The Washington herald., 1907-10-31
THE OPTIMIST.

IN ehfoilHs oneself under the banner
of optimism, one finds himself directly
under the leadership OF Jesus Christ,
who was the greatest optimist, though
shere had been optimists before him.
Plato was the high priest OF optimism.
and 1t was the virtues in him, which we
have since learned TO call Christian,
which made him so. Aurelius was an op-
tmist, and so was Emerson, and you
Will mark as you recall others, that
these were men Of simple life, and the
lesson we may derive from what they
have left Us is that 10 live simply is
10 live happily, usefully, and with
strength.
There Is a great value In a simple mind.
Life is complex. but that need not make
us So Really the only guide we need to
happiness is to be honest with ourselves
and with others. The one thing dam
natory and booming US 10 the depths Of
gloomy pessmism Is that we should lie
TO ourselves. On, how we do cheat our
selves sometimes, and how surely how
inevitably such cheating is bound TO re-
act on us-how inexorably the price is
exacted.
We spend altogether too much time
and Worry about our dogmas. cur creeds.
our beliefs. Really they matter very lit
tie either 10 ourselves or the world.
One must believe, as l said the other
day, In the fact that he has IN i'm
mortal soul, but in attempting TO solve
the enigma Of our existence we are too
la rfr
when the broad. sunny road of nature
lies right before US II we viii only live
our lives according 20 the laws OF ma
ture how sweet and healthfui may be
kept our intellectual and moral lives.
DO not believe that adherence 10 the
optimistic view implies that We Should
shut our hearts % suffering, OF duh our
sensibiliues. Marcus Aurelius was an
optimist. but an optimist Of the negative
sort, as a great teacher and a moral
aelp he viii stand while the world lasts.
but through all his teaching there runs
the vein of melancholy sadness. Eme.-
son, who was OF the Greeks was an
optimist Of the cheerful sort. Always
he kept the vision before his eyes. saw
life sanely. and saw Il whole; str0ve on
h's way through The maze OF doubts and
fears, wearing a smile on his lips. anC
with serene broWs. "NOt ali existing
things are best" he said. but for the
best" and steadily he believed that "all
things gravitate toward the good"
J. the optimist, seeking % help my
SELF learn that in seeking for my owr.
good I find it for others, and nothing
is more helpful than the letters which
come TO me from people who were
b. hrr vrf
shows me are OF my kin Always. I
md that the desire is not 10 be helped.
but 20 have some guide by which they
may help themselves. TO these OF my
fellow men / would urge. remember Wal
ter ScJtt's dying adjuratiOn and BE a
good man. my dear. There is no other
help but that; no happiness possible but
that Without goodness there can be no
development Of the soul. with goodness
one feels himself "a part Of the wide uni
verse. IN harmony with God.
Il is for each Of us. each I'm his sep
arate star" 20 strive constantly by our
lives and our example 20 reveal the
truth, and while we strive thus-no mat
ter how bitterly we fail-the trend must
be upward. Striving thus I'm healthy
optimism, We shall hud the good neutral
izing the bad, We shall attain sanity OF
thought and feeling. and shall bear with
eqUanImity the ever-present conditions OF
suffering under which We live
And above ali. no unkindness. Life is
so brutally short that there is no time
for misunderstanding and hurts Let
lae heart sometimes dominate the intel
lect. Believe iT the right. even though
Oft deceived, and know IN your soul that
II YOU have known the tender love Of
even one kindred spirit you have q most
potent arnor against all the powers
Of H.
IT Is all summed up so simply by Christ
in his Love one another" That means
everything. for love is
All alteration. duty. and Observance.
All humb.eue7s sll patience. ard imuatie-ce.
AH purity. al trsl. ali Observance.
as Shakespeare says Or. as Scott said.
better. in his Lay Of the Last Minstrel
True loves the rift uhicl Go9 hath given
10 man alone beneath che heaven,
Il is not faBtasys bot fre.
Whose wishes. soon rs granted die.
i is the secret 9muathy.
The silver link the siiksn tie
Which hssrr % heart. and mind 20 m.nd
lu body and lu soul can bind