than the others. This aspect should not be misunderstood by others. An intellectually superior man tends to become unintelligible and complex. He is likely to talk in paradoxes that fail to reach the common person. The more original his ideas the more distant he becomes to the reader or listener. The happiness of life does not become better or worse than the people one meets. If you are beneath them you are trampled upon but if you are above them then the people show a mortifying level of indifference that causes pique upon the intellectually superior man. What is the use of being moral in a night cellar or wise in Bedlam? By not acting appropriately as time demands then we cut ourselves off from good company and society. We speak a language not understood by others, have our peculiar notions and are treated as of a different species. The intellectually superior person is like steers among wild beasts. Those who possess greater refinement and wisdom are viewed with suspicion and hostility by their neighbors. If an intelligent man, by softening his attitude, wins his neighbors then they may fear him less but hate him more. They will be more determined to take revenge for his superiority. All the humility in the world is considered as a weakness or folly. The intellectually superior may forget they are an author or an artist but the common man does not forget that he is nothing nor leave a chance to show that the superior person is just the same as he is. They copy the intellectually superior be it his dress, his manner of entering a room, his eating habits, and his particular phrase which they repeat becomes a standing joke. They watch the contradictions in his character, whether he looks grave or ill, whether he is in or out of pocket, and all the petty circumstances in which he resembles or is unlike them give reasons for them to indict him based on the imagination of their mind. In any other person such things would go unnoticed but of a person they had so much about find they cannot understand him and will speak highly about some book which they know he does not like. Intellect is not like bodily strength and one has no hold of the understanding of others except by their sympathy. By knowing more about a subject does not give superiority or power over others, rather, it makes it impossible to make an impression on the common person. It causes more distance between the intellectually person and society. It is more of a stumbling block at every turn. All that brings great pride and pleasure becomes lost in the vulgar eye. What pleases the common man becomes a matter of distaste and indifference to the intellectually superior man. Hazlitt says he loves hospitality and respect and civility for him is a jewel. He likes a little comfortable cheer and careless indolent chat. He hates to be always wise or aims at wisdom. He has to deal with literary cabals, critics, actors, essay writers, without taking them out for recreation or all the places he visits. He desires for goodwill and does not desire to pose at all times on various questions and topics. He has to face various disadvantages of being an author. Generally all his opinions met with contrary comments and ridicule. One of the miseries of intellectual pretensions is that nineteenths of the time the people he came in contact with did not know whether he was an imposter or not. There is always the danger of losing goodwill of numerous friends on ill reports which cannot be gained by good ones. The impertinence of admiration is scarcely more tolerable than the demonstration of contempt. People unnecessarily admire and flatter him and his style in high sounding words. They have a great value for character than writing. Another danger comes from fault finders who betray the intellectual. Sycophants and flatterers are unintentionally treacherous and fickle. They are prone to inordinately admire at first and when they do not find a reason to continue doing so they turn upon their idol and criticize him. To prove themselves right they start fault finding and are happy to see that this works out better for them than flattery. They have the organ of wonder and the organ of fear in a prominent degree. The first requires new objects of admiration to satisfy its uneasy cravings and the second makes them crouch to power wherever they see it. They are favorable to all parties and are ready to betray anyone out of sheer weakness and servility. He does not find great intellectual attainments are any recommendation to the women. They puzzle the intellectually superior man and are a main diversion to the main question. If scholars talk ti ladies of what they know then the ladies are none the wiser and if they talk of other things then they prove themselves fools to them. Scholars are no match for chambermaids. Lastly he says that no illustration is needed to prove that the most original and profound thinkers are the most successful or popular writers. According to him this is not a temporary disadvantage as many great philosophers were followed while they were living but forgotten as soon as they were dead and the name of Hobbes is perhaps sufficient to prove the truth of his statement. 27.7 FAMOUS QUOTES On the Love of the Country "We do not connect the same feelings with the works of art as with those of Nature, because