Philosophy and the Daemon by Jerome K. Jerome. Short summary

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Jerome shares with readers the fact that philosophy is the art of enduring other people’s misfortunes. He gives examples that demonstrate the philosophical nature of people.

1 minute

The author speaks of philosophy as the art of letting the suffering of others pass through.

According to him, one of the greatest philosophers of his time was a simple London woman who was admitted to a local hospital because she had gangrene of the leg. The doctor was a straightforward person — he declared that the lower extremity affected by the terrible disease would have to be compulsorily amputated. The doctor added that otherwise the lady would die. But the sick representative of the fair sex calmly took the news — she said she would lose her leg, not her head.

The writer gives another example. Once he happened to be present at a charity event, which was organized to support day laborers. One of these women called herself a chiromancer and began to read her hand. A lady of respectable age caught her attention. The day laborer told the latter that her life would soon be over, but she took this calmly.