For example, sunlight is commonplace, and so is air.
Who was it that spoke about the damnable iteration of the seasons?
A storm is not commonplace, but how long could any of us live--how
long would any of us choose to live--were each day and night a
succession of thunder, lightning, and downpour? Good citizenship is
commonplace, whereas a murder mystery excites us thrillingly. Yet none
of us on that account would choose the society of criminals.
It is to the elemental commonplaces that I am now going to direct your
attention. The world is kept alive by its monotonies. The trouble is
that the indispensable things are so inevitable and persistent that
we take them for granted, and yield them neither gratitude nor even
attention.
Take the beauty of daylight as our illustration once more. We had it
yesterday, have it to-day, have had it ever since we were born, and
will have it until we die. Note, too, the eternal stability of the
heavens, which change not at all; and the endless pour of ocean's
currents, warming certain coasts and leaving others chill. It is the
same with the life intellectual and the life spiritual.
"What is the grandest thing in the universe?" asks Hugo.
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