Tennis and the Immortal Soul

You get into the morning train with your newspaper, and you calmly and majestically give yourself up to your newspaper. You do not hurry. You know you have at least half an hour of security in front of you. As your glance lingers idly at the advertisements of shipping and of songs on the outer pages, your air is the air of a leisured man, wealthy in time, of a man from some planet where there are a hundred and twenty-four hours a day instead of twenty-four. I am an impassioned reader of newspapers. I read five English and two French dailies, and the news-agents alone know how many weeklies, regularly. I am obliged to mention this personal fact lest I should be accused of a prejudice against newspapers when I say that I object to the reading of newspapers in the morning train. Newspapers are produced with rapidity, to be read with rapidity. There is no place in my daily programme for newspapers. I read them as I may in odd moments. But I do read them. The idea of devoting to them thirty or forty consecutive minutes of wonderful solitude (for nowhere can one more perfectly immerse one's self in one's self than in a compartment full of silent, withdrawn, smoking males) is to me repugnant. I cannot possibly allow you to scatter priceless pearls of time with such Oriental lavishness. You are not the Shah of time. Let me respectfully remind you that you have no more time than I have. No newspaper reading in trains! I have already "put by" about three-quarters of an hour for use.

You board the morning train with your newspaper and calmly, majestically give yourself over to it. You are in no hurry. You know you have at least half an hour of security ahead of you. Your eyes wander over the ads for shipping and songs on the outer pages. You look like a man of leisure, rich in time. You might come from a planet where a day has 124 hours instead of 24. I am a passionate newspaper reader. I regularly read five English and two French daily papers. Only the newsagents know how many weekly papers I read. I must mention this personal fact so no one accuses me of being prejudiced against newspapers. For I object to reading newspapers on the morning train. Newspapers are produced quickly and meant to be read quickly. My daily schedule has no allotted time for newspapers. I read them when I can, in spare moments. But I do read them. I find it repugnant to devote 30 or 40 uninterrupted minutes of wonderful solitude to newspapers. Nowhere can you be more completely alone with yourself than in a train compartment full of silent, withdrawn, smoking men. I cannot possibly let you scatter priceless pearls of time with such Oriental lavishness. You are not the Shah of time. Let me respectfully remind you that you have no more time than I do. No reading newspapers on trains! I have already "put by" about three-quarters of an hour for use.

Now you reach your office. And I abandon you there till six o'clock. I am aware that you have nominally an hour (often in reality an hour and a half) in the midst of the day, less than half of which time is given to eating. But I will leave you all that to spend as you choose. You may read your newspapers then.

Now you reach your office, and I leave you there until six o'clock. I know you officially have an hour in the middle of the day, often an hour and a half in practice. You spend less than half of that time eating. But I will leave you to spend all that time as you choose. You may read your newspapers then.

I meet you again as you emerge from your office. You are pale and tired. At any rate, your wife says you are pale, and you give her to understand that you are tired. During the journey home you have been gradually working up the tired feeling. The tired feeling hangs heavy over the mighty suburbs of London like a virtuous and melancholy cloud, particularly in winter. You don't eat immediately on your arrival home. But in about an hour or so you feel as if you could sit up and take a little nourishment. And you do. Then you smoke, seriously; you see friends; you potter; you play cards; you flirt with a book; you note that old age is creeping on; you take a stroll; you caress the piano.... By Jove! a quarter past eleven. You then devote quite forty minutes to thinking about going to bed; and it is conceivable that you are acquainted with a genuinely good whisky. At last you go to bed, exhausted by the day's work. Six hours, probably more, have gone since you left the office—gone like a dream, gone like magic, unaccountably gone!

I meet you again as you leave your office. You are pale and tired. At least, your wife says you are pale, and you let her know that you are tired. On the journey home, you have gradually worked yourself into feeling tired. That tired feeling hangs over London's vast suburbs like a virtuous, gloomy cloud, especially in winter. You don't eat as soon as you get home. But after an hour or so, you feel as if you could sit up and have a little food. And you do. Then you smoke, seriously. You see friends, putter around, play cards, and flirt with a book. You notice that old age is creeping up on you. You take a stroll. You caress the piano.... Good heavens! It's a quarter past eleven. You then spend a good forty minutes thinking about going to bed. And you may know a genuinely good whisky. At last you go to bed, exhausted by the day's work. Six hours, probably more, have passed since you left the office. Gone like a dream, gone like magic, gone without explanation!

That is a fair sample case. But you say: "It's all very well for you to talk. A man is tired. A man must see his friends. He can't always be on the stretch." Just so. But when you arrange to go to the theatre (especially with a pretty woman) what happens? You rush to the suburbs; you spare no toil to make yourself glorious in fine raiment; you rush back to town in another train; you keep yourself on the stretch for four hours, if not five; you take her home; you take yourself home. You don't spend three-quarters of an hour in "thinking about" going to bed. You go. Friends and fatigue have equally been forgotten, and the evening has seemed so exquisitely long (or perhaps too short)! And do you remember that time when you were persuaded to sing in the chorus of the amateur operatic society, and slaved two hours every other night for three months? Can you deny that when you have something definite to look forward to at eventide, something that is to employ all your energy—the thought of that something gives a glow and a more intense vitality to the whole day?

That is a fair example. But you say: "It's easy for you to talk. A man is tired. A man must see his friends. He can't always be pushing himself." Quite so. But what happens when you arrange to go to the theater, especially with a pretty woman? You rush to the suburbs. You spare no effort to make yourself look splendid in fine clothes. You rush back to town on another train. You stay on the go for four hours, if not five. You take her home, then go home yourself. You don't spend 45 minutes "thinking about" going to bed. You go. You have forgotten both friends and fatigue. And the evening has seemed wonderfully long (or perhaps too short)! And do you remember when you were persuaded to sing in the chorus of the amateur opera society? You worked hard for two hours every other night for three months. When you have something definite to look forward to in the evening, something that will use all your energy, can you deny what happens? Doesn't the thought of it brighten the whole day and make you feel more alive?

What I suggest is that at six o'clock you look facts in the face and admit that you are not tired (because you are not, you know), and that you arrange your evening so that it is not cut in the middle by a meal. By so doing you will have a clear expanse of at least three hours. I do not suggest that you should employ three hours every night of your life in using up your mental energy. But I do suggest that you might, for a commencement, employ an hour and a half every other evening in some important and consecutive cultivation of the mind. You will still be left with three evenings for friends, bridge, tennis, domestic scenes, odd reading, pipes, gardening, pottering, and prize competitions. You will still have the terrific wealth of forty-five hours between 2 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Monday. If you persevere you will soon want to pass four evenings, and perhaps five, in some sustained endeavour to be genuinely alive. And you will fall out of that habit of muttering to yourself at 11.15 p.m., "Time to be thinking about going to bed." The man who begins to go to bed forty minutes before he opens his bedroom door is bored; that is to say, he is not living.

I suggest that at six o'clock you face the facts and admit that you are not tired. Because you aren't, you know. Arrange your evening so that a meal does not interrupt it halfway through. That way, you will have at least three clear hours. I am not suggesting that you spend three hours every night using up your mental energy. But you might start by spending an hour and a half every other evening developing your mind. Choose something important and work at it steadily. You will still have three evenings for friends, bridge, tennis, domestic life, casual reading, pipes, gardening, pottering about, and prize competitions. You will still have the enormous wealth of forty-five hours between 2 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Monday. If you keep at it, you will soon want to spend four evenings, perhaps five, making a sustained effort to be genuinely alive. And you will stop muttering to yourself at 11:15 p.m., "Time to start thinking about going to bed." The man who starts going to bed forty minutes before he opens his bedroom door is bored. In other words, he is not living.

But remember, at the start, those ninety nocturnal minutes thrice a week must be the most important minutes in the ten thousand and eighty. They must be sacred, quite as sacred as a dramatic rehearsal or a tennis match. Instead of saying, "Sorry I can't see you, old chap, but I have to run off to the tennis club," you must say, "...but I have to work." This, I admit, is intensely difficult to say. Tennis is so much more urgent than the immortal soul.

But remember, at first, those ninety minutes at night, three times a week, must be the most important minutes of the week’s 10,080. They must be sacred, just as sacred as a play rehearsal or a tennis match. Instead of saying, "Sorry I can't see you, but I have to run off to the tennis club," you must say, "...but I have to work." I admit that this is extremely difficult to say. Tennis is so much more urgent than the immortal soul.