Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-11-10

succeeded at anything and who doesn't
know what prosperity Us, may be as happy
as lark, just because he has a good tenn
per, a fine digestion and a sweet wife.
Some Peoples Ideals.
There are some people who have an idea
that they will be happy when they reach
stage where they care for nobody and are
Indifferent to the opinion of other people.
They can then concentrate their whole at
tention on themselves, land by ministering
solely to their own wants escape any
trouble which arises from attending to the
wants Of other people. To be without
friends is their ambition, and there Is no
other ambition so easily attained; but sup
pose they get into trouble; what are they
going to do? They have never helped any,
body-how can they expect to be helped
themselves? They find themselves In a
most pitiable state and they begin to wish.
when 1t Is too late, that they had ordered
their lives differently.
They are almost as bad as that other
class who think that perfect bliss comes to
the person who has efrectually deStroye ed
his conscience; but when man reaches
such a pinnacle OF depravity, so to speak,
that he can escape all self-punishment, he
may depend upon it that the rest of the
community will take hand in the matter
and give him all the punishment he thinks
he has avoided, and more, too. There are
jails built for these men and gallows also
They do not attain much real happiness
What was the happiest time of your life?'
The gentleman to whom the question was
nut has lived in Washington for many
years, but before that lived pretty much
everywhere. and has now reached an age
which precludes the possibility of his look
ing forward to anything but decade, at
most of serene comfort before he goes to
join the great majority. He thought over
1t a while and then answered.
Just after l had left college, when 1
had a little money given to me by my
lkEx
You see | had everything to look forward
to, and / had had sc little experience that
1 believed almost anything was possible"
"But you must have had many disap-
pointments, end they must have been bit
ter?"
Youth and Old Age.
mo" he answered, ''the disappointments
came later The true way to be happy is
to be In a state of expectancy and hope
fulness. / had few years of great I'M
happiness when 1 began to find that 1 got
few of the things 1 really wanted and that
when l did get those few they were not
what / had expected them to be. Then l
became more modest in my desires. and
1 had considerable happiness in such sue
cess as l achieved. Then / retired from
active life and have killed time with tolera-
Bile cCntentment ever since
There you have the manhood life OF an
average individual, who Is not a great man,
nor q bad man, and who has had no great
tragedies tor make his life unusual. He is
just like any other of hundreds of thou
sands of old men.
Yet the next man who was asked on this
point declared that his old age had been
the happest part of his life because then
he was not afraid of any more disap-
pointments Before he reached that period
he had been so haunted by fears Of dis
appointments and had, in truth, had so
many that he could hardly rest at night.
Now, he said, the future had no terrors
for him. He thought anticipation was so
mixed with fears that its pleasures were
destroyed. There was nothing to look for
ward to, it was true, but that implied that
there was no trouble to look forward TO.
The absence of pain was what he conceived
to be pleasure
You will find some people. too, who look
back upon their childhood as the happiest
period of their lives because 1T was free
from care. but a child has, his cares Just
as much as an adult The only thing is
that old people have often forgotten them
and on that account are inclined to belittle
them.