which they are accustomed, which they see around them every day,
seems to have no longer any objective energy for them; but an alarm of
fire, banditti life, wild animals, gray old ruins, the robin's songs,
and far-off happy islands, &c.--everything high-colored and
dazzling--leads them irresistibly on. The necessity of the mind's making
itself foreign to itself is that which makes children prefer to hear of
the adventurous journeys of Sinbad than news of their own city or the
history of their nation, and in youth this same necessity manifests
itself in their desire of travelling.--

Sec. 25. This activity of the mind in allowing itself to be absorbed, and
consciously so, in an object with the purpose of making it his own, or
of producing it, is _Work_. But when the mind gives itself up to its
objects as chance may present them or through arbitrariness, careless as
to whether they have any result, such activity is _Play_. Work is laid
out for the pupil by his teacher by authority, but in his play he is
left to himself.

Sec. 26. Thus work and play must be sharply distinguished from each other.
If one has not respect for work as an important and substantial
activity, he not only spoils play for his pupil, for this loses all its
charm when deprived of the antithesis of an earnest, set task, but he
undermines his respect for real existence. On the other hand, if he does
not give him space, time, and opportunity, for play, he prevents the
peculiarities of his pupil from developing freely through the exercise
of his creative ingenuity. Play sends the pupil back refreshed to his
work, since in play he forgets himself in his own way, while in work he
is required to forget himself in a manner prescribed for him by another.

--Play is of great importance in helping one to discover the true
individualities of children, because in play they may betray
thoughtlessly their inclinations. This antithesis of work and play runs
through the entire life. Children anticipate in their play the earnest
work of after life; thus the little girl plays with her doll, and the
boy pretends he is a soldier and in battle.--

Sec. 27. Work should never be treated as if it were play, nor play as if it
were work. In general, the arts, the sciences, and productions, stand in
this relation to each other: the accumulation of stores of knowledge is
the recreation of the mind which is engaged in independent creation, and
the practice of arts fills the sam