Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-03-16
Serious Outbreak.
Keinforcements Needed.
SUPERFICIAL THOUGHT.
Some of the Serious Evils Epsendcred by
the Habit.

Some of the Serious Evils Epsendered by
the Habit.
From the Philadelphia Ledger
1t IT cannot be said of any human being
that lie does not think at all, il can be
said OF very few that they think deeply,
truly and earnestly. While thought is
privilege so dear that none would be will
ing 10 torego 1t, 1t is strange that so many
Of Us are content to partake so sparingly of
II. Most OF us skim over its waves with
| out ever attempting to sound its depths.
We think about many things, but seldom
through anything. Yet the evils of this
habit of superficial thinking are serious,
though seldom brought into notice. One
of these Is the arrogance and self-suffi-
| cheney which 1t frequently engenders.
The old proverb, "a little learning is
| dangerous thing" may be quite as peril
nently applied to thinking For the mar
row, superficial thinker always imagines
himself vastly superior to his neighbors.
He is pulled up in his own esteem by the
hasty conclusions which he has formed.
and proceeds to enlighten the mental
darkness which he supposes to exist
around him. With such spirit he SIM
ply antagonizes those he is endeavorinp to
instruct, and loses whatever influence he
might have had
There are many kinds of pride-pride
of wealth, of name, of birth, of social
standing or popular esteem-but none is
quite so offensive as that of an imagined
mental superiority. 1t looks down upon
others with a supercilious compassion
which awakens all the resentment of hui
man nature, Deeper and truer thought
banishes this delusion and makes man
modest as nothing else can. For it is al
ways discovering mistakes that he has
made,and must correct, mental work done
that must be undone, hasty conclusions
that must be repudiated, erroneous iudg.
ments that must be reversed Instead of
laying down the law with absolute GER
tainty, the true thinker is better pleased
to put his convictions to every test. Even
when he is fully persuaded of their truth,
he has no desire to force them upon other
knowing such method to be utterly Il
availing. In the last number of the
Choataaquan we read: Benjamin Frank
lin, one of the most remarkable minds of
our revolutionary period, or of any age,
attributed his success in influencing Others
to hrs custom of so modestly and deity
conveying his ideas that his hearers i'm
agined them their own, and by treating all
men as If they were mentally his equals"
Such course would never for one mo-
ment occur to the narrow and superficial
thinker, who is all too eager to impress his
friends with the same opinion of his own
mental dignity and Importance that he
possesses.
Another evil of superficial thinking is
the imposslbility of thus arriving at truth.
Truth is many sided, and very few people
gain glimpse of all sides of subject.
Many only see one side, and, fancying
there is no other, proceed TO emphasize
that one out of all true proportion. In
their zeal they injure even their own cause,
for the value and beauty OF an idea depend
largely upon its relation to other ideas,
and when they are left out it must suffer.
He who would discover the truth in any
department of life must never be content
with his first crude thoughts upon it, how
ever implicitly he may believe in them.
Still less must he try to air them for the
benefit OF others He must rather try and
test them by looking equally at all sides,
and finding out what place they hold in
the grand sphere of truth. When people
talk lightly and glibly of having "made
up their minds about things on which
the wisdom of mankind is still divided, we
may as well conclude that they would be
intellectually better off if their minds
were In less finished condition
Perhaps the greatest of all the evils
produced by superficial thinking is the
cruelty inflicted by hasty and Informed
Judgments of people. In this respect, it
would certainly be far better not to think
at all. The shallow thinker, without in
tending 1t, may wound and iniure his fell
low-men by simply uttering the thoughts
that come uppermost. He notices an
action or habit of which he disproves,
and straightway forms his idea of the man
or the woman on this slender basis. But
human nature, or the character of any
single individual, is too intricate and COM
pick to be thus disposed of There is such
variety of motives, influences and ten
dences, some harmonizing and some con-
hlctlng with each other, some strengthen
ing and some weakening the desires and
the Will, that one who even attempts to be
falr and Just stands appalled, at his under
taking and ready to confess his inability
Tins does not argue any confusion of mind
as to right and wrong. Indeed, whoever
has the clearest ideas on this point while
he may criticise himself the most. will
usually cOnuen1n OlneTS the least. The
deeper and truer the thought, the fewer
and the more charitable will be the judg-
ments.
1t may be said that life is too short and
too busy for most of us to allow of deep
thought and accurate conclusions If this
be so, surely it ought to make us at least
careful and modest in our assertions. It's
not absolutely essential that we should
Term decided opinions on every subject on
which We may think, but it is very neces-
'sary that we do not form false ones. We
are not called upon to discuss or pro-
.nounce upon the character of our fellow
men, but we are bound by the most sacred
obligations to avoid unjust accusations.
On very many subjects it is often more
loyal TO the truth to hold our Judgment in
suspense than to draw hasty inierences.
And if we do this when we may and
should, we shall be better fitted to form
.iust decisions when duty calls for them.
But the habit of superficial thinking is one
which weshould avoid as much as possible.
1t is far oftener the result of mental indo-
lence than of pressing business. 1t is
better to think deeply on few subjects
than to skim over thousand, and if we
once form the habit of doing SO we shall
soon find 1T satisfactory and pleasurable.
Confident .yaa