The spirit and discernment

Man's liberty is wholly individual; he is born free, but that liberty is often his misfortune. Moral liberty, physical liberty, all of it he has gathered together, but frequently he lacks discernment, that which you call good sense. If a man has much spirit and lacks this last quality, it is absolutely as if he had nothing; for what would he do with his spirit, if he could not govern it, if he did not have the intelligence necessary to know how to conduct himself, if he believed he was marching on the good path, when he is in the mire, if he thought he was always right, when he is often wrong? Discernment can take the place of spirit, but the latter will never replace the former. It is a necessary quality, and, when we do not have it, we must put forth every effort to acquire it. A Familiar Spirit.