Excerpt from Episodes of My Second Life, Vol. 1 of 2: American ExperiencesThe 4th of November, 1880, was my seventieth birthday. Up to that date I had never really felt, though I often seriously declared, that I was growing old. But Threescore years and ten are the days of our age, and were I even one of the strong men who come to fourscore, I must be aware that, in what may remain, there must be more to endure than to achieve, and that the Night will soon come when no man can work.Threescore and ten! The day is done; and the shades of evening bring rest, and leisure for self-concentration and self-abasement. We look back upon life through the small end of the spy-glass. Our self-conceit dwindles as our stature shrinks indeed, we should pity the man whom every year as it passes did not bring nearer to a just estimate of his own worth. Self-knowledge is at the basis of all learning. It is the study of a whole life. And though it only ends with existence itself, still every day's experience and disenchant ment should bring its own lesson. Live and learn should be the rule. And whatever knowledge we attain should be made of some value to our fellow-beings.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.