Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1860-05-10
The Art Of Not Hearing

The art OF not hearing should be taught
in every we'll regulated family. 1t is full
as important to domestic happiness as a cul-
tlyated ear, for which so much money and
time are expended. There are so many
things which are painful to hcar-many
which We ought not to hear-very many
which if heard will disturb the temper, cor
rupt simplicity and modesty, distract from
contentment and happiness, that every one
should be educated to take in or shut out
sounds, according to their pleasure
If man falls into violent passion, and
calls me all manner Of names, the first word
shuts my ear and hear no more If in
my quiet voyage Of life, find myself
caught in one Of the domestic whirlwinds
Of scolding | shut my ears as a sailor would
furl his sails, and making all tight scud be-
fore the gale. If hot and restless man
begins to inhame my feelings, / consider
what mischief these fiery sparks may do in
the magazine below where my temper is
kept, and instantly close the door
Does a gadding, mischief making fellow,
begin to inform me what people are saying
about me, down drops the portcullis Of my
ear, and he cannot get in any farther Does
the collector Of a neighborhood' scandal
ask my car as a warehouse, it instinctivcIy
shuts up. Some people seem anxious to
hear everything that will yex and annoy
them. If it is limited that any one has
spoken evil Of them, they set about search
ing the matter, and finding out. If all the
petty things said of one by needless or i'll
natured id.ers were to be brought home to
him, he would become mere walking pin
cushion, stuck full Of sharp remarks, |
should as soon think Of thanking man
for emptying upon my bed a bushel Of net
ties, or setting loose swarm Of ants in my
chamber, or raising pungent dust in nay
house generally, as to bring in upon me all
the tattles Of careless or spiteful people.
IF you would be happy, when among
good men, open your ears when among
bad shut them. And as the throat has
muscular arrangement by which it takes
care Of the air passages Of its own accord
so the ears should be trained to an autom-
attic dulness of hearing. 1t is not worth
while to hear what your servants say when
they are angry; what your children say
after they have slammed the door; what
your neighbors say about your children !;
what your rivals say about your business,
your dress, or your affairs
This art Of not hearing, though un-
taught in the schools, is by no means un-
known, OF Impractical in society. | have
noticed that well bred woman never
hears an impertinent or vulgar remark. a
bind o4 1icornoF laop,o.,
many insults, from much blame, from not
a little apparent connivance in dishonorable
conversation
There are two doors inside the ears-a
right hand door, leading to the heart, and
a left-hand door, with bread and steep
passage out into the open air This last
door receives all ugliness, profanity, vulgar
ity, misunderstanding, which suddenly finds
them outside of me. Judicious teachers
and indulgent parents save young urchins a
world Of trouble by convenient deafness.
Bankers and money lenders are often ex-
tremely hard of hearing, when unsafe bor-
rowers are importunate. [ never hear a
man who runs after me in the street, bawl-
ing my name at the top of his voice; nor
persons that talk evil of those who give
unasked advice about my own affairs nor
those who talk largely about things of
which they are ignorant.
If they are sounds ofkindness, of mirth,
of love, open fly my ears. But temper, or
harshness, or hatred, or vulgarity, or fiat
terry, shut them. If you keep your gar
den gate shut, your flowers and fruit will
be safe. If you keep your door closed, no
thief will run off with your silver and if
you keep your heart shut, your heart will
lose neither its flowers nor its treasures.
pSaAThe wasp attacks the ripest fruit
first. tb