I - 19 Choosing An Occupation

Choosing An Occupation

Hodeslea,  Eastbourne,
November  5,  1892

Dear  Sir,

I am very sorry that the pressure of other occupations has prevented  me from  sending  an  earlier  reply  to  your  letter. In my opinion a man's first duty is to find a way(1) of supporting himself,thereby  relieving  other  people  of(2)  the  necessity  of  supporting  him.Moreover, the learning to do work of practical value in the world, in an exact and careful manner, is of itself(3) a very important education, the effects of which make themselves felt(4) in all other pursuits. The habit of doing that which you do not care about' when you would much rather be doing something else, is invaluable. It would have saved me a frightful waste  of  time  if  I  had  ever  had  it  drilled  into  me  in  youth.(5) Success in any scientific career requires an unusual equipment of capacity, industry, and energy. If you possess that equipment, you will find leisure enough  after  your  daily  commercial  work  is  over,  to  make  an  opening(6) in the scientific ranks for yourself. If you do not, you had better stick to  commerce.  Nothing  is  less  to  be  desired  than  the  fate  of  a  young  man who,  as  the  Scotch  proverb  says,  in  "trying  to  make  a  spoon  spoils  a horn,"(7) and becomes a mere hanger- on in literature or in science, when he  might  have  been  a  useful  and  a  valuable  member  of  Society  in  other occupations.(8)

I  think  that  your  father  ought  to  see  this  letter.

Yours  faithfully,
T.  H.  Huxley