The Arizona sentinel., 1888-09-22
PATTERNS OF LIFE.
The Importance of Selecting Such as Are
 Really Worthy of Imitation.

The Importance of Selecting Such as Are
 Really Worthy of Imitation.
 It may be thought that he who em- ploys patterns in his work, or in his life, must be a mere copyist, but 1t is not so. Every honest worker, in what ever sphere his labors are cast, has pattern by which his labors are more or less guided, and the value and suc- cess of his efforts will be largely de- pendent upon the character of this pat tern, and the source from which he has received it. He is not always, perhaps not often, conscious of this himself. Every little child, without knowing 1t, is doing what he sees others do, and saying what he heard others say. As he grows in understanding, and is taught many things, patterns are con- stantly presented to him which he is urged to initiate. The thoughtful edu- cator knows how much of the charac- ter of the child is thus formed, and how important it is that the patterns should be worthy of imitation. So in
 
 youth in learning a trade, or agri- culture, or business, must follow in- structions, and take pattern by those more expert aud better informed than himself. The young artist must consult his models, the young law yer must follow his precedents, the young author must draw from the thoughts and study the style of the masters of literature. Every one must at first (and, to some extent, to the last, also) select good patterns and use them to his advantage if he would make his work valuable. But there comes a time in the development of every in- teligent person when these external patterns should be no longer sufficient for him. His own mind, working upon what has been given to it, begins to assert itself and to suggest other methods, different plans, perhaps even higher aims than those which he has hitherto followed. One important difference between men consists in the way in which these suggestions are treated. One, through indolence, or lack of energy, or self-depreciation, or timidity, or feeble will, lets them slip away and continues in the easier path of imitation. Another, without at all forsaking tho faithful model which has served him so well, endows it with new and fresh life from his own thoughts and energies His pattern gradually changes from an image outside him. self, which he mechanically copies, to living and growing idea within him, which he constantly strives to embody in his work. Henceforth he puts something of himself into whatever he does, and combines that which he has learned from others with what he has thought out for himself. In this lies the whole secret of originality. It is not, as some deem it, native gift, over which we can have no control. It is only the pres ence of individual energy asserting its own faculties and putting them forth in new, fresh, and improved ways. It creates a new and higher standard of excellence for which to strive. A young girl student, who lately wrote the best thesis in her class, and was warmly congratulated upon it, replied: ''It is far easier to please our teachers than to satisfy ourselves" She had developed within herself a pattern which was better worth copying than those which had been presented to her. Original thought is not confined to the mental laborer alone. It enters into and improves all manual work The farmer in the field, the porter with his burden, the mechanic with his tools, the woman busy with her needle or hOusework, can all be original work ers-that is, they can not only initiate what they have been taught, but also put fresh life into it, by thinking and by weaving their thoughts into their work, so as to do it better and more easily. People who do this rarely have to seek far or long for employment; their services are always in demand, and their advancement is assured. - Philadelphia Ledger.