But this is not easy to imagine. When I set a glass
of water on the table, the table is undoubtedly slightly shaken by the
strain. If I put a large book upon it, the strain of the table becomes
apparent. Putting a hundred pound weight upon it is an experiment that
is perilous. For the extrinsic goodness of the table is at war with
the intrinsic; that is, the employment of the table wears it out. In
doing its work and fitting into the large relationships for which
tables exist, its inner organization becomes disjointed. In time it
will go to pieces. We can, however, imagine a magic table, which might
be consolidated by all it does. At first it was a little weak, but by
upholding the glass of water it grew stronger. As I laid the book on
it, its joints acquired a tenacity which they lacked before; and only
after receiving the hundred pound weight did it acquire the full
strength of which it was capable. That would indeed be a marvelous
table, where use and inner construction continually helped each other.
Something like it we may hereafter find possible in certain regions of
personal goodness, but no such perpetual motion is possible to things.
For them employment is costly.
VII
I have already strained my readers' attention sufficiently by these
abstract statements of matters technical and minute.
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