Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1904-12-15
CHAPTER III.
SIMPLICITY OF THOUGHT.

| Is uOI dlOue Tic pldIl4Ssil
manifestations of our life that
| there is need of making n clear
n ing; the domain Of our ideas Is in
the same case. Anarchy reigns in hui
man thought We walk in the woods
without compass or sun, lost among
! the brambles and briers of infinite de-
tail
/ When once man has recognized the
/ fact that he has an aim, and that this
aim is to be q man, he organizes his
thought accordingly. Every mode of
thinking or judging which does not
make him better and stronger he re-
! jects as dangerous.
And first of all he fees the too COM
mon contrariety of amusing himself
with his thought. Thought is a tool,
with its own proper function; it isn't
toy Let us take an example. Here Is
the studio of painter. The implements
are all in place; everything indicates
| that this assemblage Of means Is ar
ranged with view to an end. Throw
the room open to apes. They will climb
on the benches, swing from the cords,
rig themselves in draperies, Golf them
selves with slippers, juggle with brush
es, nibble 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-
ercise extremely interesting. But an
atelier is not made to let monkeys
loose in. No more Is thought ground
for acrobatic evolutions. A man worthy
of ~ fhtnkd oa hA Ia hia
tastes are; he goes about 1t with his
whole heart, and not with that 6tful
and sterile curiosity which, under pre-
text Of observing and noting every
thing, runs the risk Of never experienc-
ing a deep and true emotion or accom-
plishing right deed.
Another habit In urgent need Of cor
rection, ordinary attendant on conven-
tional life, Is the mania for examining
and analyzing oneself at every turn.
! I do not invite men to neglect intro
spection and the examination of con-
science. The endeavor to understand
ones own mental attitudes and motives
of conduct Is an essential element Of
good living. But quite other Is this ex-
treme vigilance, this incessant obser-
walton of ones life and thoughts, this
dissectlng OF oneself, like piece OF
mechanism. 1t Is q 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 dislocating
something before he had taken step.
ho. ho+ tn with
| then forward Take care not TO fall,
and use your forces with discretion.
Potterers and scruple mongers are soon
reduced TO inaction. 1t needs but
| glimmer Of common sense TO perceive
that man Is not made to pass his life
| in self centered trance.
And common sense-do you not find
what Is designated by this name be-
coming as rare as the common sense
customs of other days? Common sense
has become an old story. We must
have something new. and we create
q Fictitious existence, refinement Of
living, that the vulgar crowd has not
the wherewthal to procure. 1t Is 80
agreeable TO be distinguished! Instead
OF conducting ourselves like rational
beings and using the means most OBJ
viously Mt our command we arrive, by
dint OF absolute genius, at the most
astonishing slnKularitIes. Better off
the track than on the main linei All
the bodily defects and deformitles that
orthopedy treats give but n feeble idea
OF the humps, the tortuosities, the dis
locations we have inflicted upon our
al, II.
common sense. and Mt our own ex-
pense we learn that one does not de-
form himself with impunlty. Novelty.
after ALL Is ephemernl Nothing en-
dures but the eternal commonplace.
and II one departs from that IL IL to
run the most perilous risks. Happy
he who IL able to reclaim himself, who
finds the way back to simplicity.
Good plain sense IL not, as Is often
imagined, the innate possession OF the
first chance conner, n mean and paltry
equipment that has cost nothing to
any one. | would compare It to those
old folk songs, unfathcred, but death
less. which seem TO have risen out OF
the very heart OF the people Good
sense IL q fund slowly and painfully
accumulated by the labor OF centuries.
II IL d Jewel OF the first water, whose
value he alone understands who has
lost Il or who observes the lives of
others who have lost It. For my part
think no price too great 10 pay for
gaining 1t and keeping 1t for the pos
session OF eyes that see and Judg-
ment that dlscerns. One takes good
At. A. Ion
or rusted; with greater reason should
he give heed TO his thought.
But let this be well Understood: An
appeal TO common sense ia not nm APP
peal TO thought that groycls, TO narrow
pcsltivigm which denies everything II
cannot see or touch: for to wish that
man should be absorbed In material
sensations, TO the exclusion OF the high
realities OF the inner life, IL also want
OF good sense Here we touch upon
tender point, round which the greatest
battles Of humanity are waglng. In
truth. we are striving to attain con
ception OF life searching Il out amid
countless obscuritlcs and gricfs, and
everything that touches upon spiritual
realities becomes day by day moro
painful. In tho midst OF the grave
perplexitics and transient disorders
that accompany great crises of thought
II seems more difficult than ever to e8-
cape with any simple principles. Yet
necessity Itself comes to our aid. M II
has done for the men OF all times. The
programme OF life is terribly simple
after all, and In the fact That existence
80 imperiously forces herself upon ua
she gives us notice that she precedcs
any idea OF her which we may make
for ourselves and that no one can put
Off living pending an attempt to under
stand life. Our PHILOSOPHERS, our cx-
plantations, our beliefs. nre everywhere
confronted by facts. and these facts.
prodlglous. irrefutablc. call us TO order
when we would deduce life from our
rensonngs aud would walt TO act until
we have ended philosophiZing. II is
this happy necessity that prevents the
world from stopping whilo man ques-
tions his route Travellers OF day,
we are carried along In vast move
mcnt 10 which we are called upon TO
contribute, but which we have not fore
seen nor embraced IN It's entirety nor
! Dcuetrntcd aa 10 itB ultimate aims.