It is not really certain why men choose to smoke. Yet centuries before the discovery of tobacco, lighting up plant material had become an instinctual pleasure for many groups of people. And since the discovery of tobacco, smoking has become essentially one of the most highly pursued pastimes for mankind.
The modern smoker employs several methods of enjoying this universal practice: via cigarettes, cigars and pipes. Amongst these three, the pipe provides the smoker with a lasting gratification and enduring solace.
It is intuitively known that the pipe smoker is in a breed apart from other men. His tendencies are towards reflection and relaxation; he lacks apprehension and anxiety. His pleasures are unrehearsed and meditative: the fireplace, the easy chair, and the good book. Pipe smoking is a representation of this distinct type of man, readily distinguishable by his controlled frame of mind, his level approach to the setbacks of daily life. It is this distinctive type of man who chooses a pipe as his conduit to the enjoyment of smoking.
What bestows a pipe to this dignified position in the world of tobacco smoking? For one, a pipe is more than a mechanism for smoking. It is also an object of exquisiteness, finely fashioned briar, typically rare. The pipe is pleasurable to use, behold and to grip. It suggests the respect of a finely crafted instrument, in much the same way ancient violins used to evoke.
Furthermore, a pipe requires to be packed, lighted and smoked with judicious care. The cigarette smoker, who abruptly grabs hold of a pipe at a strange moment, will fill it gracelessly, light it unevenly, and smoke it too hastily. The authentic pipe-smoker soon learns that the pipe is both an art and a science. The pipe responds to its owner with exactly the same handling it receives. The man who has mastered the techniques of pipe smoking is repaid with a pleasing smoke, a thrill he created for himself with his own hands.
The route to the mastery of pipe smoking really is neither long nor strenuous. A finely crafted pipe, filled with carefully selected tobacco, and smoked with competence and care, will compensate its owner with an exceptional flavor and scent. The pipe smoker never seeks stimulation from smoking. Quite the opposite, the act of lighting and smoking a pipe redirects him away from life’s annoyances and induces within him a peaceful mood and outlook.
A key purpose of pipe smoking is to help the smoker attain these rare moments of serenity, which are progressively harder to come by in this modern world’s frenzied pace.
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