The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-09-18

that is bright and beautiful II we allow
our spirits 10 be enveloped In despond-
ency and gloom II there is only one
star shining In dark sky let us look
at that until the mist clears away and
the whole heavens are blaze OF light.
ALICE MCFARLAND.
Il am not rich in heaping piles OF yellow
gold
But when the bubbling nightingale has
told
Her dream of twilight to the glist'nins
Ny heart o'erhows, so much of Joy
hold"
Optimism is to the soul what the air OF
heaven is TO the body. l cannot live
without either.
l am an optimist because want to live.
and I know that life without optimism
is mere drab existence. To ask an OPP
timist why he is one is like asking the
birds why they sing and soar and fly
up into the blue vault of the sky; II Is
Ike asking the sparkling brook why il
splashes and rippIes and goes laughing on
its way.
] am an optimist because optimism is
the true JOY of living. The optimist
wants TO exelaim. with Peter Pan. out of
the pure ecstacy Of happiness:
Il am youth. am hope, / am the little
bird just out of the egg; / am JOY. JOY.
Joyr' v.M. REEVES
] am an optimist because I look upon
the bright side OF things and would
/ never see the dark side IL il were not
pointed out 20 me. hence can claim no
credit for being one.
l am an optimist because the sunshine
Is so interviewer with the very fiber Of
my being that could not be a pessimist
| II desired 10 be-
Mrs ADDIE L. HERNDoN.
! How can an Optimist tell why he is an
| optimist any more than the musician can
| tell why he makes such beautiful music?
/ Optimism is a gift-it comes from
| within.
/ In the hearts Of every one there must
| lie-perhaps dormant-the capacity for
| happiness. The object of the Optimist
/ Club is 10 arouse this instinct.
/ Unhappiness and all forms of evil. in
| GLIDING the crouch" and "p1ssimism,"
need not be allowed 10 flourish. if only
the light OF optimism is turned full upon
| them The trouble is that many of US
are optimists and do not realize it. And
those OF us who are optimists know that
We are. but do not know exactly why.
] u -Ha=a 10.
want the whole world 10 be happy. too.
! I think l am an optimist because !
/ can't help seeing that II is the best and
surest road 10 happiness. cOntentment.
and success. that II stirs one 20 a realiza-
ton OF the finer things of life, and is
an everlasting JOY in the daily existence.
BELLE G SAUNDERS.
Because this is a beautiful world. with
all the elements Of happiness all about
us. and II We cannot enjoy ourselves
here how can one hope to be happy if
thrust unprepared into a ready-made
/ heaven.
Because the sun shines to-day, and We
know It will shine to-morrow-if not on
! ourselves. then on somebody else
Because there IS more of good in the
world than there is OF evil
Because the heart OF the universe Is
/ right, and everything VIII come out right
! in the end.
! The great English writer (Fielding)
said: Though fortune may make thee
often unhappy. it can never make thee
irreparably miserable without thine own
consent
Every optimist has faith in the divine
| order OF things. and can say with the
! Psalmist; Though he Stays me. yet will
I trust in Him"
Because it is the best policy. and even
as a business investment it Will pay
dividends. Nv BIsBEE
Before joining the Optimist Club I
thought ii would be a spirit Of heartless-
ness TO be cheerful in time Of trouble; but
since, from practical experience. have
! found IT the contrary, as Il is then We
need the optimist spirit more than ever.
Its spirit helps in a physical sense, and,
! if true optimists ourselves, cannot but
help Influence others 10 join the same
/ club
| 1 think Happiness" would make a
good subject for some time.
| Mss. ". A. McGRATH.
| I am an optimist because l believe in
| hopefuiness and in cheerfulness. I am
| firmly OF the opinion that our mental at
titude exerts powerful influence on the
health of the body. Hence a CHEEKY.
| hopeful outlook acts like a tonic
II strengthens and invigorates the body
In so far as others are concerned, I
am an optimist because I believe eeds
TO be more potent than words. and if
my actions can influence those about me
want that influence to be the best
! ARTHUR LENOX.
| ! am an optimist because:
How long we live not yeaEs but actions
| tell;
That man lives twice, who lives the first
| life we'll"
! Optimism is a great contributing force
to the physical. moral, and spiritual up
/ lift of mankind. It ennobles the intellect.
and inkindles the heart, instilIing in both
that grandest of doctrine. the fatherhoOd
! Of God and the brotherhood OF man
| Therefore. being a rational creature.
enroll myself under its banner, and with
the poet declare:
I'VE live in deeds, not years; in thought
not breath;
In feelings. not in figures on the dial
We should count time by the heart-throbs
| when they beat
For God. for man, for duty. He most
| lives
| Who thinks most. feels noblest. acts the
| best
This is the true measure OF life, the true
| spirit Of optimism. and. therefore. 1 am
/