Brier patch philosophy 1906

Excerpt from Brier-Patch Philosophy
Why thou wert there, 0 rival of the rose? I never thought to ask. I never knew; But, in my simple ignorance, suppose The selfsame Power that brought me there brought you.
If we find some of these views at variance or even in direct contrast with our own, that is prob ably because we learn chiefly from life itself, and the Rabbit's life is more simple and artless than ours. As he says himself, he prefers going bare foot to wearing uncomfortable shoes; to get quickly at the crisp heart of a carrot, rather than rasp his tongue over the dry husk or the peppery top; and to be in harmony with the brier patch as it is, rather than be perpetually fretted because he cannot understand why it should not be otherwise.
He has learned in the brier patch that a mercy may be none the less merciful because it happens to be pointed and to require careful handling. If he sometimes amuses himself with the scientists and psychologists who think they know all about his mental processes, and pokes fun at our cher ished habits, and finds entertainment even in the mighty hunters who kill a little thing with a big gun and then discourse earnestly of the manly virtuous quality of their recreation, that is because he has made the curious discovery that men are often most amusing when they take themselves most seriously. With humor a rabbit may hope to investigate even human society and' keep his men tal balance; without it he tumbles into the depths with Schopenhauer and finds no good in anything. It is a rule, in the brier patch, to smile when tears or impotent curses are the only possible alterna tive; and any woman who has passed thirty, if you can ever again get her '0 say what she thinks, will tell you that this is excellent philosophy.
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