The Topeka state journal., 1911-04-08

eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel
Is wise. Proverbs XII 16.
Many Of the greater and smaller
troubles of life and most of the mis-
fortune that devolps in it are due 20
an all too general habit among people
of going ahead and doing things alone
and wholly as their own judgments die
tate. Such folk are altogether too
prone to believe that they are quite
capable of standing on their own feet,
that they could not be benefited in any
way by help from any source, that they
will. in fact, be belittling themselves in
their own estimation and also in the re-
gard of others if they seek advice about
anything, Or any move they intend to
make.
Never were there more mistaken
ideas than those of this character. AS
matter of fact, a man, alone by him
self and left entirely to his own ideas
and devices, but frail creature. 1t
is possible, of course. for a man of rug
ged physique to go into the wilderness
with an axe on his shoulder and knife
in his belt and eke out a living, such as
it is. He can trap a few birds of the
air and conquer a few beasts of the
forests and fields. He can put some Of
these animals to work for him. and
make the rest of them yield the neces-
stiles OF life in the way Of food and
clothing. The sum-total of everything
that he is able to do, during the span
of an ordinary life, can never amount
to much materially. But let number
of men and women band together and
go into a wilderness; let them combine
their efforts and ideas, one helping the
other, and all working together, and
eventually what has been little mora
than a barren waste since the world
began will become civilized settle
ment. In time such a settlement will
develop into a community that will
grow into a state or a nation. Such
was the beginning Of these wonderful
United States. Such has been the be-
ginning of almost every nation that has
ever held a commanding place in his
tory. The familiar story of Robinson
Crusoe tells well what one man can do
all by himself, but all that he was able
to do really did not amount to very
much except that it merely kept his
body and soul together. All of his ac-
complishments did not help the world
progress one iota. On the other hand
the chronicles of the illustrious Hume
and the laborious Lingard tell of the
magnificent monuments shat have been
erected by the united efforts Of many
men.
A spirit of independence. an ability
and a desire to take the initiative. are
attributes of strong characters and
should be encouraged. But these can
not be developed in any man to their
highest and best degree without the
help, the advice, the wisdom of others
who have had the benefit of wider and
larger experiences. 1t is often unnec-
essary to go to persons direct for coun-
sci of this sort, although no one should
ever hesitate to take such a step. Much
of the advice that one needs can be
obtained from selected books, standard
works Of reference on all things under
the sun, recognized authorities on phil
osophy in all Of its ramifications.
The man who insists on going it
alone, who thinks that he is smart
enough to develop way of his own for
the doing of anything he may set his
mind upon, will sooner or later run to
the end of a rope that is fastened on
failure and disaster-unless, of course,
he be a real genius, but the real geni-
uses have been few and far between in
the history of all ages. Because man
thinks he is right in his own eyes and
that his way of doing things is the
best and only one. that is often far
from being the case. And as the words
quoted above suggest: The wise man
seeks counsel in all things and heeds
that which is best.