66 HERBERT SPENCER

working smoothly. When he was writing the
Principles of Psychology (1854-5), he began between
nine and ten and continued till one; he then paused
for a Few minutes to take some slight refreshment,
usually a little fruit, and resumed till three, altogether
about five hours at a stretch. He then went for a
walk, returned in time for dinner between five and
six, and did considerable proof-correcting thereafter.
But, as we have seen, the result of this strenuousness
—which would be quite normal to many students—
was his first serious breakdown, involving a loss of
eighteen months. Thereafter, it was his custom to
work for short spells at a time, to sandwich work
and exercise, and to take a holiday whenever he began
to feel tired.

His output of work was so large even for a long
life that one naturally thinks of him as a hard worker.
But the reverse would be nearer the truth. Partly
as a self-justification of his " constitutional idleness,"
and partly as a precaution against his hereditary
tendency to nervous breakdown, he was a strong
advocate of the proposition that " Life is not for work,
but work is for life." " The progress of mankind is,
under one aspect, a means of liberating more and
more life from mere toil and leaving more and more
life available for relaxation—for pleasurable culture,
for aesthetic gratification, for travels, for games."
Industry is not a virtue in itself; over-work is blame-
worthy.

In the second place, Spencer made it a rule never
to force his thinking. If a problem was not clear to
him, he let it simmer. " On one occasion George Eliot
expressed her surprise that the author of Social Staticsods of work, it may be