If you live . . .

``If you live only by letting folks know that you live, you will be lonely,'' said the Recluse to his fireside. ``That is, being seen in many restaurants dining, of course. Dining. Sitting on benches on street corners, being noticed by passers-by and other bench-sitters. Occupying the best seats at concerts, lectures, ballet. Always leaning forward avidly, listening, becoming noted for it . . . Be careful. You are likely to give yourself away, bit by bit . . . your peripheries rubbed off, rounded to fit your closest observers . . . until in some rare moment, alone with a thought unexpectedly your own, you find yourself -- and do not know what to do about it!''