The Washington herald., 1911-08-07
By DOROTHY DIX.
A CORRESPONDENT asks this question:

n correspondent dShS lLis QucsliOn.
Does love blind one to the faults Of
another, or does it give one a deeper
insight into the real charm and goodness
of another that it unseen by the many7
That depends upon the kind Of love
and also upon the individual
Certainly, judging from the many un-
suitable matches we see, one is inclined
to say that love is not only blind, but
deaf and dumb, and afflicted with pare
sis
We observe men who have always
been avowed worshipers of female
beauty marrying women who are as
homely as the proverbial mud fence.
We see women who are dainty and cul-
tured and refined marrying men who
are coarse and ignorant. We can't pick
up a paper without reading Of an heiress
who has eloped with her chauffeur or
the stable man, or OF boy who has
married a woman old enough to be his
grandmama.
And the only way that we can ac-
count for these vagaries OF sentiment
is On the ground that Cupid has got
ophthalmia-or else that he has a long
distance telescope glued to his eye that
enables him to see charms and perfec-
tions in individuals that are invisible to
The balance of US.
Universal Comment.
The almost universal comment at a
wedding is: II can't imagine what he
saw in her to make him want to marry
her." and for heaven sake, what do
you suppose she saw in him that made
her pick him out for a husband?'' and
We go home pondering this mystery of
love darkly.
The truth Of the matter, so far as love
between man and woman is concerned,
is that it is entirely a matter of sex
attraction. and that neither eyesight nor
judgment plays any part in 1t whatever.
We love or We hate by instinct, and not
by reason. 1t is a matter OF the heart
not of the head.
A woman may see in a man every ad-
mirable quality, and yet her vision of
his perfectionS does not make her love
him. A man may perceive woman to
be the incarnation of all the desirable
feminine virtues, Vet this abstract knowl-
edge loes not quicken his pulse, or send
one thrill through his veins.
On the contrary, woman may observe
with perfect clearness every defect that
a man has, and love him none the less
for them.
It is part of the biessedness OF love
that it does not require perfection of its
object
Not every adoring husband thinks his
plain Maria a living picture. He isn't
blind to the fact that she has a snub
nose and carroty hair and figure like
q feather bed. Nor does his affection
enable him to look into her mind and
see a wit and intelligence that the gen.
eral public does not see, and that, in
reality. are not there. He se.s her just
ordinary and commonplace as she is, but
he loves her just the same.
If most of us would canvass the list
of those We love best we would find that
We convicted them of a thousand de-
fectS and weaknesses. Indeed, we do
not love people for their projections, but
for their faults Every drunken scape-
grace. every high-tempered woman has
a hundred friends where your model
Sunday school scholar and perfect little
lady has none.
Parental Love BIfndest of All.
The one place, however, where love is
not only blind. but has pads over its
eyes, is parental love. Men and women
love each other in spite of their faults,
but parents actually perceive no faults.
There is probably not a mother alive