The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1895-10-27
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EDITED BY ENOCH KNIGHT

THE CRAZE FOR DEFINITIONS
There is no dou5t that simple faith has
been lessened these later years by giving
ghsounding scientific names to com.
mon things. The mystery that made
Paganism power and the earlier Chris
tan periods full OF awe and wonder has
baen gradually dispelleu, until now a GER
tain cold blooded exactEess is demanded
upon the part OF every inquirer after
truth-not always truth for truths sake,
but often for the sake of a certain pride
in learning and discoursing. Most people
these days VINO pretend to possess culture
Of any sort demand that ali the facts of
the universe be reduced to their lowest
terms. They demand that the ajesty
and mystery of human destiny be mini
mixed by hard and-f fast defnition-oft.
en- COMPRISING an undesirable truth
into the dimensions which very small
brain assumes to characterize. And so
all the way down to our common every
day life, we make too much of definitions
and too little of what we would define. IL
is not very long since young woman
said that her Old love for flowers when a
child was nearly gone when she got
through with botany. And what better
was anything to any creature than the
simple primrose on the river brim?
In the matter of books all this holds
true. People are too apt when they read
something that seems to sthem "smart"
or IN any way good, to make too much of
it and start off to impress somebody else
with it, as if it were an absolutely new
discovery and conclusive on some subject.
The hurt of this state of things is i'm
mense. The chances are that there is
nothing conclusive or even new about it.
If only we hold TO the great and saving
truths that hallow human life we can
afford to be short of some of the alleged
exact definitions that at best belong to
unimportant details. Above all we ought
not to be abashed if there are some things
We are not sure of. and nave not even
tried very hard to know-there is such
comfort in being let alone and trusting to
the currents to carry us through.
In the following extracts from very
oright article in recent mum Der of The
Critic there is much of truth and sugges-
ton, Notwithstanding the whimsical
concerts running through them. In fact,
they are decidedly refreshing:
What this world needs Just now is
emancipation. 1t neeas a prophet-a
man who can gather about him few
brave-hearted; intelligently ignorant
Iueh, WIZ Sioh 81 apoul Win tnelr
beautiful feet upon the mountains, tell
ing the good tidings of how many things
there are we do not need to know. The
prejudice against being ignorant is large
ly because people have not learned how
to do it. The wrong people have taken
hold Of It,.
'Most of us are afraid not to know
everything. Not knowing too much is q
natural gift, and unless a man can make
his ignorance seductive and inspire peo.
pie with the books he dares not read, of
course the only thing he can do is to
give up and read everything and-belong
to society. He certainly cannot belong
to himself unless he protects himself
with well.selected, gracefully guarded,
DARING ignorance.
The really cultured man is the man
Who can tell me what he does not know
ashamed Of knowing s' it. Now there's rs