The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1910-01-20

idpPy, DAYS the 0redt rus.
sian Reformer-The Attain
ment of This Aim Depends
Upon the Conception We
Have Of Our Lives - To
Wish All Men Happiness
Forever, Means to Love All
Men.
The great Russian reformer, Count
Lyef n Tolstoi, the idol OF the Rus
sian peasant and a thorn in the side
OF Russian dPspotism, gives the fol-
lowing as his farewell message to the
world:
My farewell message to the world
at my age every greeting is also a
farewell-is my view as to how life
should be framed in order that it may
be henCefOrth, not as heretofore bad
and sad, but as God wishes and as
we wish ourselves; that is, that it
may be full Of happiness and content
ment.
The attainment of this aim depends
upon the conception we have of our
lives. If my conception Of life is that
my body (the body of John, Peter, or
Nary is given me in order that |
may find in it as much pleasure, Joy
and fortune as possible. In that case
my life must always, under all cir
cumstances, be miserable or bad
| The reason is that what desire every
one else desires. As every one wants
the greatest amount of pleasure, and
as the sum total ofpleasure remains
the same, there is not enough to go
round. Therefore, every man who
lives for himself must take something
Others unhappy. Even those who
attain their purposes are never hap
py; they are tortured lest Others
should deprive them of their wealth,
and envy others who have accumu-
lated more than they.
The life of all men who live in the
body must be miserable. All such
men are unhappy. Life is given to us
for real happiness. But to attain
such happiness man must under
stand that the real life is not in the
body; that happiness is not reached
in obeying the body's dictates, but in
obeying the dictates of the spirit
which lives in all men. The spirit
asks for spiritual happiness. And as
the spirit is one in all men it asks for
the happiness of all. To wish all men
| happiness forever, means to love all
men. And the more man loves, the
freer and more joyful is his life.
The world is so constituted that de-
spite the best efforts no man can live
as his body demands, because what
his body demands is sometimes unat-
tainable; and even if it be attained,
that is only at the cost of fighting
with others. But the spirit, the soul
can always live happily, because all
that it demands is love, and to at
tain love no man has to fight with
another. The more man loves the
nearer is he drawn to others. Why
then do we not love? Each will be
happier and he will make others hap
pier and more cOntented at the same
time.
All holy and wise men of the world
and Christ Himself, taught that Oul
life is miserable through ourselves
that Power that sent us into life
which Power we call God, did not
send us in order that we might tor
ture ourselves, hut rather that WI
might attain the happiness which W.
all desire. They taught also that W.
fail to attain the desired happiness
only when we misunderstood life, anC
do as we ought not to do.
We complain of life, we complain
that it is i'll ordered. We fail to un
derstand that it is not our life whicl
= is i'll ordered, but that the mistake
is ours in doing what we ought not
to do. We act as acts a drunkarC
! who complains that there are toe
many drink shops, forgetting thai
the drink shops could not exist l
there were not so many drunkards
Life is given to US that it should bt
happy. 1t is our own business te
make it happy. The way to make il
a certain chain of unbroken happines:
is to live in love and not in hatred.
We hear on all sides that life is baC
and miserable because of it's bad in
stitutions; we need only, we are told
to change the bad institutions into
good ones and life will change fOl
the better. Do not believe that any
particular institution can make lift
better or worse. Those people whC
most thirstily seek for the best institu
tions are themselves living in discorC
and quarreling. The institution
which some propose as the best other
declare to be the worst; they desir
to substitute their own ideals, whicl
opponents agree to be very bad. AnC
even if all institutions were the bes
conceivable, men could not live witt
them owing to their being used to 1
bad life, and we are content with 1t
We pretend that wewould live bette
among better institutions. But hoJ
could institutions be better while mel
remain bad?
Must men bemade better? At pres
ent all they dois promise you a goo'
life if you, leading a bad life, figh
with other men, overthrow them b.
force, and kill them in order to attain
better conditions of life That is, yo
are promised a better life if you be
come worse than you are. That is
delusion. There is only one way t.
attain a better life, and that is to be
come q better man.
Happiness, the happiness OF your
self and Others, can never be base
upon the fallible institution sustaine
by force, but only upon the health {
the soul. Only through the soul ca
the individual or the community al
tain the greatest happiness. The tru
happiness which every human hear