Health is the first of all blessings, since without it we are incapable of appreciating the other joys of life.
If I compromise this possession I shall be insensible to all others.
It is, therefore, indispensable that I should measure my efforts, for, admitting that a certain exaggerated labor brings me a fortune, I shall not know how to enjoy it if illness accompanies it.
This is the logic which is called practical sense.
Yoritomo continues, saying that there is a very close connection between the faculty of judging and that of deducing.
"Practical sense, allied to common sense, comes to the assistance of the latter, when it is tempted to reject the chain of analogy, whose representation too often draws one far from the initial subject.
"It facilitates coordination, clearness, and precision of thought.
"It knows how to consider contingencies, and never fails to have a clear understanding of relative questions."
And to illustrate his theory, he cites us an example which many of our young contemporaries would do well to remember.
"There was," said he, "in the village of Fu-Isher, a literary man, who wrote beautiful poems.