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On Nothing & Kindred Subjects

by Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953)

  • Free to read
  • 4 hours to read
  • 33 chapters
  • Reading level: 8th & 9th grade

"On Nothing & Kindred Subjects" by Hilaire Belloc is a collection of essays written in the early 20th century. The book explores various themes, engaging in philosophical musings and observations about the complexities and nuances of life, centered around the concept of "nothing." The essays cover topics ranging from the nature of creativity to the social dynamics of inns, showcasing Belloc’s wit and reflective style. The opening of this work establishes Belloc’s ambitious quest to write about "Nothing," a topic he argues is both profound and laden with significance. He reflects on a summer gathering in Normandy, where the idea to tackle such an elusive subject was born among friends. Belloc elaborates on the difficulties and misconceptions surrounding "Nothing," suggesting that it embodies a majestic essence at the core of existence and human experience. Through anecdotes and philosophical digressions, he sets the tone for a contemplative exploration that weaves humor and insight into the fabric of everyday observations and timeless truths.

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  • Essays

Read the opening

The Human Race in Gratitude

So I began to write my book, Maurice: and as I wrote it the dignity of what I had to do rose continually before me, as does the dignity of a mountain range which first seemed a vague part of the sky, but at last stands out august and fixed before the traveller; or as the sky at night may seem to a man released from a dungeon who sees it but gradually, first bewildered by the former constraint of his narrow room but now gradually enlarging to drink in its immensity. Indeed this Nothing is too great for any man who has once embraced it to leave it alone thenceforward for ever; and finally, the dignity of Nothing is sufficiently exalted in this: that Nothing is the tenuous stuff from which the world was made.

For when the Elohim set out to make the world, first they debated among themselves the Idea, and one suggested this and another suggested that, till they had threshed out between them a very pretty picture of it all. There were to be hills beyond hills, good grass and trees, and the broadness of rivers, animals of all kinds, both comic and terrible, and savours and colours, and all around the ceaseless streaming of the sea.

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Contents

Show all 33 chapters
  1. Front Matter
  2. The Human Race in Gratitude
  3. On the Pleasure of Taking Up One's Pen
  4. On Getting Respected in Inns and Hotels
  5. On Ignorance
  6. On Advertisement
  7. Henry De La Mere Ullmo
  8. On a House
  9. One the Illness of My Muse
  10. On a Dog and a Man Also
  11. On Tea
  12. On Them
  13. On Railways and Things
  14. On Conversations in Trains
  15. On the Return of the Dead
  16. On the Approach of an Awful Doom
  17. On a Rich Man Who Suffered
  18. On a Child Who Died
  19. On a Lost Manuscript
  20. On a Man Who Was Protected by Another Man
  21. On Lords
  22. Being
  23. On a Winged Horse and the Exile Who Rode Him
  24. On a Man and His Burden
  25. On a Fisherman and the Quest of Peace
  26. On a Hermit Whom I Knew
  27. Of an Unknown Country
  28. On a Faery Castle
  29. On a Southern Harbour
  30. On a Young Man and an Older Man
  31. On the Departure of a Guest
  32. On Death
  33. On Coming to an End

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About this edition

This free edition of On Nothing & Kindred Subjects by Hilaire Belloc comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #7432, released 2005-02-01. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Essays, Letters & Speeches.

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).

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