Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1901-02-01
COME ARISONS.

There is a very common habit of
measuring Ourselves by others and es-
! timating ourselves accordingly. and
of extending a similar measurement
and estimation to other people. If
| every one were Iiftcd with the same
powers, subject to the same tcmpta-
! tions and surrounded by the same in
| flucnCcs. this practice might have
some justification: but the entire re-
verse being the case, all such APP
! praisements must be unjust, and
their results pornlcious. The truth
is that no two people are thus alike;
each one is in himself a complex indi-
viduai, with his own peculiar abili-
ties and disabilities, and his thoughts
and words, his actions and habits, his
whole life itself, viii be- and ought to
| be, different from that of any other.
| To measure men. therefore, by each
other, and to expect them TO approach
the same level in any pursuit, or in
| any line of conduct. is to indulge a
| hope without foundation. to cherish
an illusion which future experience
must dissolve.
All injustice involves disaster and
! this one is no exception. II is direct
| damper upon Improvement. Those
who fall below the average are dis
couraged oftcntir,rs to a point of de-
! spondcncv that prCcludcs effort.
! Those who are above it are inclined
| to bc satisfied with their present SUI
! pcriority. and to lest upon their lau-
rCls. Then again. the former are a
! prey to envy. perhaps even to hatred
! or malice. while the latter are nat
urally disposed 20 vanity, scli-satis-
| faction and supci tiliousnoss. So evil
| IDENTIFY have these results manifested
| themselves i'm schools that there has
! been a very general effort made Of
! late years to avoid Che ranking system
and to substitute for it independent
records which have nothing to do
with the staucing of the others.
Some one, doubtless, had this in mind
who first offered "A prize for the great
| est Improvement ia I. IIaluship, in
stead of the conventional prize for the
best written COPY book Yet even
this though a step in the right direc-
ton. was not strictly gust. as the
ability to improve is not equally dis
tributed. and the advancement could
not be entirely ths result OF personal
effort.
The evil of this standard Of estima-
tion is manifest al lrough the com
munity. In every walk ~ life we
give unstinted applause not to those
| who accomplish 'hcir very best, but
to such as do better than their peers.
Those of the former class are often
more painstaking. more pcrscvering,
more energetic than the latter. yet
they remain unnG'iced and unaided.
We shall never know how much real
| superiority may tAus be crushed out
of existence. 1t ia always difficult to
discern latent powers among the
timid and the seitdeprcCiative. and
when no effort is made TO detect II.
it's frequent de- tiny is TO languish
and die. OF coureo in choosing men
for practical purposes We must al
WAYS select the ht Il available power
for the ends we have in view. We
rightly call in the best physician we
can find in sickness. the best lawyer
in our financial affairs. the best ar
chitect to plan our dwellings, the best
artist to adorn IN m, the best author
to read. the best .paaker to listen to-
he best instruC or to teach our
children. To do otherwise would be
to cut at the root OF all human wei
fare. Yet il often requires far more
thought and judgment TO find out the
really best than we give to the search
-. ,,,,cassfrl ~, Inc most widely
~ ,,.bn na, Jistjrgnisb roo1
hIoW IT, T., l,,,,,ar,.tS,-. Nobsrnrfty is q
men 4" 'n5 ~ he can hiring II
~. - ,,,tfo, aud esteem he (.
lIlo seiy' a. nun ,,nortir,a while -,
oel',i'' wv, .,,. IN
zee! Guy 'H'"..''' go
''' I'IIl'' VIZ ll'. ''7' ''' ..'l.
Hou'sE III our '-4'"' JUS "'' MI
patient lhouS"llNiA' N."- ~.
true source uhNA "Ai'h ~ '''"
thgm'
lA'i' U.s. however. 90, standard
WhIch l7 h",A Jus, .a I'~'H anu quite
free from jne DNiI con '9uD noes OF
measuring ourselves nF other meI
ana other men h> enc another. IL D.
that OF constant improvement Let
our question h' not whereabouts lf
such one. IN c'f iAIl~un with nh
neighhor, but i- N' ON "a higher plan,
than ne was last Month or last year
Does he do better work than former
~. DOCS ne St'hiiit EI"" Iu huo"
leuse, IN JGusin,I'' III power DOC
tne lGrdl Nh''u IL 'H'I i9h'7 "l no
pie ne IIS' III '"'"'''I as ne ap
proaches IT, nuns "'ll V ,,., 10 neC
Ter anu Hi'I "O'l'''l "u'n We INV INV