The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1892-02-13
Do Your Duty.

Do your whole duty to yourself,
and never mind the rest of the world.
Selfish advice" cay some. and it
does look that way, but a little re-
Election will change all of that, for
nature has made self-preservation
her first law. To this law every liv-
ing thing must yield implicit obedi-
ence or die. By this law self is made
the center and circumference, the
alpha and omega, of all We feel, or
dream, or know, or do. Self is the
prompter of our good and evil
deeds, the inspirer of our thoughts,
the nurse of our ambitions, the mo-
tive of our lives. We can be moth
ing, do nothing, know nothing,
think nothing outside of self.
Are we pleasant to q lady, kind
to child, devoted to a wife, con-
siderate of q friend, generous to the
needy, helpful to the sick, magnani-
nous to a foe, self-love is the incent-
ive-all is done because we desire
our own and the worlds laudations,
and because we, and not the one
cheered or helped, feel better and
happier-are better pleased with
ourselves-for having done the kind
act or spoken the encouraging word,
than we would be for having left the
act undone or the word unspoken.
For the same reason the miser
boards his gold, and the generous
man disburses his; although we are
prone to ascribe to quite different
influences the acts of the latter, not
stopping to reflect that the things
witnessed are but different mani
festations Of the same underlying
principle or cause. Again the phi.
lanthropist plans and schemes for
the good Of his country and of man.
kind, and the soldier Stays his ad-
versary in war, without anger or
personal enmity, and without re-
morse, for precisely the same pur-
pose-to win fame, which is the
worlds applause But their acts
are none the less efficient or praise
worthy because rooted in selfish
ness, for the all-sufficient reason
that no desire, nor wish, nor motive,
nor purpose can possibly enter the
mind through any other channel
than that Of self. :.
If, therefore, you do your whole
duty to yourself, you can do no
wrong nor injury to any one, either
in person, property or reputation,
because you will not injure yourself
in these respects, and an injury or
wrong done to another is q greater
injury or wrong done to yourself,
since the wrongful set lowers the
doer in his own self-esteem, about
the worst calamity that can befall
an intelligent being. Moreover, you
may forgive the man who has
wronged you, and even become his
friend, circumstances favoring the
contamination; but though the
man you have wronged forgive you
an hundred times over, your con-
science, being active, you will never
be quite able to forgive yourself
The recollection of your littleness
and meanness in having done the
mean act, and the ever-present
knowledge of the fact that your
benevolent-minded victim is aware
of your culpability, and is always
trying to make you forget it and
feel comfortable in his presence
will continue to harass and mortify
you in spite of your and your one
time victims best endeavors to
heal the wound your baseness OF
thoughtlessness has made. On your
part there can be no perfect reconcil.
iation. Having wronged or injured
him, you are, in your own secret
thoughts, perpetually estranged
from him. Your wrong-doing il
thus made your own degradation
The very thing you prize most, and
should prize most, and for which
if you are high-minded and proud
YOU will seek the esteem Of the good
around you-your own self-esteen
ia lost, and its loss is your pun
ishment. Is it not clear, then, thai
when you have done your whole
duty to yourself you will have LEFT
no duty to others undone?
Undisputsd Authority.
The United States Dispensatory says
that "Onojns are . stimulant, diurcti'