The present volume does not conform to any standard, but is a mixture of essays and lectures covering all aspects of human life that interest me, from toothbrushes and dogs in New York to philosophic method and Yin-Yang philosophy. I do not know whether I am more in dead earnest about light topics or in a lighter mood when dealing with serious ones. I have no sense of their relative importance. These are my probings into the world of things and ideas which excite me, or amuse or amaze me, which concern me deeply and which arouse my curiosity. They are my candid shots into the realm of thinking and contain perhaps as much nonsense as sense, but they are real to me. They are what I would say to my intimate friends when I am at home and my home ground. This is what I feel. I cannot know how others feel, or whether they approve. I have lived long enough to know that no one can convince anybody by words unless he is convinced already anyway. I will let others keep their opinions if I am allowed to keep mine. No one need be afraid of the harvest of his opinions; no writer should be afraid if they are his own.
      These essays fall into three main categories in approximately equal distribution: lectures on Chinese philosophic method and ideas, random sketches of things that amuse me, and essays on Chinese art and letters. The lectures consist mainly of those delivered in South America in January-February, 1962. The light sketches cover mostly American life, but some of them were written and inspired by the fantastic life in pre-Communist China, in Shanghai, in 1930s. Of those provoking things in China which I lived through, I have kept only those which deal with not strictly local topics. I have kept one, “If I Were a Bandit,” which will give the reader a glimpse of the colorful, irrational background of warlords which made it necessary for a writer to develop a rapier touch in his pen in order to survive. One can forget about all the rest. China has not really changed, in spite of the ideological twaddle. The pieces, “The Sparrows” and “Crullers,” bearing on present-day Chinese conditions will show what I mean. One can neither laugh nor cry. 
      The lectures in my South American tour are substantially as they were delivered, but I have gone over the notes and rewritten them for better reading. They are as follows: “The Confessions of a Nonconformist,” given at the Ateneo, Caracas, January 5, 1962; “Some Good Uses for Our Bad Instincts”, at National Bank Liberty, Bogota, January 9, 1962; “Intuitive and Logical Thinking,” at the Summer School, University of Chile, Santiago, January 30, 1962, and at Teatro Solis, Montevideo, February 22, 1962; “Philosophy of Yin-Yang and the Problem of Evil,” at San Marcos University, Lima, January 24, 1962, and at Teatro San Martin, Buenos Aires, February 16, 1962; “The Chinese Culture Heritage,” at Salon de Actos, Mar del Plata, and at Club Uruguay, Montevideo; “Science and the Sense of Wonder,” at Cantegril County Club, Punta del Este, February 23, 1962. “Materialism as a Faith” was given at Royal Canadian Club, Montreal, May 2, 1960. “Chinese Humanism and the Modern World” was one of the annual lectures of the John Findley Green Foundation, at Westminster College, Fulton Mo., October 24, 1961. “The Chinese Temper” was a lecture given at the Peace Group, Oxford University, February23, 1932. “Chinese Letters Since the Literary Revolution” was a Gertrude Clarke Whittall lecture at the Library of congress, January 16, 1961.

      The present volume does not conform to any standard, but is a mixture of essays and lectures covering all aspects of human life that interest me, from toothbrushes and dogs in New York to philosophic method and Yin-Yang philosophy. I do not know whether I am more in dead earnest about light topics or in a lighter mood when dealing with serious ones. I have no sense of their relative importance. These are my probings into the world of things and ideas which excite me, or amuse or amaze me, which concern me deeply and which arouse my curiosity. They are my candid shots into the realm of thinking and contain perhaps as much nonsense as sense, but they are real to me. They are what I would say to my intimate friends when I am at home and my home ground. This is what I feel. I cannot know how others feel, or whether they approve. I have lived long enough to know that no one can convince anybody by words unless he is convinced already anyway. I will let others keep their opinions if I am allowed to keep mine. No one need be afraid of the harvest of his opinions; no writer should be afraid if they are his own.
      These essays fall into three main categories in approximately equal distribution: lectures on Chinese philosophic method and ideas, random sketches of things that amuse me, and essays on Chinese art and letters. The lectures consist mainly of those delivered in South America in January-February, 1962. The light sketches cover mostly American life, but some of them were written and inspired by the fantastic life in pre-Communist China, in Shanghai, in 1930s. Of those provoking things in China which I lived through, I have kept only those which deal with not strictly local topics. I have kept one, “If I Were a Bandit,” which will give the reader a glimpse of the colorful, irrational background of warlords which made it necessary for a writer to develop a rapier touch in his pen in order to survive. One can forget about all the rest. China has not really changed, in spite of the ideological twaddle. The pieces, “The Sparrows” and “Crullers,” bearing on present-day Chinese conditions will show what I mean. One can neither laugh nor cry. 
      The lectures in my South American tour are substantially as they were delivered, but I have gone over the notes and rewritten them for better reading. They are as follows: “The Confessions of a Nonconformist,” given at the Ateneo, Caracas, January 5, 1962; “Some Good Uses for Our Bad Instincts”, at National Bank Liberty, Bogota, January 9, 1962; “Intuitive and Logical Thinking,” at the Summer School, University of Chile, Santiago, January 30, 1962, and at Teatro Solis, Montevideo, February 22, 1962; “Philosophy of Yin-Yang and the Problem of Evil,” at San Marcos University, Lima, January 24, 1962, and at Teatro San Martin, Buenos Aires, February 16, 1962; “The Chinese Culture Heritage,” at Salon de Actos, Mar del Plata, and at Club Uruguay, Montevideo; “Science and the Sense of Wonder,” at Cantegril County Club, Punta del Este, February 23, 1962. “Materialism as a Faith” was given at Royal Canadian Club, Montreal, May 2, 1960. “Chinese Humanism and the Modern World” was one of the annual lectures of the John Findley Green Foundation, at Westminster College, Fulton Mo., October 24, 1961. “The Chinese Temper” was a lecture given at the Peace Group, Oxford University, February23, 1932. “Chinese Letters Since the Literary Revolution” was a Gertrude Clarke Whittall lecture at the Library of congress, January 16, 1961.