Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1905-01-12
CHAPTER VI.
rrnrnr rEEnS

rest-is comprehended IN dozen words.
Likewise, to sum up the necessities OF
most men, q few concise lines would
answer Their regime is In general of
supreme simplicity, and SO long as they
follow 1t all Is well with them. as with
every obedient child OF Mother Nature.
Let them depart from 1t, complications
arise, health fails, gayety vanishes.
Only simple and natural living can
keep a body in full vigor. Instead Of
remembering this basic principle we
fall into the strangest alterations.
What material things does a man
need to live under the best conditions?
A healthful diet, simple clothing,
sanitary dwelling place, air and exer-
cise am not going to enter into by
gienic details, compose menus or dis
cuss model tenements AID dress re-
form. My aim is to point out direc-
ton and tell what advantage would
come to each of US from ordering his
life in spirit of simplicity. To know
that this spirit does not rule In our
rociety we need but watch the lives
OF men Of all classes. Ask different
question: What do you need TO live?
You will see how they respond. Moth
ing Is more instructive. For some abb
originals Of the Partisan asphalt there
Is no life possible outside a region
bounded by certain bouleyards. There
one finds the respirable air, the illumi-
mating light, normal heat, classic cook
cry, and, In moderation, so many other
things without which 1t would not be
worth the while to promenade this
round ball.
On the various rungs Of the bour-
geois ladder people reply to the ques
ton. What Is necessary to live? by
figures varying with the degree Of
their ambition or education, and by
education is oftenest understood the
outward customs of life, the style Of
house, dress, table-an education pre-
cisely skin deep. Upward from Ger
tain income, fee or salary life becomes
POSSIBLE; below that II IS Impossible.
We have seen men commit suicide be-
cause their means had fallen under
certain minimum. They preferred to
disappear rather than retrench. OBJ
serve that this minimum, the cause of
their despair, would have been sufi-
cient for others of less exacting needs
and enviabIe to men whose tastes are
modest
On lofty mountains vegetation changes
with the altitude. There Is the region
Of ordinary fora, that Of the forests,
that of pastures. that Of bare rocks and
glaciers. Above q certain zone wheat
Is no longer found, but the vine still
prospers. The oak ceases In the low
regions; the pine flourishes at consid-
erable heights. Human life, with Its
needs, reminds one Of these phenomena
Of vegetation.
At certain altitude Of fortune the
fnancfer thrives, the clubman, the So
ciety woman-all those, In short, for
whom the strictly necessary includes
certain number Of domestics and
equipages as well as several town and
country houses. Further on fourishes
the rich upper middle class, with It's
own standards and life. In other re-
gions we find men Of ample moderate
or small means and very unlike exi-
gencies. Then come the people, arti
sans, day laborers, peasants-in short,
the masses-who live dense and SERTED
Ike the thick, sturdy growths on the
SUBMITS Of the mountains, where the
larger vegetation can no longer find
nonrishment In all these different re-
gions of society men live, and, no mat
ter in which particular regions they
~ f..f. Ill h.,rsa hi,
bearing the same mark. How strange
that among fellows there should be
such prodlgious difference In require
mentsl And here the analogies Of our
comparison fail us. Plants and ami
mails of the same families have iden-
tical wants. In human life we observe
quite the contrary. What conclusion
shall we draw from this IL not that
with us there is a considerable elastic
ity In the nature and number of needs?
IL It well, Is 1t favorable to the de
velopment OF the individual and his
happiness and to the development and
happiness Of society, that man should
have a multitude OF needs and bend his
energies to their satisfaction? Let us
return for moment to our comparison
with inferior beings. Provided that
their essential wants are satisfied, they
live content. Is this true of men? No.
In all classes OF society we find dis
content.
leave completely out Of the ques-
ton those who lack the necessities of
life. One cannot with justice count In
the number of malcontents those from
whom hunger, cold and misery wiring
complaints. ! am considering now that
multitude of people who live under con
ditions at least supportable. Whence
comes their heartburning? Why 10 1t
found not only among those of modest
though sufficient means, but also under
shades Of ever increasing refnement,
all along the ascending scale, even to
opulence and the SUBMITS OF social
placer They talk OF the contented mid
die classes. Who talk Of theml Peo-
pie who, judging from without, think
that as soon as one begins to enjoy
ease he ought to be satisfied. But the
middle classes themselves-do they
consider themselves satisfied Not the
least In the world. II there are people
at once rich and content, be assured
that they are content because they
know how to be so, not because they
are rich. An animal IL satisfied when
1t has eaten; It lies down and sleeps.
A man also can lie down and sleep for
q time, but 1t never lasts. When he be-
comes accustomed to this contentmcnt
he tires of 1t and demands n greater.
Mans appetite IL not appeased by
food; 1T Increases with eating. This
may seem absurd, but II is strictly
true.
And the fact that those who make
the most outcry are almost always
those who should find the best reasons
for contentment proves unquestionably
that happiness is not allied TO the num-
Der of our needs apd the zeal we put
into their cultivation. 1t IL for every
ones interest TO let this truth sink deep
into his mind. IL Il does not II he does
not by decisive action succeed in limit
ing his needs, hs risks descent, ineen-
6ible and beyond retreat, along the de-
clivity OF desire.
He who lives to eat, drink, sleep,
dress. take his walk-in short, pamper