Los Angeles herald., 1910-08-28
RIpIcULE

SO pertinent ana duNlCe 81 6OOu bhoI
we publish it in full.
Ridicule is a powerful weapon for
the reformer or the politician. Many
a bubble of folly has been pricked
with the point of a pen, ana many
an abuse which never would have
yielded to the sword has quailed be-
fore the shaper and more deadly at
tack of the funmaker.
However valuable may be this
weapon in its way, 1t has no place in
everyday life. 1t should be hung up
on the wall, like ancestored armor, to
be gazed at respectfully or, better
still, should be buried, as the Indian
brave buried his tomahawk in times
of peace, for it is a two-edged sword
and often hurts the one who wields 1t
quite as much as his opponent.
The teacher who yields to the temp
tation of making fun of dull pupil
often does 1t in the hope of stimulat-
ing him, but it is dangerous expert
ment, for it arouses antagonism, and
that always is fatal to progress.
Don't ridicule others; this may well
be the motto of every one who wants
to make and keep friends
II you are known for your ability 10
say clever, sharp things about your ac-
auaintances, you may be sure that you
will have a very insecure place in your
social world, for the sharp-tongued
man OF WOIllGH always 10
Another excellent motto to follow, IL
one would succeed socially, is: Don't
ridicule yourself.
You say that few people do this.
Alas All too many, without reallzlns
what they are doing, ridcule them
selves until others, taking them at
their own estimate, feel only contemp-
tuous pity for them, when in reaiity
they deserve a better opinion. For in
stance, do not say, "How very stupid
of mel when you have made very
trivial mistake You know In your
own heart that the tr.fling error did
not indicate stupidity at all, but II
YOU keep on saying that you are
stupid. your friends soon will believe
II IF YOU have made a blunder, no
good is accomplished by relating the
circumstance to someone who has not
heard of 1t, AS a matter of fact, un-
less YOU find an acquaintance IN oah-
ger of making the same blunder you
once made, in which case telilhg your
experience might save her from SIM
liar disaster, no one wants 10 kho"
of your mistakes small or large
Another thing to remember; You
cannot afford to ridicule your personal
anuearance, for ii is the easiest mat
ter in the world to get reputation TOT
plainness, if one IS blessed merely with
the average degree of good looks.
If you are redlly uSaueiAN' " cc
ridiculing yourself is but an allec'a-
zion. If YOU are really homely, IL Is
nainful for your friends to near you
talk of vour affliction. SO, IN any
case il is a mistake to call attention.
to any defect . ,xo.
The following story illustrates my
point
There was once a girl of average
good looks. who lived in little mld-
1Ie-vestern town. AS a child, her
brothers had teased her because her
hair was of the 'tow" variety and be-
cause freckles adorned her snub nose.
So she grew UP with the firm convlc-
tion that she was hopelessly ugly.
Now. nodesty is a sweet virtue IN
woman, but this girls modesty was
unite oyerdone. Her mother was re-
tiring little woman with no social am
bition. and she had no sister to cor
rect her errors. Therefore Mary
gradually developed the habit of ridi-
culing herself Her hair, sne insisted,
was no color at all; her eyes were
green: of her nose she quoted a
phrase from one OF her favorite auth
ors-that sit answered every purpose
for which nose was created, except
the trifling one of adornment." And
she added that when she looked in the
mirror she was reminded of the re-
mark of an old lady who saw the
hippopotamus at the Zoo: my, amt
he plain!" The result was that her
many friends always spoke of her as
poor Mary isn't-it-a pity -she's-so-
plain
In n town which like Crawford,