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Bennett, Arnold, 1867-1931

"English Prose A Series of Related Essays for the Discussion and Practice"


I suppose that when I utter these words, you will easily give to them a
certain general assent. But I want to devote this address to making just
such words mean more to you than at first they may appear to mean.
First, then, let me tell you what I myself mean by the term "loyalty."
Then let me deal with my principal thesis, which is that the true spirit
of loyalty is not merely a proper accompaniment of all serious work, but
is an especially important source of a very deep insight into the
meaning of life, and, as I personally believe, into the nature of the
whole universe.
Three sorts of persons, I have noticed, are fond of using the term
"loyalty." These are quite different types of persons; or, in any case,
they use the word upon very different occasions. But these very
differences are to my mind important. The first type of those who love
to use the term "loyalty" consists of those who employ it to express a
certain glow of enthusiastic devotion, the type of the lovers, of the
students when the athletic contests are near, of the partisans in the
heat of a political contest, or of the friends of an institution upon a
day like this.


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