The Washington herald., 1907-11-19
THE OPTIMIST.


I hope that no reader Of 'The opti-
mist" so mistakes the doctrine Of good
Will. which IS the essence OF true Op-
timism. ais 10 believe that the hopeful,
lOok-for-the-best plan Of life viii mean
that we are sure 10 b. answered in
kind. Try az we may % win the good
VIII of our fellows. yet are we sure to
be misunderstood. and where. By our
acts and thoughts. We expect % reap
only harvest " friends. yet We may
be certaln-7uch ~ the perverseness Of
human lfc-IO reap with the good grain
certain harvest Of tares. which are
enemies Life i made Up Of so many
complex conditions. 80 many cOntTadic-
uons. that The wise man r. he who is
able 10 find some virtue even IN the
evils Of life Few things are finer than
friendship, that frlendshIp-when Hand
GnsDs hand ege LIGHTS ~se In good friendship.
And great hearts expand
And gT9E one 10 The sense n this worlds life
as Browning says. And yet
The frieudshlps q the world are oft
Confcdcraclcs la vice. or leagues Of pleasure.
My contention Is that our enemies are
useful. Everything IN life Is useful Il
we have strength and sanity 20 turn IL
to good account. It is hard. indeed. for
friendship not 10 hatter and lead Us 20
believe that we are doing better than
our actions show: the voice OF friend
ship is not always the voice OF truth.
Ike that saying Of Hayden:
Never disregard what your enemies say. They may
= so fnHrFH D. q
termined % see in only one direction but still in
that direction thev clearly. They DO not SPEAK
All the truth. but they generally speak the truth
from one POINT Of view; far as that g0es attend
% them.
Dom Piatt said once. 'The man that
has no enemies has no following" and
am inclined 70 think that in spite Of
certain air of smart cyniclsm about
the aDothegm. it Is true. II depends on
ourselves entirely in what class our enc
miles are A poet said once that a man
is known by his friends. 7 think il is
truer that he is known by his enc
mics, for, as La RochefoucaUld said
once
Our enemies c1mc nearer the truth in the opinions
they form Of us than We do in ous opinions q our
selves
The man that is immoral, a spend
thrift Of his time. his energy. and his
money. is sure 20 find his enemies among
the right-living, the upright. and worthy
people Of the world. He viii find that
they are not SO much the enemies OF
himself as they are Of the paths he fol-
lows. the companions that lead him as
tray. His friends-s0-called-in his wrong
environment are in reality the very
worst, the most subtle. and the most
damnatory Of his enemies.
Give me the avowed. tie erect. the manly zoe.
Bold can meet-TerhaEs rray turn his blow.
But o. al pasIes. good Heaven. thy wrath can send
Save me. save. Oh. save me from Che candid friend
The old Persian philosophers were
quick 20 recognize the value OF an enemy;
they realized that enemies were valu-
able. The advice given by an enemy it
were only common sense 10 avoid Saadi
in ''The Gulistan." said.
Avoid that which on enemy tells YOU 70 do: fo- II
you follow ais advise. you VIII snite yorr knees
with the hand a Slrr0r- Il be shows you a road
straight as arrow. turn from DO aad 50 Che other
way.
Il is neither by our friends nor our
enemies that We can win toward the
goal Love VIII help US on the way.
for love IS true and honest. where mere
friendship is umorOus and afraid, for
friendships sake; and IL We use them
right. our enemies can help US nightly.
But. after all, the real help must be
within ourselves We must not only see
the right clearly, but have the courage
20 do IT, Irrespective Of friend or enemy.
and even as the potter takes vile mud
and transforms IL into beautiful things.
so may we take The evil things Of life
enemies among the number-and trans
form them 20 our own good. And We
may remember always that Il is not in
the power OF any enemy 10 do us half
the harm that We may do unto ourselves.
II our impulses BE- right. our incentives
-trong enough within our own souls. on
purpose strong. and our ideals high,
though friendship may make the weary
path we have 10 tread more pleasant
enmity cannot halt us. nor place enough
obstacles in our path 10 keep Us from
the ultimate good toward which the op-
I timistic soul is constantly striving.