The-Conquest-of-Happiness-by-Bertrand-Russell

acquainted were representative of the whole
world. They can scarcely believe that in another
place or another set the views which they dare not
avow for fear of being thought utterly perverse
would be accepted as the ordinary commonplaces
of the age. Thus through ignorance of the world a
great deal of unnecessary misery is endured,
sometimes only in youth, but not infrequently
throughout life. This isolation is not only a source
of pain, it also causes a great dissipation of energy
in the unnecessary task of maintaining mental
independence against hostile surroundings, and in
ninety-nine cases out of a hundred produces a
certain timidity in following out ideas to their
logical conclusions. The Bronte sisters never met
any congenial people until after their books had
been published. This did not affect Emily, who
was heroic and in the grand manner, but it certainly
did affect Charlotte, whose outlook, in spite of her
talents , remained always to a large extent that of a
governess. Blake, like Emily Bronte, lived in
extreme mental isolation, but like her was great
enough to overcome its bad effects, since he never