Samuel Pepys, as revealed in his diary, is such a marvelous character! Witness:
- his frequent resolutions to work on self-improvement — stop drinking so much, stop going to plays, save more money, study mathematics (his multiplication tables!), practice on musical instruments (with side complaints about the high cost of lessons), relearn Latin ...
- his self-honesty — e.g. in recording his weakness for "pretty wenches" and in ruefully admitting how much pride, on occasion, he feels in himself for his achievements ...
- his thankfulness for his good fortune — for possessing good health, holding a good job, doing important work, learning new things in the arts and sciences, accumulating wealth from year to year ...
- his shameless celebrity-worship and name-dropping ...
But perhaps most striking of all: in the glimpses we have of him Pepys shows a delightful contentedness. He's a happy fellow, working long hours and balancing that with recreation. He's not greedy or envious, but pleased in a mature fashion with what he's doing and where his life is going. In many ways, not a bad example to follow ....
Tuesday, June 05, 2001 at 05:45:11 (EDT) = 2001-06-05
(see TidyTime)
(correlates: SeeingStars0, Be the Heat, EmersonOnSelfImprovement, ...)