Swords and Plowshares/Feeling Big
Feeling Big.png){kind=small}
I
WHY does the soldier rush into the midst of the fray and why does he wish to wear epaulets?
It is because he likes to feel big.
Why does the orator delight in the clapping of hands?
Why does the politician dream of office?
Why does the author strive for recognition and influence?
Why does the financier go on evolving his schemes and piling up his millions?
What is the great motive behind them all?
It is the longing to feel big.
WHY does the soldier rush into the midst of the fray and why does he wish to wear epaulets?
It is because he likes to feel big.
Why does the orator delight in the clapping of hands?
Why does the politician dream of office?
Why does the author strive for recognition and influence?
Why does the financier go on evolving his schemes and piling up his millions?
What is the great motive behind them all?
It is the longing to feel big.
But there is only one satisfying way of feeling big and none of these has found it.
Make yourself a face—a facet—of the universe and you will feel the only real Bigness.
Let the great Soul of things look through your eyes and swell in your bosom, and you will grow so big that the world will scarce contain you.
They are right—the soldiers and orators and the rest are right—there is nothing in the world like feeling big.
II
SINCE my soul has become brother to the lowest, its pride knows no bounds.
It looks down on kingship and empire, on rule and mastery, on laws and institutions, on the ambitions and successes of men.
It condescends to mountains and oceans, to suns and constellations, to time and space.
It feels equal to the sum total of all things, of all excellencies and grandeurs.
It bows to nothing and nobody, and finds all that is worshipful in itself.
When my soul became brother to the lowest, it feared to lose the tiny atom that it was, and instead of that it has expanded into a universe.
All this has happened since my soul became brother to the lowest.
III
HO! for the pride of democracy!
The other prides of kings and aristocrats shrivel up before it.
We fold up the tinsel muslin and lay aside the gilded crowns that played their part so long.
Let it strut no more the pride that sucked its strength from the abasement of brother men. It was a bastard pride, a usurping, base-born pride.
Make yourself a face—a facet—of the universe and you will feel the only real Bigness.
Let the great Soul of things look through your eyes and swell in your bosom, and you will grow so big that the world will scarce contain you.
They are right—the soldiers and orators and the rest are right—there is nothing in the world like feeling big.
II
SINCE my soul has become brother to the lowest, its pride knows no bounds.
It looks down on kingship and empire, on rule and mastery, on laws and institutions, on the ambitions and successes of men.
It condescends to mountains and oceans, to suns and constellations, to time and space.
It feels equal to the sum total of all things, of all excellencies and grandeurs.
It bows to nothing and nobody, and finds all that is worshipful in itself.
When my soul became brother to the lowest, it feared to lose the tiny atom that it was, and instead of that it has expanded into a universe.
All this has happened since my soul became brother to the lowest.
III
HO! for the pride of democracy!
The other prides of kings and aristocrats shrivel up before it.
We fold up the tinsel muslin and lay aside the gilded crowns that played their part so long.
Let it strut no more the pride that sucked its strength from the abasement of brother men. It was a bastard pride, a usurping, base-born pride.
But the new pride comes in its place:
The pride of typifying all humanity, of being an integral part of it, of embracing and sharing it from the lowest to the highest;
The pride of being brother to the tramp and the prostitute as well as to the queen and the conqueror;
The pride of being a representative bit of the universe and of compassing its entire span;
The pride that takes from no one but gives to all, that debases no one but raises all—
The pride of being universal and infinite and eternal!
Ho! for the bottomless, topless pride of democracy!
The pride of typifying all humanity, of being an integral part of it, of embracing and sharing it from the lowest to the highest;
The pride of being brother to the tramp and the prostitute as well as to the queen and the conqueror;
The pride of being a representative bit of the universe and of compassing its entire span;
The pride that takes from no one but gives to all, that debases no one but raises all—
The pride of being universal and infinite and eternal!
Ho! for the bottomless, topless pride of democracy!