Book excerpt....
"The new-born child does not realise that his body is more a
part of himself than surrounding objects, and will play with his
toes without any feeling that they belong to him more
than the rattle by his side; and it is only by degrees,
through pain, that he understands the fact of the body.
And experiences of the same kind are necessary for the
individual to become conscious of himself; but here there
is the difference that, although everyone becomes equally
conscious of his body as a separate and complete organism,
everyone does not become equally conscious of himself as
a complete and separate personality. The feeling of
apartness from others comes to most with puberty, but it is
not always developed to such a degree as to make the
difference between the individual and his fellows
noticeable to the individual. It is such as he, as little
conscious of himself as the bee in a hive, who are the
lucky in life, for they have the best chance of happiness:
their activities are shared by all, and their pleasures are
only pleasures because they are enjoyed in common; you
will see them on Whit-Monday dancing on Hampstead
Heath, shouting at a football match, or from club
windows in Pall Mall cheering a royal procession. It is
because of them that man has been called a social animal." --Of human Bondage, Somerset Maugham
part of himself than surrounding objects, and will play with his
toes without any feeling that they belong to him more
than the rattle by his side; and it is only by degrees,
through pain, that he understands the fact of the body.
And experiences of the same kind are necessary for the
individual to become conscious of himself; but here there
is the difference that, although everyone becomes equally
conscious of his body as a separate and complete organism,
everyone does not become equally conscious of himself as
a complete and separate personality. The feeling of
apartness from others comes to most with puberty, but it is
not always developed to such a degree as to make the
difference between the individual and his fellows
noticeable to the individual. It is such as he, as little
conscious of himself as the bee in a hive, who are the
lucky in life, for they have the best chance of happiness:
their activities are shared by all, and their pleasures are
only pleasures because they are enjoyed in common; you
will see them on Whit-Monday dancing on Hampstead
Heath, shouting at a football match, or from club
windows in Pall Mall cheering a royal procession. It is
because of them that man has been called a social animal." --Of human Bondage, Somerset Maugham