Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-06
CULTURE OF SCIENCE.
Character is the Foundation Of All
Working Power.

Nothing could be more misleading than
the Impression, so widely held that sue
cess in work depends entirely upon char
acter and skill. These are two great ele-
ments. but there Is third, quite as i'm
portant for the best results. Chara cter is
the foundation Of all working power Of the
highest kind; skill is the quality which
makes it possible to use the best tools in
the best way; vivid interest and freshness
OF spirit are the atmosphere In which all
work ought to be done and which ought to
pervade and envelop all work. "As You
Like 1t" rests on solid basis Of thought
The play is constructed and written with
the highest kind of skill, but its charm lies
very largely in the extraordinary freshness
of feeling which pervades it, and which
gives 1t the atmosphere of the forest and
the joy of the free life. Americans rarely
need to be urged to put more energy into
what they do, and they are coming to I'M
derstand, as they have never understood
before, the necessity of doing their work
with the skill which comes from thorough
training.
while these qualities insure competency,
they do not insure interest Work done in
spirit of the highest integrity and in the
most expert way is often entirely mechan-
ical and embarrassing from lack of fresh
ness. vivacity and vividness of interest
One must not only plant his work on solid
basis of character, and do 1t with expert
ness, but he must keep alive that spirit of
youth which Stevenson declared was the
perennial spring of all the faculties That
modern men are beginning to understand
this Is evident from the wide popularity of
such books as The Simple Life and kin
dred studies In repose, non-resistance, alb
sence Of haste quiet adjustment between
the worker, his task and his surroundings.
Few people understand the drain on the
nervous system which is caused by the
noises of modern life-noises in no sense
modern. There are no cities in the world
which are more resonant with sound than
oriental towns, where at certain hours of
the day and in certain localities there is
not only an incessant murmur of human
voices, but a chorus of loud, piercing cries.
The little towns in Europe and the smaller
English cities are like babbling brooks
when evening comes and the people fill the
streets. Paris is, all things considered the
noisiest city in the world. There has come
into modern life greater variety Of sound
and a greater volume than assailed the ears
of our ancestors. Now, to keep ones fresh
ness there ought to be zone Of silence
around every human being during some
part of every day. 1t Is significant that
the great religions of the world have come
out of silence and not out of noise; and the
hnest creative work Is done, as rule, in
seclusion; not necessarily apart from men,
nor In solitary places, but away from the
tumult and away from distracting sounds
1t Is in silence alone that we come into
pOSScSSiOu OF ourselves. Inc noises OF life
disturb us as cloud Of dust intervenes be-
tween the eye and the sky. There ought
to be cult for the practice of silence-a
body Of men and women committed to the
preservation Of the integrity of their souls
by neither hearing nor making speech for
certain periods, pledged to the culture of
the habit of quietness. Maeterlinck has
pointed out the fact that the best things
are never spoken, and the truest intercourse
between congenial spirits is carried on
without words. II we said less and thought
more there would be far fewer things to
explain, many sources of irritation would
be dried up at the sources, and the prime
cause Of irritation, which Is nervous ex-
haustion or excitement, would be removed
There was organized in Paris, years ago, a
society for the culture Of silence. On the
occasion Of the initiation of distingu:she
man of letters a bowl OF water was brought
out to him in a room where he was walt
ing in solitude. He studied it moment
placed rose upon it and sent 1t back The
water bore the rose without OVERLOOKING
To the members assembled in another
room the act was the most convincing evil
dence that the initiate comprehended the
purpose of the fellowship, and was pre-
pared in spirit to become one of the COM
pany. The act was symbol which Ameri-
cans may wisely study.