Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1904-12-15
CHAPTER III.
SIMPLICITY or THOUGHT.


TT is not alone among the practical
manifestations of our life that
there ~ need OF making clear
i Ing; the domain of our ideas Is IN
the same case. Anarchy relgns IN hui
man thought. We walk in the woods
without compass or sun, lost among
tho brumbles and briers of infinite de-
tall.
When once man has recognized the
fact that he has IN aim, and that this
aim Is to be Il man, he organizes his
thought accordingly. Every mode of
thinking or Judging which does not
make him better and stronger he re-
jects ms dangerous.
And first Of all he fees the too COM
mon contrarlety of amusing himself
with his thought. Thought Ia n tool,
with It's own proper function; 1t isn't n
toy. Let us take m example. Here Is
tho studio of II painter, The implements
are all In place; everything indicates
that this nsscmblagc of means Is ar
ranged with view to nh end. Throw
tho room open to apes. They Will climb
on the benches, swing from the cords,
rig themselves In drapcries, Golf them
selves with slippers, juggle with brush
ca, nbble the colors and pierce the can
vases to see what Is behind the paint.
| don't question their enjoyment Ger
tainly they must find this kind of ex-
erClse extremely interesting. But an
nj 20 nuhn IN lnt nlnnlI
loose In. No more Is thought ground
for ncrobatic evolutions. A man worthy
of the name thinks as he IL, NJ his
tastes nre he goes about It with his
whole heart. and not with that fitful
and sterile curiosity which, under pre-
text OF observing and noting every
thing, runs the risk of never eXperienc-
ing deep and true emotion or accom-
plishlng II right deed.
Another habit In urgent need of cor
rection, ordinary attendant on convcn-
tlonnl life, Is the mania for examining
and nnnlyzing oneself Mt every turn.
do not invite men to neglect intro
spection and the examination of con-
science. The cndcuvor to understand
ones own mental attitudes and motives
of conduct IL mn essential element Of
good living But quite other Ia this OK
trcme vigilance. this incessant obser-
walton of ones life and thoughts, this
dissectlng of oneself, like piece of
mechanism. II Is II waste OF time and
goes wide OF the mark. The man who,
to prepare himself the better for walk.
ing, should begin by making rigid
anatomical examination of his means
OF loComotlon would risk dlslocating
something before he had taken step.
You have what you need to walk with,
thon forward! Take care not 10 fall.
and use your forces with discretion.
pottcrcrs and scruple mongcrs are soon
reduced TO inuctton. 1t needs but II
elmmer of common sense to perceive
that man Is not made TO pass his life
In self conferred trance.
And common sense do you not fnd
what ls designated by this name be-
coming ms rare MS the common sense
customs of other days2 Common sense
has become an old story, We must
have something new, and we create
Fictitious existence Il refinement OF
| living, that the vulgar crowd has not
the whercwithal to procure 1t Is SO
agreeable 10 be distinguished! Instead
of conducting ourselves like rational
beings and using the means most OBJ
| viotsly NJ our command we arrive, by
dint Of absolute genius. ut the most
astonishing singularitics. Better of
the track than on the main line, All
tho bodily defects and deformlties that
orthopcdy treats give bat feeble idea
or the humps, the tortuoslties, the dis
locations we have inflicted upon our
selves IN order 10 depart from simple
common sense. and ut our own cx-
pense we learn that one does not de-
form himself with impunlty. Novelty,
after NIL. is ephemerol. Nothing en-
dures but the eternal commonplace,