Conceit and Duty
“However strange it may seem, to do one’s duty will make anyone conceited who only does it sometimes. Those who do it always would as soon think of being conceited of eating their dinner as of doing their duty. What honest boy would pride himself on not picking pockets? A thief who was trying to reform would. To be conceited of doing one’s duty is then a sign of how little one does it, and how little one sees what a contemptible thing it is not to do it. Could any but a low creature be conceited of not being contemptible? Until our duty becomes to us common as breathing, we are poor creatures.”
-George MacDonald, The Wise Woman
Life’s Joy
What makes the battle worth the fighting?
What makes the mountain worth the climb?
What makes the questions worth the asking?
The reason worth the rhyme?
To me the answer’s clear, it’s having someone near, someone dear.
Someone to care for, to be there for
I have you two
Someone to do for, muddle through for
I have you two
Someone to share joy or despair with, which ever betides you
Life becomes a chore unless your living for…
Someone to tend to, be a friend to
I have you two
Someone to strive for, do or die for
I have you two
Could be we three get along so famously
‘Cause you two have me, and I have you two too
Someone to care for, to be there for
I have you two
Someone to do for, muddle through for
I have you two
Someone to smile with once in a while with
Whenever you’re lonely
I’ve a happy lot, considering what I’ve got
But I couldn’t do more than you do for
Your poor mother
Things go asunder and I wonder
Why you bother
Could be we three get along so famously
‘Cause you two have me, and I have you two too
-Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
