From William Hazlitt's essay *On the Ignorance of the Learned* (1821). Select the word that fits the blank. "A lounger who is ordinarily seen with a book in his hand is (we may be almost sure) equally without the power or ______ to attend either to what passes around him or in his own mind."

Hazlitt pairs *the power* with *the ______* via the conjunction *or*. The blank therefore needs to name a complementary requirement for attending: not capacity (already named by *power*) but **willingness** or **desire**. "Inclination" — a leaning of the mind toward doing something — fits exactly. - "Obligation" introduces moral compulsion not in the sentence. - "Permission" introduces outside authority irrelevant here. - "Credentials" introduces formal qualification — Hazlitt is talking about inner readiness. *Power* (ability) + *inclination* (willingness) is a classic English doublet for *fully equipped to do something*.