Sizing up things can only be well done in solitude.
The benefits of sizing up things in solitude are so great it is a wonder more has not been written on the subject.
Plants grow in darkness, yet the common understanding is they grow in sunshine. The sunshine is absolutely necessary for the growth of the plant, but the real growth is done in the quiet darkness.
A man's brain develops in solitude, yet bustle and crowds and business activity are as necessary to the man as sunshine is to the plant.
The real brain and moral growth takes place in solitude.
Here again we must remember the law of compensation, for if a plant had all sunshine and no shadow, and if a man had all hustle and bustle and no solitude, it would be like a machine without a governor; the man and the plant would run so fast something would have to give way.
On the other hand compensation says that if a man is too much in solitude, or the plant too much in darkness, they will wither and die.
Man has always had strong admiration for the strong individual, whether bird, beast, fish, plant or human.
There are two kinds of birds, the kind that lives in flocks, like the blackbird and the wild duck, and the kind that lives by itself, like the eagle. Amongst birds the eagle is chosen as an emblem for the flag, and never the duck or blackbird.
Amongst beasts there are two classes, the herd kind like sheep, and the strong individual, like the lion. The lion is the symbol of strength and courage, the sheep the symbol of innocence and simplicity. The lion appears on coat of arms but not the sheep.