took in "babies," and such-like "trivialities," which, in spite of
many lessons, the people would not regard as possibly prolific of serious
results.
The contempt thus thrown even on eminent men was the more extraordinary,
inasmuch as our sages had familiarized the people with the grand truth
that the greatest effects are often produced by trifling causes; that
out of the little egg came the large eagle of the country, and the huge
boa-constrictor; that innumerable mighty operations in nature have their
origin in small beginnings; that the narrow rivulet goes on gathering
strength till it becomes the Great Cataract; that the minute plague-spot
generated the virulent disease; that the acorn produces the oak; that
the impaired seed failed to produce goodly fruit; that a small drop of
leaven affected a huge mass. Lessons on the fecundity of little things
had indeed grown into commonplace household words.
Besides these lessons of the wise, love and respect for children were
mingled with the religions feelings of the people; for Elikoia, the
founder of our earliest civilization, was a child when he led the people
from idolatry to the worship of the living God.
All these considerations, however, were insufficient to shield great men
from the contempt thrown on them and on their words, when they had the
courage to let it be known that they occupied themselves with things
which, to an ordinary observer, seemed beneath notice.
From the first, however, I had been convinced of the importance of the
despised "little" things, and looked not so much to the dimensions of
the instrument as to the amount of good or evil it was capable of
effecting, having learned by experience that the magnitude of results
was often in an inverse ratio to the means employed, more especially
when applied in due season.
Soon I discovered that many of the maladies incident to children, to
youth, and to adults, owed their origin to the neglect and injudicious
treatment of the infant. I had seen numbers of inter
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John Addington Symonds (October 5, 1840 - April 19, 1893) was an English poet and literary critic. He was an early advocate of the validity of male love which included for him pederastic as well as egalitarian relationships, and which he would refer to as lamour de limpossible.