The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1878-03-29
Concerning Dull People.

- uull HAL I~All uldhc NCIJ llLkGt Ol
himself; his acquaintance can make of
him what they like; and to be discreetly
dull il TO meet a large portion of the
soc al requirements. Very few have any
notion Of the extent to which discreet
dullness is employed in society. 1t is
never 30 called, but passes current as
tact, delicacy, worldly knowledge, intel
lect, sagacity, discrimination, Difference,
modesty, and sundry ether nice, desirable
qualities. Who are the best liked, the
most praised, the greatest favorite5 in
general society? The famous, the gifted,
self-sacrifcing, the learned, the brilliant
Not they. The famous are envied the
| gifted are criticised; the selfsacrifciDga are
misjudged; the learned are pronounced
wearisome the brilliant excite oppOsi-
| ton. AS rule, il is the discreetly dull
who csrry off and wear the social lau.
els. They are not envied or criticised or
misjudged; they are not wesrisome :;
| they are not opposed. Like neutral tints,
/ they wear well because they are incon-
| spicuous, and for the same reason they
/ are restful. They fit into other and very
different natures; they soften asperities
| by diffusing a spirit of commonplace,
which is believed to be a compound OF
geDtleness and harmony; they keep down
intensity and aggression by giving these
nothing to act upon, by negatively de-
stroyiDg their motive for exercise. Hav-
ing no individuality of their own
they are apt TO restrain in others
the individuality which by active
assertion hurts the symmetry and
conformity essential TO well-regulated
circles.
Even when dizziness is without discre-
ton, it is a valued and valuable part of
society. The majority of persons must
be dull by the economy of nature. Dull
ness is to society what background is to
a picture: paradoxical as it may seem,
it imparts tone and character for the
whole; sets off the figures, necessarily
few, occupying the foreground, and
shows them to advantage. Consequently,
people who count themselves clever
among these are inevitably many of the
dull, and not a few of the dullest- can
not find fault with those they consider
less clever, because to these they
eve both their eminence and reputa-
ton. Indeed, the clever rarely offer
any open objection to the dull They
may have lofty sort of pity for them /;
but they are apt to be patient and chart
table with them, from the absence of any
feeling of jealosy or rivaly. and from &
secret consciousness that the duh are
their desirable foils.
Our inextinguishable self-love, our
irrepressible egotism, prevents any and
every one of us from thinking that we
are, or can be, dull. We may not sup.
nose ourselves 10 be brilliant or clever
exactly; but we are pretty certain to
hold the opinion that dullness of
anv kind does not belong to us,
and to be comforted as to our per
sonality by some reason, theory, or
illusion evolved from within. But
the recognition of dullness as social
agent and really benefcient principle
has tendency to render us tolerant and
catholic, and without tolerance and
catholicism, society, Notwithstanding
pretensions, can never be what it should.
Such recognition, too, prevents us from
inordinate ambition, from feverish desire
10 scintillste, from over-indulgeDce OF
egotism, in society, which are so often its
bane. Remembering that the dull have
their place, and serve their purpose, we
can more easily practice the self-restraint
and moderation which social duty should
enioin. Baving, with such remem-
brance, less fear OF being regarded dull our
selves, we shall be more apt to Cultivate
the repose in which our society is often
40 sadly deficient New York Times.