The Part

The Part

An emotional man was protesting against the principle of Detachment taught in many of the schools of inner training. “It seems to me that this is a negation of all human feeling,” he burst out. “Surely when there is an occasion for grief, I should express that grief fully, and when it is an occasion for happiness, I should express that happiness fully, laughing and singing and dancing if I feel like it. And then there are cases where I see something is wrong; I must show that I am against that, absolutely against it.”
“Oh, the training doesn’t say that sometimes there are not genuine parts to be played. Often there is a genuine role, as you say. But a first-rate actor will manage to express it fully, with the greatest economy of means. Why ham it?