Chapter IX -- Personality

"It is undeniable," says Matthew
Arnold, "that the exercise of
a creative power, that a free creative
activity is the highest function of man;
it is proved to be so by man's finding
in it his true happiness." If this be
true, and the heart of man apart from
all testimony affirms it, then the great
books not only embody and express
the genius and vital knowledge of the
race which created them, but they are
the products of the highest activity of
man in the finest moments of his life.
They represent a high felicity no less
than a noble gift; they are the memo-

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v?