“And what is that?” inquired Paul, with interest.
“Power” said Ah Ben, with an assurance that left no doubt of the conviction of the speaker.
“I suppose that is a kind of stepping-stone to contentment,” answered Paul, reflectively.
“Precisely; for no man who lacks the power to accomplish his desires can know contentment. But contentment is transitory, and rests upon power. Power alone is the cornerstone of happiness.”
“Do you really believe that?” Paul inquired, half incredulously.
“I know it. With me it is not a matter of speculation; it is a matter of knowledge.”
“Then let me ask you why it is that the greatest power in the world, which is undoubtedly money, so often fails of this end?”
Ah Ben refilled his pipe, then raked a coal out of the fire with the bowl and pressed it firmly down upon the tobacco, and then said, reflectively:
“You are mistaken. Money does confer happiness to the full limit of its power, but this limit is quickly reached—first, because man's ambitions and desires grow faster than his wealth, or reach out into channels that wealth can never compass, or, and principally, because wealth is an impersonal power and not a direct one. Give the earth to a single man, and it would never enable him to change his appearance or alter one of his mental characteristics, nor to do one single thing he could not have accomplished before—it giving him the power to make others do his will; and so long as his will is not beyond the power of others to do, he is to that extent happy. But to be really happy, a man must have personal power. Wealth is not power. Power is lodged in the individuality.”
“I don't know whether I quite understand you,” said Paul.