Opposition in All Things

A question asked by H.G. Wells suggests a subject: “What on earth would a man do with himself,” he said, “if something did not stand in his way?” Sometimes when life is difficult and discouraging, when we feel that people or circumstances are against us, when we are running against resistance, we might well ask ourselves what we would do if there weren’t some resistance to run against. To quote a sentence: “Man, without opposition or competition, would loaf out his life and die a limpid lump of flesh.” This suggests some aspects of the experience in space, where things are relatively loose and free and frictionless, and where there is need for exercise and exertion to keep from becoming flabby. A muscle won’t develop if there is nothing to work against. Without work, even hearts would cease to function effectively. We couldn’t even start or stop if it weren’t for friction. Even brakes wouldn’t work. These physical facts have their counterpart in matters of morale, in matters of mind, in matters of the inner resources of man—the ability to endure, to develop. Often we would wish things away. We wish we wouldn’t be opposed by other people. We wish that sales resistance were removed. We wish that learning weren’t so long and difficult and demanding. But if don’t have something to push against we never develop any push. The mind wouldn’t develop if there were no problems, nothing to solve, nothing to think through. Character wouldn’t develop if there were no decisions to make or obstacles to overcome. And even thought some days are discouraging and some situations seem too difficult, it is overcoming that makes men. (To cite a sentence from a screenplay: “If we don’t try we don’t do, and if we don’t do, what are we on this earth for?”) To repeat the question of H.G. Wells: “What on earth would a man do with himself if something did not stand in his way?”