Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-11-11

Sah'e ti''tS' We 10 not KNOW the differ.
ence. we cease to see anything but
the obvious and pride ourselves ON be.
Ing wise. Mental inertia is fayorahl,
to such circumstances and then there !,
the play of words, verbal Celebrations
lingual embellishments and all the ole
parts Of speech that strung together In
a new way give the illusion of truth
There are so many ways of saying tina,
it is nice to be nice, and new word.
ever come to the rescue of crumblins
| conceptions. We are daZZled by phra.
| seology and to dig beneath the words is
too much like thinking Were we in
| cllned to discriminate we could dis
| Germ the line that divides the old from
the new and this discrimination would
in itself constitute a strong barrier
| against the repeater but the energy of
the country is now otherwise expended
and so he continues to add to the duh
ness of the nation.
The culprit is not called to account
and taking our Indifference for consent
ne continues to tell his story for the
seven thousandth time: thus we pay
the penalty for the sins we allow to be
committed. Reiteration may be mem
TONED as one of the industries of this
country. 1t has its beginnings in the
thlngs and thoughts of everyday exist
ehce and extends to all forms of liter
airy eXpression-I came near saying
ART. Art is not produced by such a
process. But these circumstances help
us to understand it's absence The man
who only has one story to tell some
times has good story and constant
repetition often gives him some mas.
terry OF narration; but how can we lis
ten over and over again to the same
thlng without our manners and even
our morals being endangered? The
jest we are so frequently treated to
surely mad it's point once upon a time.
but 1t has been worn and torn tn utter
Hatness. We can concede that the sim
gle tnought has its drift and a certain
usefulness. Concentration is the con.
dltlon or achievement, and one must
often be dead to all things in order ia
make one thing live. But We have the
FEELING that progress no longer depends
upon the work of bigots and we even
doubt the value of civilization made nv
little hands. The isolated opiniop 10
sincere enough; but what Stupiditv is
not sincere? One-sided views ara
rarely available in many sided life. We
love to hear of adventures. All adven-
lures are of human interest. if only for
the lnhumanities that they lead to. Vet
no" we come to hate war after the old
veteran has told us the story of his
uarlns plunge and narrow escape ONLY
ie" thousand times. Why will men
We VIKING TO Keep quiet in behalf or
'helr 1atherland? We grow all the
more impatient because the man with
oiie story is not story teller; the man
win only one jest is sadly deficient in
huhor; the individual of one opinion
utterly lacks judgment; the person of
one thought is far from being n thinr.
er; the hero Of a single adventure is
hardly hero and certainly M .dyor
turer. They are repeaters all ana w.
grow weary of them-at least. some If
us do. The rest are confused h,, ~
fog and fanfare.
Fine combina tons Of words so, ,.,.
WISDOM Again We are charmed nv tn
inus'c OF language and it is part ~ uis
hUm nj TO permit ourselves to be charmed
SO man ne of tb means s there be. There are
TEepeaters adds to the general confusion
Repeaters, all. You have them in ynnr
orat,pns IN eG no' in your sermons and
pays, essays and in all forms of pubifca.
tioh. magazine editors in your country
we ere told. often receive two or more
This is not because the Situation Il p'o 80
true to life and compelling that NOR
Inan one person observed it and felt II
, III ohi y proves that two little minds run
nlng IN the same direction conco,ted ono
ana the same plot. which is but a repeti
tIon OF a combination of circumstances
. many others have conceived at various
times This land has been fertile soil fnr
the repeater and he has left his indeIihIa
mark upon it. He is to be found in ali
parts or social life as well as in different
o,,a,1 i OF literary endeavor. And not
only does one man tell one story over and
over again. but many men are the Joint
reneaters of one Oft-told tale. A Thousand
politicians make the same political speech
they say about the Stars and Stripes. etc
Fhis Is free country and everybody can
say what ne pleases. yet somehow it
How many times have YOU heard tha
same sermon delivered by your minister,
and now often has its wisdom been con-
tradieted by life? The new thought that
would pring morality nearer to life does
not seem to find voice. The old way is I
easy ana 1t explains the scheme Of things |
so simply! What economy of mental en-
ergy to be wise without wisdom
Our original sin is lack of originality
Our feet ever seek the trodden 18th ard
we carry our minds with us wherever
we go. The intellectual line of least res,s-
lance is repetition. and it is the line that
We follow here where so many other
things claim our energies. Even the de-
sire to be clever and to shine in society
rarely overcomes this Incidence. There
are always things which others have said.
and if needs be they can be clothed in !
brand-new language. OF course. the
things that can bear repetition have been
said by people who never repeated but
whose concern is that? Our free speech
seems to make us careless of what we
say. and We take no advantage of our
freedom of thought. Nearly everything
has. been said. we are told, by way Of
apology Yes. but not everything has
been contradicted. and this alone should
give us sufficient impetus to put our
brains to work.-Boston Transcript.
English Women's Sport.