And in the very touch of joy there
hides I know not what ultimate denial; if not on one side, on the other.
If joy is given to us without reserve, not so do we give ourselves to
joy. We withhold, we close. Having denied many things that have
approached us, we deny ourselves to many things. Thus does _il gran
rifiuto_ divide and rule our world.
Simplicity is worth the sacrifice; but all is not sacrifice. Rejection
has its pleasures, the more secret the more unmeasured. When we garnish
a house we refuse more furniture, and furniture more various, than might
haunt the dreams of decorators. There is no limit to our rejections. And
the unconsciousness of the decorators is in itself a cause of pleasure to
a mind generous, forbearing, and delicate. When we dress, no fancy may
count the things we will none of. When we write, what hinders that we
should refrain from Style past reckoning? When we marry--. Moreover, if
simplicity is no longer set in a world having the great and beautiful
quality of fewness, we can provide an equally fair setting in the quality
of refinement. And refinement is not to be achieved but by rejection.
One who suggests to me that refinement is apt to be a mere negative has
offered up a singular blunder in honour of robustiousness.
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