The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1885-06-25
s"Think To-day and Speak To-
morrow"

ssrhink To-day and Speak To-
morrow"
There are powers in the heavens above us
and in the earth beneath our feet; powers
whose laws hold the universe in complete
subsection; powers which with iron grasp,
hold countless worlds delicately poised in
space and yet, revolving with inconceivable
rapidity and regularity through the trackless
armament latent powers within the earth,
which awaking show forth their terrific
strength by an upheaval of fiery food powers
that have formed and adapted this earth as a
fitting abode for man: five powers which are
especially delegated to his sense of enjoy
ment as an individual; but the power, which
to man is paramount, greatest and most i'm
portance Of all these is the power of the hui
man mind the power by which he perceives
and understands these wonderous laws and ap-
preciates their adaptation to his well-being.
lscThe human mind is capable of wonderful
achievements. Nothing intellectual, political
or inventive has ever been accomplished with
out the aid of the human mind to plan and di-
rect its execution. 1t was the active mind of
Columbus that studied and mapped out the voy-
iage which resulted in the discovery of Amer
lea. 1t was the result of the concentrated
abilities of different minds that made the Con-
stitution of the United States worthy to be
| pronounced. "The most wonderful work ever
struck off at a given time by the brain and
purpose of man." 1t is, and ever has been the
| dCUlVG exercise IL lrulIIul MlnQS WHICH gives TO
US the world of literature which we so highly
appreciate end enjoy.
The human mind may be tri-sected into the
intellect, the emOlive nature and the will
Through she intellect the mind perceives, re-
tains, recalls, understands, thinks! through
the emotive nature it is susceptible to pleasure
and to pain, experiences, hope, joy, anger,
fear, grief, in short the whole round of human
feeling and desires; through the will it elects
or rejects determines to do or not to do. Then,
the will of man can only be reached, first
through the intellect, then the feelings. There
can be no action of the will unless feeling
prompts it, and there can be no feeling unless
the intellect presents agencies by which feel
ing is produced. The intellect is the door
through which the will of man is lead to act
and by which he detects the motives and ac-
tions of others. Thinking, is the highest act
of which the intellect is capable. Thought, is
defined as "the detection of an agreement or
disagreement between our mental pictures or
ideas and uniting them and the result of
thought is expressed either in words or in
is first in Importance of the organs of
the mind, it is obvious that upon thought, the
handspring of the intellect, is hinged the acts
of men as individuals, as nations, as races.
What We are in our thoughts and aspirations,
in our plans and energy determines the success
of our acts and achievements in this life. The
individual, who starts out in life with a pur-
pose in view, and a determination to do some
thing in the world, does not harass his mind
with thoughts which lead to conjectures of pro-
bable failure, but, though his path be obstruct-
ed by seemingly unsurmountable obstacles.
"Wherever there's will, there's a way" looms
up before his perplexed gaze and spurs on to
renewed action just as did Hannibal, one of
the greatest military g%eniuses that ever lived,
who when his soldiers dispaired on account of
the overwhelming hindrances to the progress
of theiI march across the Alps, rallied them
repeatedly with this promise of success, "Be-
yond the Alps, lieth Italy," So the indivi-
dual looks forward to success when the goal
is reached. His thoughts are not narrowed by
that greed of gain whose motto is, "get all
you can, and Keep all you get" but, they are
broadened by that noble, liberal sentiment at
tributed to Americans, "prosper and let pros
per, develop and let develop, live and let i've
81 can't and / won't are wholly foreign to his
vocabulary, and 81 will do right and try to sue
coed" wins the day. He has the will to do
and the energy to put his will into action. II
failure attends the first attempt he tries again
and again. Privation and toll did not daunt
the courage of Abraham Lincoln, but though
poor and an orphan, with little means of educa-
tion yet he arose from the humble position of
wood-cutter, to the highest office which his
country could bestow. His early boy-hood
steps had been guided by a thoughtful, prayer
full, loving mother, and here we see the result
ofthe influence which one individual's thoughts
exercises over the life another either for good
VI L liAS III CpSoh AoA uS IL
after years. Her thoughts which lead to the
careful training of her child speak in the noble
worthy deeds of the man. They speak through
the voices of hosts of grateful fro-Americans
who by his act were permitted to breathe the
pure air of heaven free men and woman. Not
only this, but the peaceful happy firesides, the
educational institutions, the young men and
women of color whose undaunted efforts have
enabled them to become useful and honorable
American citizens. All these tell more thar
! .-4-l- on- ~,ar ~ kho Q,n L.,
thoughts. Thus, we see that a worthy, just
and noble manner of thinking may not infu'
ence the well-being of the individual alone, but
like an electric current it may complete the
whole circuit of the globe. For, who can say
that to-day the "thousand souled'' Shak.
speare is not speaking to us through his i'm
mortal works with as much vividness ant
power as he did to the English people in whose
midst he lived and wrote, more than two cen
turtles ago? His insight into human character
is SO accurate that we are lead through his lin,
of thought to see characters as he saw them anl
to enter into sympathy with their joys and witt
| their sorrows. And through his works which
are the record of his thoughts we see and reat
the character of the man, the wild, passionat,
youth, the grave sterner man, the soft mellow
sunlight of old age. The thoughts of men liv,
after them for
"Men may come and men may go,
But they goon forever"
No achievement which has at any time aid
ed the progress of civilization has been plane,
t and executed in a day. Success has reward
J ed only days, months and years of unflaggin.
toll. Every science or art has reached it
l present state of perfection or imperfection a
r compared with the past or future by the sloy
process of development. Every discover
:: which has aided the progress of science or ar
t is found if studied in it's history to have bee
the result of previous disclosures gradual
: made in the same direction. Revelations seer
startling only to those unacquainted with pre-
: liminary facts. 1t required years of ceaseles
toll for the fruitful mind of Kepler to discove
= the three laws which control the. heavenl
bodies. Seventeen years of untiring zeal CAV
b: to the world NewtOn's great Law of Gravita
+ ton.
e Not only does it require years of arduou
+ labor to revel some startling discovery or t
= achieve noble, heroic deeds, but it requires
$ lifetime of watehful care of thought and actio
to mould into form a noble, beautiful charac
ter. With not a moment to lose, the process
of character development must continue da
by day. To-day is only a tomorrow passin
by, and life is composed of tomorrows ths
o have come and to-days that have gone b,
strict ennoble and refine our thoughts, whic
= are seen Though our characters and throug
n the influence we shed upon those around u
They are as foot prints on the sands of tim
and if properly formed, will be
Footprints, that perhaps another
a Sailing DER hfe's solemn main,
A f%orlorn, and ship-wrecked brother
Seeing, may take heart again.
a If we would think so that the sunshine of o,
- thoughts may light our fellow travellers on IL
ID way we must seek to know ourselves, "kno
IF thyself" was written over the portals at De
= phia, and it was inculcated by Socrates, tn
preeminent teacher of practical ethics, VIII
lie measuring every species of knowledge by i
tendency to make man better, regarded this
" the SUMMARY of wisdom. The yOunp ms
+ who heeds this maxim does not consider Il
height of his ambition reached, when his GU
ward appearance distinguishes him as the bes
l. ideal of the feminine world nor does the your