The difference between talents and character is adroitness to keep the old and trodden round， power and courage to make a new road to new and better goals. Character makes an overpowering present； a cheerful， determined hour， which fortifies all the company by making them see that much is possible and excellent that was not thought of. Character dulls the impression of particular events. When we see the conqueror we do not think much of any one battle or success. We see that we had exaggerated the difficulty. It was easy to him. The great man is not convulsible or tormentable； events pass over him without much impression. People say sometimes，“See what I have overcome； see how cheerful I am； see how completely I have triumphed over these black events.” Not if they still remind me of the black event. True conquest is the Causing the calamity to fade and disappear as an early cloud of insignificant result in a history so large and advancing.
The one thing which we seek with insatiable desire is to forget ourselves， to be surprised out of our propriety， to lose our sempiternal memory and to do something without knowing how or why； in short to draw a new circle. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. The way of life is wonderful； it is by abandonment. The great moments of history are the facilities of performance through the strength of ideas， as the work of genius and religion. “A man.” said Cromwell， “never rises so high as when he knows not whither he is going.” Dreams and drunkenness， the use of opium and alcohol are the semblance and counterfeit of this oracular genius， and hence their dangerous attraction for men. For the like reason they ask the aid of wild passions， as in gaming and war， to ape in some manner these flames and generosities of the heart.
眼睛是第一个圆，眼前的地平线是第二个圆。这个原始的形状在自然界到处都是，没有止境。圆是一种最高形式的象征。圣·奥古斯丁把圆作为对上帝本质的描述，它有着无所不在的圆心，但是其圆周却无处寻觅。我们用一生的时间来研究这个最原始的图形有什么丰富内涵。在讨论人类每一个行为的循环及其补偿性时，我们从中探寻出了一种道德寓意。我们要研究的另一个类比是：没有什么行为不能够被超越。有这样一条真理贯穿在我们的生活当中，即：在任何一个圆的外围都可以画出另外一个圆；自然没有极限，每个终点都是一个新的起点；太阳爬到最高处时，总会有另一道曙光冉冉升起；深海处还有更深的海床。