The Washington herald., 1908-02-13
THE OPTIMIST.

Most of the emotions. most or the
springs of human action are virtuous or
Vicious. not as they are used. but as they
are carried to excess. The too much OF
a good thing which Shakespeare phrused
in "As YoB Like It" has become an ak
ION Of our language. so universal Is the
Instinct that Incorporate indulgence IN
virtue may become Vicious and i'll.
have in mind what is pretty generally
regarded as one Of the worst Of vices
that Of selfshness, and yet, II We but
think Of it, there would have been mighty
little accomplished in the world had il
not been for that same emotion which
no human being was ever entirely with
out. What we mean by selishness to-day
in our common speech is selnshness at
the expense of others, and Il was with
the knowledge that some grain Of and
some exercise Of the proper sort Of selfish
ness was necessary 10 human accom-
plishment that Henry Ward Beecher de-
clared satiricaly that;
selhsbuess is that detestahle vice which no one
gill forgive ia others and no one is without him
self
And that is true; there is not one Of
US without the spirit Of selhshness' Il
lis as inexorablc a law as that 'self-pres-
ervation is the first law of nature. 1t
is. one may easily see. indeed. one Of
the primary duties to have a proper need
of selEshness.
For parent and for child for wife and friend,
our first great mover, and our last great end
Us ore and by whatever name He call
The ruling tyranJ. Sel9. is ali IN al.
Explore the dark recesses Of The mind
Ia the souls honest volume read mankind.
And own, IN wise and simple. great and small
The same grand leading principle in all.
While therefore. we have 10 admit
that seIdshness is an emotion that rightly
used in provocative Of great good. fur
nishes a stimulus TO our endeavor and
spurs Us on 10 90 our best IN the battle
Of life. and so-as mans best always
does-helps the world along, the great
care we must have is that selfishness
shall be our tool and not our master.
/ Self-love is not bad. if one loves him
that IN him which is Of Gods image,
but. as Franklin says:
That man alone loves himself rightly who pro
I CURES l1E kItatfeN A.fa To lliaeC-A L4tt''teA tttf
whole e his existence, and 80 puTsues pleasure a
not TO gife for 10 more than it is worth.
It is right and proper that we should
have self-iove and self-pride but these
| 90 be beneficial and not damnstory 10 Us
must be the result Of good that is in US;
/ Of things accomplished; kinduesses ex-
/ pressed. Cotton tells Us that
/ seIfpide is the daughter Of selfloge. and thf
] a. 4r-H
hHrates us on m0res it lends spring 60 Cur soy
and a pillow 70 our pains 10 heightens the zsst O
our uerc=Gsions aud softeus che severity Of De
pulse. and IL Is not until this IS MORALLY wounde.
/ within Us That the spirit 10 endure expires.
/ Without some thought Of selfshnes;
/ such virtues as self-sacrifce. self-Te
stralnt, seIf-respect are hardly possible
/ Il VIII not do for rs 10 iatter ourselves
/ that we are unselish when We scatter
our means. give away what We SHOULD
properly keep, buy for ourselves witt
money that probably has not cost Us
much the thanks and gratitude which
probably cost others enormously 10 give
! Goethe tells US:
/ Thy lot is appointed do follow its hest;
! Thy way Is begun, thou must walls and not rests
/ For sorrow ard sigains cannot sitter chs ease.
And running. not raging. VIII win thee the race.
/ That Is the theme Of all philosophers
/ that We must strive toward the end o
/ the race. not sit down. fold our hand
and wait. unselfshly declining 10 strug
/ gle for fear that our efforts may bar an
/ ether, less fortunate, out No. we mus
/ be regardful Of self before We can hell
( others. but having helped ourselves an,
/ found it good. the danger we have t
avoid is that we shall become wrapped
Iup i'm selhshness and live only for our
/ selves Optimism teaches US TO conque
/ that-to run the race as 1t is set beforf
US, but also TO have time and inclination
10 stop and help a brother on the road
We can ali do that; We can all help
little bit. according 10 our power, and
II we viii all help, this gray Old cart
viii be carried far along its path I
Heaven.