The Arizona sentinel. [volume] (Arizona City [Yuma], Yuma County, A.T. [Ariz.]) 1872-1911, 1889-10-19
BETTER THAN RICHES.

That ''cOntentment is better than
wealth" is proverb that needs some
modification, because by its terms it
assumes that contentment and wealth
are in some way in opposition to each
other. This is not true in all cases.
Contentment without is better than
wealth without contentment and that
is the extent of truth in the old say
ing. Butt if contentment has such value,
why do not men strive for it as they
do for riches? 1t is quite as easy to
attain and may be had by any one with
good digestion who starts in the right
way to get it. But the inexperienced
usually consider that contentment will
come with riches, and, therefore,
strive for the latter unmindful of the
proverb. There could not be a
greater mistake, for unless one
is very guarded in the qualification
and development of his tastes, his
needs will grow faster than his riches,
and when he has attained the latter
he will still be poor and discontinued.
For it is to be observed that riches
are only relative, and cOntentment
comes only when there is a proper
balance maintained between ones de-
sires and needs and the means at hand
for their qualification. 1t is needless to
go to the very rich for examples Illus
trating this truth. Thousands of men
with fairly-gOod but moderate incomes
show to their lives how elusive con-
tentment is when no restraint is put
upon the growth of appetite The
clerk who thought himself rich when
his salary was increased to $1,000 per
annum finds himself poor when he is
getting $1,000, simply because he has
changed his habits of life, and his
wants have increased his income Two
or three dollars a week supplied
him with pocket money when
he felt that he could not afford more.
A simple lunch down town, one or two
cigars a day, contented him But as
his@salary increased better and better
dinners took the place of cold lunch,
more and finer cigars were smoked, a
8
of each meal, and the personal ex-
pense mounted up out of proportion to
the increase of salary. What in his
younger and poor days would have
satisfied him in the matter ofeating and
drinking would appear to him now
very poor fare indeed. He has al
lowed his appetite and tastes to de,
velOp along with the growth of his in
come, very often in advance thereof
and he is just as far off from content.
ment as ever. No matter how high
one may go up in the social scale
a similar state of affairs NAV
be observed as to nine men
out Of ten. No matter what
they may have, they want more; con,
tentment has eluded them because they
have allowed their desires to grow
with their fortunes. If it is true, how.
ever, that contentment depends upon a
proper balance being maintained be-
tween needs and desires on the one
hand, and the means for supplying the
needs and gratifying the desires on the
other then it is plain that while seel1-
ing riches as means of gaining con-
tentment a watchful eye must be kept
on the growth of desires and needs.
This is where nearly every one fails.
Expensive habits grow almost uncou-
Bciously, and when unhappy need
for retrenchment comes, the straitened
style of living seems a hardship,
though but a few years before it would
have seemed luxury itself The con-
sideratiOn of this truth should suggest
to the reader that riches and poverty,
want and luxury are in large measure
not absolute, but relative That which
is poverty to one would be riches to an
other; that which at a certain period of
an individuals life is considered a
luxury seems exceedingly common
place to him when he has become ac-
customed to it. To reach content
ment therefore, irrespective of ones
income, the tastes and desires must be
kept within control. What may be
fairly called the necessaries of life are
not limited and fixed, as is sometimes
assumed. 1t is true that the physical
life of all men could be sustained by
the same foods, drink, air and exer-
else, but there are mental and moral
demands as well as physical. Habit !
is hard taskmaster, and the neces-
saries of life to one who has been
pampered and nursed in the lap of
fortune are much greater than the !
necessaries of life to the laborer who !
has never known other than the plain |
est food, and whose mind has not been |
cultivated for the enjoyment of litera-
ture and the arts. 1t is not necessary
TO the attainment of d contented mind |
that one should forego the pleasures
Of life, limit his culture and enjoy
ments, and teach himself to live like |
those beneath him in wealth and sta
ton, but it is necessary that he should |
curb his tastes and maintain a fair |
balance between his needs and the |
means he may have for their gratifca-
ton. Baltimore Sun.
What il Is Coming To-