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Article FICTION AND FACT. Page 1 of 4 →
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Fiction And Fact.
MOTION AND FACT .
The unreal ever possesses a wonderful influence over the human mind . This is owing chiefly to the opportunity which the former gives of ' " discovery , " or , as it is termed by Aristotle , " arayvupiarig " the exercise of which principle constitutes the pleasure we derive from
plays , riddles , and ( when combined with the imitative faculty ) from works of art . But the unreal predominates in its attraction over the real , because in the present constitution of things the contemplation of i fact must be painful , whereas imagination , by a magical autocracy , can banish irksome images from its sphere , and gratify innate self-esteem by the very exercise of the power which evokes long lines
of pleasurable or beauteous thoughts . The pauper , by this fiat of his will , dreams himself a prince ; he reigns the monarch of a fictitious world , but which for a moment is a world of fact in the pleasure it affords , until the soaring bubble of his greatness , sparkling with
varied hues of visionary glory , bursts against some rude projecting angle of reality , and he who a moment before trod upon air , is recalled to the truth that he cannot live upon the deceptive element , and is troubled to find a shilling ! " What am I ? " asks Byron , and he
adds" Nothing , Tmt not so art thou , Soul of my thought , wherein I live or die ! " so certain is it that fiction is prevalent over reality in the influence it possesses over us ; so truly is the happiness of hundreds produced , and the misery of thousands banished , by dreaming—well !
Imagination also possesses a great advantage over reality by the universality of its endowment . It is no royal prerogative : the madman values his paper crown and straw sceptre as highly ( and , probably , at a far truer estimate ) as the descendant of the Ca > sars regards his diadem of gold , with bits of carbon called diamond , " Lo ! when I frown , " said Lear , " see how that caitiff quakes . " All vol . it . x .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Fiction And Fact.
MOTION AND FACT .
The unreal ever possesses a wonderful influence over the human mind . This is owing chiefly to the opportunity which the former gives of ' " discovery , " or , as it is termed by Aristotle , " arayvupiarig " the exercise of which principle constitutes the pleasure we derive from
plays , riddles , and ( when combined with the imitative faculty ) from works of art . But the unreal predominates in its attraction over the real , because in the present constitution of things the contemplation of i fact must be painful , whereas imagination , by a magical autocracy , can banish irksome images from its sphere , and gratify innate self-esteem by the very exercise of the power which evokes long lines
of pleasurable or beauteous thoughts . The pauper , by this fiat of his will , dreams himself a prince ; he reigns the monarch of a fictitious world , but which for a moment is a world of fact in the pleasure it affords , until the soaring bubble of his greatness , sparkling with
varied hues of visionary glory , bursts against some rude projecting angle of reality , and he who a moment before trod upon air , is recalled to the truth that he cannot live upon the deceptive element , and is troubled to find a shilling ! " What am I ? " asks Byron , and he
adds" Nothing , Tmt not so art thou , Soul of my thought , wherein I live or die ! " so certain is it that fiction is prevalent over reality in the influence it possesses over us ; so truly is the happiness of hundreds produced , and the misery of thousands banished , by dreaming—well !
Imagination also possesses a great advantage over reality by the universality of its endowment . It is no royal prerogative : the madman values his paper crown and straw sceptre as highly ( and , probably , at a far truer estimate ) as the descendant of the Ca > sars regards his diadem of gold , with bits of carbon called diamond , " Lo ! when I frown , " said Lear , " see how that caitiff quakes . " All vol . it . x .