THE WORLD I LIVE IN
* * * * *
HELEN KELLER
"The autobiography of Helen Keller is
unquestionably one of the most remarkable records
ever published."--_British Weekly._
"This book is a human document of intense
interest, and without a parallel, we suppose, in
the history of literature."--_Yorkshire Post._
"Miss Keller's autobiography, well written and
full of practical interest in all sides of life,
literary, artistic and social, records an
extraordinary victory over physical
disabilities."--_Times._
"This book is a record of the miraculous. No one
can read it without being profoundly touched by
the patience and devotion which brought the blind,
deaf-mute child into touch with human life,
without being filled with wonder at the quick
intelligence which made such communication with
the outside world possible."--_Queen._
_Illustrated, price 7s. 6d._
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The Story of My Life
By HELEN KELLER
* * * * *
The Practice of Optimism
_Cloth, net, 1s. 6d.; paper, net, 1s._
* * * * *
LONDON: HODDER & STOUGHTON, E.C.
* * * * *
[Illustration: Copyright, 1907, by The Whitman Studio
Helen Keller in Her Study]
THE WORLD I LIVE IN
by
HELEN KELLER
Author of "The Story of My Life," Etc.
Illustrated
Hodder and Stoughton
London New York Toronto
Copyright 1904, 1908, by The Century Co.
TO
HENRY H. ROGERS
MY DEAR FRIEND OF
MANY YEARS
PREFACE
The essays and the poem in this book appeared originally in the "Century
Magazine," the essays under the titles "A Chat About the Hand," "Sense
and Sensibility," and "My Dreams." Mr. Gilder suggested the articles,
and I thank him for his kind interest and encouragement. But he must
also accept the responsibility which goes with my gratitude. For it is
owing to his wish and that of other editors that I talk so much about
myself.
Every book is in a sense autobiographical. But while other
self-recording creatures are permitted at least to seem to change the
subject, apparently nobody cares what I think of the tariff, the
conservation of our natural resources, or the conflicts which revolve
about the name of Dreyfus. If I offer to reform the education system of
the world, my editorial friends say, "That is interesting. But will you
please tell us what idea you had of goodness and beauty when you were
six years old?" First they ask me to tell the life of the child who is
mother to the woman. Then they make me my own daughter and ask for an
account of grown-up sensations. Finally I am requested to write about my
dreams, and thus I become an anachronical grandmother; for it is the
special privilege of old age to relate dreams. The editors are so kind
that they are no doubt right in thinking that nothing I have to say
about the affairs of the universe would be interesting. But until they
give me opportunity to write about matters that are not-me, the world
must go on uninstructed and unreformed, and I can only do my best with
the one small subject upon which I am allowed to discourse.
In "The Chant of Darkness" I did not intend to set up as a poet. I
thought I was writing prose, except for the magnificent passage from Job
which I was paraphrasing. But this part seemed to my friends to separate
itself from the exposition, and I made it into a kind of poem.
H. K.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PAGE
THE SEEING HAND 3