The San Francisco call., 1895-11-24
ARE YOU A QUIET MAN
Row strangely svees.S

If So, Read the Philosophers Utter
ances Below.
ga quiet man, eh ?" unused the west side
philosopher, to whom l was describing a
business man he had asked about. "Do
you mean by that a man of taciturn
temperament, one mentally timid or an
intellectually lazy man? There are three
kinds of quiet men. Which is he?''
We'll" said the New York Herald man,
"he is bold in all his business schemes and
is SO prolific and active ii them that 1
should hardly call him lazy, intellectually
or otherwise"
'"Then he must be constitutionally
quiet" said the philosopher; "but tell me,
have you never made a study of these
quiet men? Few persons do, being con-
tent to sum up the whole brood under the
adjective quiet But they are an inter-
esting study, l assure you, and few OF
them deserve the adjective with the under
current idea of shrewdness which it
generally carries with it.
"Some men naturally and by constitu-
tion talk little, and, if they be not stupid
Intellectually, are apt to be men OF con-
siderable force and accomplishment. Many
of our deepest thinkers, our ablest lnven-
tors, our most daring and successful opera
tors in business and professional lines do
little talking. They are the kind who say
nothing but saw wood as the phrase goes,
or, as another phrase puts 1t, say nothing
but think lot"
"The vast majority of so-called quiet
men, however, are of quite different type,
though often they acquire regulations by
reason of their silence which they do not
at all deserve.
There is one class of these who are
quiet because they are timid of their own
ideas = non -assertive self-conscious men,
intellectual towards. You will find such a
one under the guise OF many man who is
regarded by his friends as-and maybe
would be if he had backbone-very much
of man fn his quiet way as they put it.
"Women are naturally vivacious, and it
follows that most quiet women are of this
type; that is, they are intellectual towards.
1.-THE vast majority of quiet men, how
ever, are so because they are intellectually
lazy. It is really too much trouble for
them to struggle with the expression OF
the ideas that crowd their brains. and ex-
cept upon occasions which call forth extra
effort they are content to get along with
the expression OF only such ideas as can be
readily put into limited phraseology. with
the use of limited everyday vocabularies.
81 have friends with mental capa Utilities
above the average, men who think much
and well and whose judgment when asked
for is almost profound upon wide variety
of subjects, who honevertheless OF themselves
never speak except of everyday and alto
gether commonplace matters. It's habit
that begins with boyhood and is apt to in
crease with years, and for that reason
parents should endeavor to provoke their
children to talk rather than to silence them
in their elders presence, as our grand
parents used to think necessary to good
family discipline.
cit does not follow that man lazy in
tellectually is also physically lazy. 1t is
often quite the contrary. as in the cases OF
persons devoted to athletic and such Sports
as bicycle-riding, hunting, horsemanship
and the like, many of whom are very lame
takers. 1t is theory of,mine that a well.
made, well-rounded man. who has ac-