The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-03-28
UPON GROWING OLD.


The first score years OF an average mans
life is as a rule wasted. III a boy when he
has attained his twentieth year has laid
in a good big stock of health, has acquired
a reasonable amount OF facts, and especial
ly has learned good manners and how 10
live smoothly with his associates he is then
ready to begin his life's work and to think
and act for himself. This applies TO college
graduates, who often have more to unlearn
and TO learn than the ordinary youth. For
ty years ago / found myself with an A. Il.
attached to my name and 20 cents in my
pocket, bordering over an unexpected great
truth-'root, hog. or die" To my great
amazement no one cared at which end of
the maxim / began. For the first time In
my life L worked hard for the necessary
three meals a day and the next twelve
months came near starving. Somehow /
managed TO pull through, although at the
end of the year out at toes and elbows. 1
count that as the most valuable year OF my
life. for had learned when / came twenty
one:
First-That nobody cares for you unless
you make it worth their while 50 TO do.
~Second-That the hardest thing in the
world TO get and the easiest TO lose Is
money, pubic confidence and character.
did not learn until twenty years after
wards the value of popularity, and that II
il can be secured without the sacrifice of
self-respect it is always worth our best
efforts.
There are some things that even the most
mature man never perfectly learns. One
of these is to ''see yourself as others see
YOU" Huxley once wrote "A famous book
on Mans Place in Nature" If some one
$500, II. -. nnnthnr lInnn fHOw tn
Reduce Our Illusions About Ourselves and
Our Importance" it would be far more
valuable. But it will never be done. Man
TO himself is the perpetual wonder. This
wonder is exceeded only by another, and
tbat-woman's value to herself. We all
imagine ourselves of supreme consequence
To the world. while as a matter of fact the
world Is totally Indifferent to us, and our
sabsence is hardly ever noticed or missed.
And vet human vanity is Interchangeable as
the great law Of gravitation. AT thirty We
know it all: at forty, IL wise, the swelling
of personal infallibility begins 10 be re-
duced; at fifty We admit that others know
as much as we do, and il a man has been
properly disciplined and kicked and cuffed,
AT sixty wears he is willing to allow that he
doesn't know anything worth mentioning.
I wish to make this memorial as imper-
sonal as possible. and yet 10 make IL usefui
to boys and young men, and so L ADD a
personal confession. L doubt If youth ever
etarted i'm the race of life with a poorer
natural equipment than mine. Oh unat-
tractiye person, shy and distant manners
always saying the wrong thing at the
wrong time, l had, in addition, "A SLOW,
foggy mind, which acted well enough when
aroused. and expressed itself vigorously
and tersely. but the trouble was to get 1t
started. Oh. how often have l longed Tor
that best Of intellectual gifts-quick per-
ception, the ability TO read hard books,
GOODNESS, and that greatest of social gifts
genial manners. But nature always COM
pensates. She blessed me with logged per-
severance and untiring industry. l do not
think that l ever failed in any large mat
ter that i seriously undertook. nor is there
any necessity whatever for a young man
with good natural abilities TO despair OF
success, either in Indiana or the West. 1t
is amazing what openings there are in this
State for a popular youth in law, politics.
m-oney-making or social advancement. To
such a young man Indiana is in many re-
spects the best State in the whole Union.
But. then, he must give his whole mind to
it. The successful o~fice-getters. or money
SttlttSs VI III dASt-N AiliitiSs 4 nlO
want the office. the money. or the praise,
and want ii badly. want it right off. and
can't do without il, and are willing, in
Rome, TO do as Romans do.
What are some Of the best lessons that
life and experience bring to a man of three
score? Without hesitation L say that the
greatest art OF life is conduct. Emerson
says:
''Of all wits uses the main one
Is TO live well with those who have none"
To live smoothly and TO do your work
with a minimum of friction is one of the
greatest OF accomplishments. But, then.
what is your work? As a rule. that which
you delight i'm doing and which you can do
the easiest. The path of least resistance is
natures sign manual that that is your Iife's
path. Unfortunately. the most OF US are
examples of round pegs in square holes.
Then. again. how shall a man work smooth
~? He is bound to have his m but
in a large sense enemies and enmity are
not bad things. "A good assortment OF vigil