WhatIRequireFromLife-writerJohnBurdonSandersonHaldane(1892-1964)

Margaret Fuller, a New England mystic, once said, ‘ I accept the universe,’ to which Thomas Carlyle remarked, ‘Gad, she’d better.’ I have got to accept the universe as it is. I must not require the impossible, and I shall do harm rather than good if I try to imagine perfect things in a perfect world. But given the world as it is, I can say what I may reasonably hope both for myself and for others.

I was born in a peaceful age, and in my youth I looked forward to a life of peace. Since 1914 I have been living in a heroic age, and I see no prospect of surviving into another epoch of peace and quiet. So I must try to make the best of the time in which I live. What do I ask for myself ? I assume that I have food, water, clothes, and shelter.

First, work, and a decent wage for my work. Aristotle defined happiness, not as a sum of pleasures, but as unimpeded activity. I want work which is hard but interesting, work of which I can see the fruits. I am exceptionally lucky because I can choose my own work to a large extent. If I want a respite from science I can go and be a war correspondent, or write children’s stories, or make political speeches.

So I enjoy a good deal of my second requirement, freedom, in fact vastly more than most people. But I want still more, particularly more freedom of speech. I should like to say and write what I think about Lord Blank’s newspapers, Mr. Dash’s pills, and Sir John Asterisk’s beer, all of which are poisonous. The law of libel prevents me from doing so.

I require health. I don’t mind an occasional toothache or headache, or even an acute illness every seven years or so. But I want to be fit for work and enjoyment in the intervals, and to die when I can work no longer.

I require friendship. Particularly I require the friendship of my colleagues and comrades in scientific and political work. I want the society of equals who will criticize me, and whom I can criticise.  I can not be friends with a person whose orders I have to obey without criticism before or after, or with one who has to obey my orders in a similar way. And I find friendship with people much richer or poorer than myself very difficult.

These four things are general human needs. For myself I also demand adventure. Life without danger would be like beef without mustard. But since my life is useful it would be wrong to risk it for the mere sake of risk, as by mountaineering or motor racing. As a physiologist I can try experiments on myself and I can also participate in wars and revolutions of which I approve. By the way, love of adventure does not mean love of thrills. I spent six weeks in Madrid during the recent siege. The only thrill that I got there was from reading Rimbaud’s poetry. The satisfaction of adventure is something much more solid than a thrill.

There are other things which I desire, but do not demand. I like to have a room of my own with some books, good tobacco, a motor car, and a daily bath. I should like to have a garden, a bathing pool, a beach, or a river within easy reach. But I have not, and I bear up quite happily.

I am an exceptionally lucky person because I get a good deal of what I want, and can work actively for the rest. But most of my fellows do not enjoy what I regard as essential requirements. And I can not be completely happy while they are unhappy.

I want to see every healthy man and woman on the planet at work. But everywhere outside the Soviet Union there is unemployment, though very little in Sweden. I am a socialist because unemployment, at least during times of depression, is an essential feature of capitalism. I want the workers to see the fruit of their own work not in profits for others, but in their own and their friend’s well-being. My main personal complaint is that my work is not applied. I discover new biological facts but no use is made of them, because although the community would benefit, no individuals would make profits from their application.

I want to see the workers controlling their conditions of work as I control my own to a considerable extent. Most work is dull, much of it is unhealthy and exhausting. This need not be the case, and I believe will not be after a few generations of democracy in industry. How pleasant work can be is shown by a simple fact. When we have time and money to spare, two of our favourite occupations are hunting and gardening, the work of our palaeolithic and Neolithic ancestors respectively. I am a socialist because I want industry to be controlled by the workers. Freedom should begin in the workshop.

I want to see every man and woman as healthy as possible. This implies food, housing and medical attendance of the quantity and quality which human biology demands and modern technique can supply.

I want to see the end of class subjection and sex subjection. Only so will the equality which is the condition of fraternity be achieved. Since the main barriers between the classes and the main reasons for the subjection of women are economic, I look to a revolution in the economic field for their end.

I am a socialist because I want to see my fellow men and women enjoying the advantages which I enjoy myself. I know that socialism will not confer all these advantages in an instant, but if I live to see capitalism overthrown and the workers in power through most of Europe I shall die happy.

Certain things are lacking in my life of requirements, notably peace and security. It is futile to require things which one is most unlikely to obtain. Fascism is a living reality, and fascism, as Hitler and Mussolini explicitly state, and prove by their actions, implies war. War is spreading at present. I sincerely hope that it will not spread over the world as it spread in 1914 to 1917; but I do not look forward to perfect peace till fascism is dead.

I fully realize that peace and security are rightful aims, and that my own desire for violent adventure is probably merely an adaptation to the age in which I live. I am a child of my age, and all the worse for being one. I therefore demand security rather than adventure for others.

I have said nothing about many things which I desire to see, such as spread of education and an increasing application of scientific methods in all branches of life. From what I have seen in Russia and in Spain, I do not doubt that these and other good things would follow almost automatically if our class distinctions were abolished. To sum up, for myself I require food, warmth, work, liberty, health, and friendship. For the society in which I live I require socialism.

Supplementary to my requirements of life are my requirements of death. Of all men whose deaths are recorded, I consider that socrate’s was the most enviable. He died for his convictions when he could easily have survived by betraying them. He died at the age of seventy, still in full possession of his faculties, but having completed all the work which he could reasonably hope to do. And he died laughing. His last words were a joke.

I do not require of death that I shall be as fortunate as Socrates. A death which fulfils all the three conditions of his is very rare. But if I can achieve even two of them I shall have done well, and though my friends may lament me, I trust that they will not pity me.

Notes:

Margaret Fuller : Sarah Margaret fuller, Marchioness Ossoli (1810-50), American writer, mystic and editor of The Dial, a periodical devoted to transcendentalism.

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) : author of Chartism (1839), the first of a series of attacks on the evils of modern society.

Aristotle (384-322 B.C.): Greek philosopher and pupil of Plato. He took the whole of knowledge as his subject. His philosophy has held its own for over 2,000 years.

Lord Blank, Mr. Dash, Sir John Asterisk : names invented for humorous effect.

Madrid……siege : during the Spanish Civil War Franco’s Fascist troops besieged Madrid, the Spanish capital , for almost two years before overpowering the Republic.

Rimbaud : Jean Nicolos Arthur Rimbaud (1854-91), French poet, a precursor of Symbolism.

Palaeolithic : of the earlier Stone Age when man lived by hunting alone.

Neolithic : of the later Stone Age when man learned to grow cereals for food.

Fascism : a totalitarian system of government led by a dictator, emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and (often) racism. Fascism is based on the major principle of the Leader as Hero, Father and Saviour of his people.

Hitler : Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), founder of the German National Socialist Party. He rose to be Reich Chancellor in 1933, Fuhrer in 1934, and commander-in-chief, Wehrmacht in 1935. After tremendous success in the initial stages of World War II,the Axis Powers led by him were defeated by the Allies. He committed suicide on 30 April 1945.

Mussolini : Benito Mussolini (1883-1945), Fascist dictator and founder of the Black Shirt Movement in Italy. He sided with Hitler during World War II. In 1943 his followers deserted him and he resigned. On 28 April 1945, while trying to escape to Switzerland, he was caught by Italian Resistance Fighters. After a summary trial he was shot dead, and his body was subjected to extreme disgrace.

Socrates (470-399B.C.) : Greek Philosopher and intellectual. We know of his life and teachings through the writings of his pupils Xenophon (444-359B.C.), Plato (427-347B.C.), and Aristophanes (444-385B.C.).

- From the book – “ Essays, Short Stories And One – Act Plays "

Dr P. S. Bhargava (Co-ordinator)

Dr R. K. Kaushik (Editor)

Dr S. C. Bhatia (Editor)

Urmilla Khanna (Head Of The Department Of English)

From wikipedia, the free encyclopedia :

Shortly before his death from cancer, Haldane wrote a comic poem while in the hospital, mocking his own incurable disease; it was read by his friends, who appreciated the consistent irreverence with which Haldane had lived his productive life:

"Cancer’s a Funny Thing:

I wish I had the voice of Homer

To sing of rectal carcinoma,

This kills a lot more chaps, in fact,

Than were bumped off when Troy was sacked..."

The poem ends:

"...I know that cancer often kills,

But so do cars and sleeping pills;

And it can hurt one till one sweats,

So can bad teeth and unpaid debts.

A spot of laughter, I am sure,

Often accelerates one’s cure;

So let us patients do our bit

To help the surgeons make us fit." ^[7]

Haldane died on 1 December 1964. He willed that his body be used for study at the Rangaraya Medical College, Kakinada.