Newark post., 1910-06-15
Address by DR.. Corkran
INTROSPECTION OR SELF KNOWL-
EDGE

There are days, periods and events
i'll life that are highly conducive to
retrospectlon. lntrospectiOn and pros
pectlon, such as birthday anniversaries.
New Gears Day and graduation day.
The very fact that this is the close OF
your public school life as students
makes it fitting time to take ac
count OF stock, lay plans and gather
inspiration. Retrospection IS a pleas
ing, instructive and stimulating eNer-
else. 1t deals with the scenes. activ
ties and results OF the past All his
tory and biography is the product Of
retrospection. Paul. the great OPTIC
mistic prospectionist though he lived
in the future. was also retrospection-
list. No man reviewed the past more
than he and none proiited more by
such review But retrospection only
writes history. biography. 1t is bet
ter to MAKE history than to write it.
| | warn young people against giving an
| undue proportion Of your lives to the
| past. The golden age OF this world is
| not in the past but in the future, and
you are to help to bring it to hand.
| Yet warn you with equal emphasis
against an undue projection OF your
selves into the future. The man who
forgets the past and icnores the pres
ert is the day dreamer. the visionist
who counts for naught in the world
| upliit. There is an irrational optimism
that ignores the relation between cause
and effect and expects to reap where it
has not sown. The relation between
| tomorrow and today 10 as vital as that
| between the foundation and the super
| structure. The makers OF history. the
| builders OF empires. the guiding gen,i
| Of the worlds thought and effort are
| the men and women whose focal point
! oi time is the present, who expect the
| dawning OF the new day not br d ris-
| ng sun but by a revolving earth. |
| would rot clip the wings OF vour hopes
and aspirations ior the heights belong
to you, but at high prce and you
| must first earn the price. Running
proceeds flying. and walking must
| proceed rum u2. 1t is the law of evo-
luton, cause ard etfect. The higher
must be embraced in the ,ower-tne
boy is the father of the man. the
acorn must include the oak. Hence
We reach the subject of ~ hour--iIl-
truspection or Seif-knowledee.
| Whether we shall ever have retro
Spect or a prospect depends not upon
the past or the future. but it depends
upon what We are i'll relation to the
present. So exhort you. my young
lr:cncs, to begin aud to prosecute "a
you never have the difficult task oi
self-knowledgc. Know thyscli'' is 4
motto that | want you to print il
characters OF fire and hang in the most
irequeIied chamber oi thought. and
10 its realization | want you to give
the supreme hours oi your lie. be
cause this is fundamental The alpha
bet runs through and makes all iitera
ture. the addition, subtraction and mul
tiplication tables run through | ma
thematics, So seli-know' 'edoe is fun
damcutal to all knowledge and al
achievement that is nf worth. So lacl
OF this is to be ignorant nf the instr,l
ment through which we work and com,
III contact and ally ourselves with the
forces about us. 1t is for the teacher
To be ignorant of the book he tcaches ;
i Continued on page y