[00:00.20]So we go about our petty task,
[00:02.14]hardly aware of our listless attitude towards life.
[00:05.74]The same lethargy,
[00:06.71]I am afraid,
[00:07.48]characterizes the use of our faculties and senses.
[00:09.79]Only the deaf appreciate hearing,
[00:12.28]only the blind realize the manifold blessings that lie in sight.
[00:16.85]Particularly does this observation apply to those who have lost sight and hearing in adult life.
[00:23.00]But those who have never suffered impairment of sight or hearing
[00:25.52]seldom make the fullest use of these blessed faculties.
[00:28.90]Their eyes and ears take in all sights and sound hazily,
[00:32.32]without concentration,
[00:33.94]and with little appreciation.
[00:35.82]It is the same old story of not being grateful
[00:38.26]for what we conscious of health until we are ill.
[00:41.73]I have often thought it would be a blessing
[00:44.18]if each human being were stricken blind and deaf
[00:47.18]for a few days at some time during his early adult life.
[00:50.47]Darkness would make him more appreciative of sight;
[00:53.04]silence would teach him the joys of sound.