Bryan morning eagle. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1898-1909, 1903-08-12
A SENSE OF HUMOR.
1T IS A POTENT FACTOR IN KEEPING
LIFE SWEET TO THE END.

I
Take your fun while you may
you'll never be young but once" Is d
popular fallacy. II presupposcs two
things - that the young. because OF
youth, must have fun and that as soon
as II IS passed the capacity Tor enjoy
ing & is over.
Some never grow old. aud some arr
never young. Age lies In the indlvilu-
al and Is not question OF dates.
Because person ceases TO bee abld 10
glggle az every remark. TO bubble over
with gleefulness at the slightest prov
ocation, is no criterion that real mirth.
fulness has fed. The delicate sense OF
humor that may take the place OF this
snowy buoyancy is far more 10 be
priced.
A sense of humor Is potent factor
in keeping life sweet TO the end. \
green and jolly old age is as jolly us
a gay youth.
A sense OF humor can be cultivated.
and II should be as assiduously as for
bearance, kindness or any OF the car
dinal virtues.
With the slipping away OF youth de-
spair asserts itself only when IL IL
thought Joy and mirth must Zee also.
Are we sure that youth is 10 posi-.
lively happy as II is supposed 10 be? Is
there not a restlessness, an uncertain
~. in the steps OF a young girl that
causes anxiety to be mingled with ev-
cry mover She Is full OF theories. ls
imbued with ideals, but how TO obtain
the desired ends Is a mooted question.
She can never be as securely happy as
IL the married woman. or unmarried.
who has. rs II were. found her feet
surely and knows how TO get what she
wants, or. al least. knows what she
wants TO get. There Is a restless look
ing forward for pleasures each day. an
unhappy killing OF time before some
promised Joy arrives In the young that
all who have passed II can painfully
remember.
Girls are so imbued by the thought
less. with the idea that all Joy ceases
with youth. that they have a feeling OF
commiseration for those who have bid
farewell to this ephemeral period. Lit.
tie do they realize how the study OF all
life. the enlarged power TO feel. TO see.
to bear. to live. TO enjoy. Is the price
less gift OF every added year.
There Is something pitiful In watch
ing the nervous grasp at Joy In youth.
We see constantly young girls literally
afraid 10 loosen their hold on one day
or one pleasure to fulfll an act OF sim
pie duty.
There il a not unfamiliar story OF a
young girl In q ballroom who was stop
ped as she walked about the floor on
the arm OF one OF her partners by an
old family friend. who inquired. with
interest for her mother
my dear I'm glad | saw you" he
repeated. "How's your motheri'
No reply. She only chung 20 the arm
on which she leaned aud was hasten
Ing by when the old gentleman. seeing
her fear lest her escort should slip
away. laid his hand on the young
mans coat collar.
MY dear. I'll hold him." he cried.
twinkling his eye wiekedly. "How's
your motherr'
He was not n very nice old gentle
man. perhaps. but that he got a full
share OF fun out OF life none could
doubt. and the attitude OF the young
girl. holding fast 90 her prize lest he
should escape. IL exactly the attitude
OF youth that looks 10 the early days
for all Its share OF Joy.
was in Il group OF young unmar.
ried women, some nearing thirty. 9th
ers who had Just overstepped this crit.
ical date. They were expressing In
graphic language their sensitiveness
about their age.
I have taken some pains TO hunt up
statistics about the attractions and ac-
compllshments OF women who were
past this age which | commend to
their perusal. In the first place novel.
lists are taking women between thirty
and forty for their herolnes. II Is the
woman who dares 10 have thoughts
and has cultivated herself TO the point !
OF expressing them who commands
friends and lovers who are worth
while.
Helen Of Troy was over forty when
she pcrpetrated the most famous elope. |
ment on record. and as the Siege OF /.
Troy lasted twenty years she could not
have been very Juvenile when the III |
fortune OF Paris restored her TO her !
who. Il Is said. received her |
with love and gratitude.
Cleopatra was past thirty when An |
Tony fell under her spell. and her fas.
cinations for him had not lessened
when she died ten years later
Pericles welded Aspasla nc the age
N thirty-slx. and she welded undls-
puted influence over men for thirty |
years afterward.
Llyia was thlrty-three when she won
The love Of Augustus, over whom she
her asccndency 10 the last.
Louis XIV. welded Nine. Malntenon
when she was forty-three years OF age.
Nlnon, a celebrated beauty and wit
Il her day in France, captlvated the {