The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1901-12-27

the thought that perhaps all of us, what
ever our profession in this world, give
undue Importance to our callingS in
themselves We are inclined to look
upon them as endG rather than means
to civilization. We talk a great deal
about the school house and the news
paper. about education and the press, as
if they were important; they are not so
necessarily The chief end of man is
not to read and write, and figure and
know the news. The chief end of man
is to live bravely and kindly and cheer
fully with his neighbors, and only as
school teachers and editors help men to
live thus are they of any value to so
ciety. The school teacher who doesn't
teach children to live simple. useful,
goOd-natured lives, and the editor whose
paper doesn't teach this to his comInu-
nifty, are mere baggage on the train of
progress
The teacher should educate his pupils
not primarily to pass examinations, and
to know about books, but to be able to
grapple vigorously with life and enjoy
the struggle The editor whose paper
breatheS a spirit of unkindness, of class
hatred, or of any kind of hatred, is an
enemy to society as surely as a horse
thief is. He may print the news till he
is black in the face, but it does more
harm than good.
A teacher may be perfect in discipline,
excellent in drill, thorough in every
technical department of work, and still
be a menace to civilization For the
any of these-though it requires them
all. The important thing is character
because character is the soul Of influ-
ence, which is the only part Of educa-
tion that counts.
Teaching by precept, is a sloz and
sorry business But teaching by ex-
ample is inevitable. A brave, kind wise
soul in a school room or in an editors
office, no matter how humble the school
house is or the newspaper, is a great
force in the world. For such souls teach
widely, powerfully and in spite of them
selves The influence of the editor and
of the school teacher is intimate and
strong, because its real force comes
unconsciously to the objects of its
power Therefore men and brethren
and sisters in bondage, because we
have large power, we have heavy re-
sponsibility. We may not shake it off.
And the man or woman who tries to
shake off this responsibility of influence
is a pretty bad lot.
For the only fun there is in life comes
in shOuldering duty yaliantly and going
ahead There is no fun in being cow
ard or a cheat, or a mean person On
the other hand there was never a job
so poor that whoever held it could not
get happiness out of it by being kind
and honest and brave and as useful d 8
possible. There is a world of fun in life,
for those who will quit affectation and
money chasing and envying long
enough to find it. You can find it school
teaching and you can find it editing,
and you don't have to have a city
school nor city paper to get your full
share Cheerfulness is an investment
that never fails. The more you check
on your account the larger your bal
ance is. This also is true of worry
which is the increment OF envy and
malice and greed. Wealth, fame, posi-
tion, or environment have nothing to do
with ones attitude to worry and to
cheerfulness. 1t is all a matter of tenn
perament, all matter of the way you
shoulder the burden of your duty If
in a Gil la n lacf1
way, taking things as you find them
and making them better when you can,
by using good-natured courage, you
may laugh at adverSity. Fate can't !
hurt you much. The great curse of life |
is discomfort bred by false notions of
the power of money, or fame place, !
to bring happiness Money never made |
q man or woman happy who would
have been unhappy without it; for the
discomfort is the result of a flaw of
character. Money never changed char
acter, neither did fame nor a high
place. But only the man or woman
who can live simply and unaffectedly
and sturdily without these things, can
live happily with them Nor do power
and glory of necessity bring with them |
opportunity for doing great good That |
opportunity comes to those in the lowIy |
places. 1t comes wherever there is an |
honest fearless soul. doing a simple |
commonplace duty The great deeds |
of life have been done mostly not by |
heroes, but by plain plug men and wo- !
men DeIOre Ihey became heroes
The country school teacher who means |
and groanS because she is wasting q. $50 |
talent on a $50 district, needn't worry; |
she iS mistaken.
The country editor who scorns to fill |
his six column folio with wholesome hon |
est, cheerful local news because the peo-
pie don't appreciate him. will always be |
wrestling with the mortgage The world /
Keeps books pretty accura tely and when |
a man has anything coming to him, he |
can get it if he asks for it cheerfuIly. |
But the man who sues fate pays the |
costs.
And it's all SO immaterial-this struggle |
to beat the next man to some paltry goal. /
The real thing in life is to live sincerely |
and the only way to live sincerely is to |
live usefully, cleanly, cheerfully and |
kindly. And the chief reward of that
kind of life is that it has wholesome /
influence on the world-an influence that |
IS as Immortal as a natural law Nothing
except well-directed kindness matters at |
ALL
In the University of Pennsylvania there
IS tablet six thousand years old 1t is
a statement of account sent from a mer-
miserable unfortunate customer, who
couldn't pay it; suppose the merchant
walked the floor; suppose he sued the |
debtor in the local courts and |
got up a row that stirred up the ancient
town for a day or a week or a year, or a
century; suppose the merchant hunted his
customer up and pounded the daylights
out of him-what then? It's all over now.