The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1901-01-19


Seeking happiness, y has been said,
is the chief business of life. A defni-
tion of Happiness. however, might not
prove generally acceptable were this
proposition admitted. What one per-
son longs for most as the quintessence
OF all delights would be. to some other
restless pursuer Of lifes fitting will
o. the wisp, not in the least attractive.
1t is a universal complication Of the
case of two farmers whose fields lay
side by side. One of them was pray
ing for rain because his growing corn
was suffering on account OF drought;
the other just as feelingly and insist
emily prayed for dry weather so that
he could save his fresh mown hay.
Indeed a moments thought shows us
that personal happiness is a relative
quantity. Each individual. while he
has the clear right to seek his own
comfort, is so connected with all other
individuals that he can never reckon
his own possibilities without reference
to that large and complicated factor
known as the rights of others. This
Is very trite; but it breaks out afresh,
and often with a startling explosion,
all along lifes way A blind pursuit
OF happiness ends invariably in a
closed alley where the eager runner
bumps against a wall.
Selhshness is natural. and, to a GER
tain limit, proper The lower animals
show us what the simplest form Of
Il Is. Birds and beasts are not wholly
selfish; as If unconsciously, they make
great sacrifices Of their individual com
fort. They often give US fine examples
OF heroic self-forgetfulness. We, how
ever, must battle With self-conscious-
ness. which is at once the greatest
friend and most invulnerable enemy
Of the spirit Of right doing. We are
not mere engines set In motion by
instinct. At every step we are aware
OF our duty to ourselves and others
as well as perfectly conscious Of the
evil necessarily consequent whenever
we snatch at the expense OF another
what we desire for ourselves. And it
is the hardest task OF life to lift our
souls above the complications Of inter
est and the pressing claims Of personal
ambition and longing into the clear air
Of Righteousness We know that each
OF us must, to a sufficient extent at
least. be selfish. We cannot literally
give ali that we have to the poor.
This would freeze US and starve us.
We must provide for our own house
hold. Even the birds know this. And
yet we well apprehend that there Is
somewhere a golden line Of conduct
where selhshness should give way to
generous self-effacement In the pres
ence OF an imperious and beautiful
duty to others. And this golden line
comedies with the only happiness at
tainable by our own efforts. The
smack on a generous and charitable
deed done for pure love OF righteous
ness and out OF unseifsh human sym
pathy will never grow stale in the
heart Of the doer But even this hap
piness must be desultory, sporadic. ac-
cidental. SO long as We do not honestly
seek It and adequately comprehend the
universal significance Of human duty
In religious activities. in social rela-
tions. in political responsibilities there
Is no place for personal seihshness.
We must not pray for profit at the
expense Of others. we must not strive
to rise socially by the destruction q
other peoples stairways. We must not
vote for men or measures merely 70
serve our individual ends. This is sell
fshness that destroys.-The Independ-
I r~s