The Washington herald., 1910-09-11
By THE OPTIMIsT.


one Of selhshness is regarded as about
the worst, and yet, II we but come to
think about it, there would have been
mighty little accomplished in the world
had 1t not been for that same emotion
which no human being was ever entirely
without.
What We mean by selfshness to-day
in our common speech is selnshness at
the expense OF others. and it was with
a knowledge that some grain of and
some exercise Of the proper sort Of SELF
ishness was necessary 70 human accom-
plishment that Henry Ward Beecher de-
clared satirlcally that:
selfshness is that detestable vice which no one
viii forgive 10 others and no is without him.
self
And that is true; there is not one OF
US without selhshness; il Is as inexor-
able a law as that MISREPRESENTATION is
the first law Of nature" It is. II one
considers 1t rightly. one of the primary
duties TO have a proper need OF selfish
ness
For parent and for child. for wife and friend.
Or first srvSs mover and our last great end
Is one; and BY whatever name call
The ruling tyrant Self is all in all.
Explore the dark recesses Of the mind:
In 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 to admit that
seiashness. in an emotion that rightfully
used is provocative Of good. furnishes a
stimulus 70 our endeavor and spurs US
on to do our best in the battle Of life. the
great care we must have is that selfish
ness shall be our tool and not our mas
ter. Self love is not bad, If one loves
himself cleanly and honestly and admires
that within himself that is of Gods i'm
age. But, as Franklin says:
That man alone loves himself rightly who pro
cures the geates good TO himself through the whole
Of his existence. and so pursues pleasure as not %
give for Il more than il is worth.
It is right and proper that we should
have self-love and self-pride and the
right kind OF selhshness; but these, to be
beneficial and not damnatory. must be
the result Of the good that is In us-of
things accomplished; kindnesses ex-
pressed.
We must be regardful of self before
we can help others. Having helped 9TH
ers and ourselves the danger is that we
should sit down content and wait: not
running the race that is set before US
Optimism teaches US to avoid this err
rOr-it teaches us 20 find time to stop
and help the weaker brother by the way
side We can all do that. We can all
help little bit according to our power
and. II unselfshly we all help. our striv-
ings will do much 10 help this grey old
earth along It's path to heaven.
JUST BETWEEN OURSELVES.
I trust you all heed the call set forth on
another part OF this page. for next Sun
day 1 do want all of the members Of
the Optimist Club to contribute. want
70 see all OF your names on the page
Your contributions may be only a word
or two, but in that word you can tell US
the reason for the optimistic faith that
is In you. To see ell your names next
Sunday viii be a hrit incentive to me, on
whose shoulders the burden Of getting
the clubs contributions together. the
awarding Of subjects and the selection
OF prize winners falls. I'd like to have
a little encouragement too, once in a
while. and nothing will help so much as
the tangible evidence OF your interest
that have asked for next Sunday.
And please don't think that in asking
for those who have not contributed often
TO come forward now that I am. in any
degree sighting our old tried and true
members. Your contributions have been
our mainstay; our greatest help and en-
couragement.
have letters this week asking for re-
plies by mail Some ;nquirers ask for
fuller details as 10 our contests. Surely
the various announcements we make on
Wednesdays and Sundays make things
plain. Other contributors ask that if
their essays are not TO be used they may
be returned by mail I am sorry but it
is practically impossible for me to com
ply with these requests. have too little
time.
Other contributors write to ask me. in
case they should win prize, to forward
the check to this charity or that. While
am very glad to see that sometimes
the optimists are glad to use their prizes
in doing good. I simply cannot undertake
TO be their almoner. Again. It is not that
would not Ike to do II X ] could
Some Of the letters 1 get, though, are
very CHEEKY and helpful Many com
mend US for the good work we are doing.
Letters come from Tar and near telling
how helpful our Optimist page is One
letter this week is from a friend who has
been laid up several weeks with a brok-
en- shoulder. and his communication is
written. evidently, with some pain. but
still he forgets his injury long enough
10 contribute. Isn't that the fine spirit
that should inform all of US?
For all your helpfulness-your words
Of encouragement, your fine contribu-
tons. many thanks. May God be with
you all during the coming week. Crate
fully yours. THE oprDtrSr
Honorable Mention.
Every human being has right to be
allowed every qualification which pro-
Iuces no harm to others and 10 be spared