The Best and Worst in Life

An unpublished essay in which Bates ruminates on the difficulty of identifying what things qualify as the best and worst of life.

Settling on 'only solid and tangible things, something easily grasped', he identifies zoos, hunting, poetry, and the music of Wagner among his least favorite things, while children, old people, flowers, and the music of Mozart are among his most favourite.

A manuscript held at The Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas, (Manuscript Collection MS-00261), indicates this undated essay was earmarked for publication in the (London) Evening News.