Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1912-12-18
BEING JUST HUMAN.
DIR. Frank Crane Gives Idea of What
1t Means to be just
Human.

What does it mean to be-just hui
man?
1t means to love folks; to be
drawn instinctively to any human be-
ing; to gaze on the face of every
passer-by with curiosity; to feel the
heart warm little even when look
ing at an old portrait in book of
one who lived five hundred years ago;
to have a sense of uneasiness in soli-
tude, so that one wants to hunt up
the sewing maid or the janitor for a
bit of talk; to find pleasure in watch
ing from window the people in the
street; to have every man and woman
tempt to acquaintanceship to see in
every room, where people live, some
thing to pique the imagination; to
follow with the eyes every schoolboy
and wonder what home he comes
from, what companionship he goes
to. and what dreams occupy his soul;
to feel awe at every old house, des-
erted and desolate, because human
laughter has rung there; to reverence
every church because men have wor-
shipped there; to feel touch upon
the soul at the sight of name carved
ed on tree, because human feeling
is traced there; to hate war, because
it means the determination of men
and the spelling of mans handiwork;
to love human qualities in the birds,
beasts and things, as the fidelity of
the dog, the playfulness and affection
of the cat, the whisicality of the par
rot, the docility of the horse and COW,
the water that babbles, the fire that
talks and dances, the wind that sobs.
1t means to be touched with pity
at all human misfortune; to have a
pang shoot thru you when anothers
finger is crushed; to shed tears when
anothers heart is broken; to feel sad
dened at the thought of the many
lives that are dull and hopeless; to
y
of the multitude; to be shattered and
rocked in the depths of the soul at
the sight of a prison or a madhouse;
to seek in ones least words and ways
to cheer and help any human being
one may meet; to smile against ones
grain for another's sake; to have an
unconquerable aversion to causing
pain or even embarrassment; to avoid
drawing attention to ones own sue
own talent before the ungifted, to
ones own health and beauty before
the diseased or ugly; to be insincere
rather than unfeeling, so one pretends
to enjoy nightly the box of sweets
"a little child has given, though one
inwardly detests them; to spare the
feelings of the washerwoman as read
lily as the feelings of the banker; to
seek to set anyone at ease who ap-
proaches with shyness; when one
asks the road to go with him a little
way; to treat with all respect all who
wish to become acquainted; to be
gracious when in a surly mood; to lis
ten patiently and interestedly to the
egotism, the domineering and the
opinionated, and to encourage the
hesitant and diffiident; to try to find
some points upon which we can agree
with every one; to shun all conflicts
and to seek all fellowships; to take
some part in movements for the pro-
lection of the weak, so that one
helps do something in an organized
way Of the rights OF children of la
borers, of criminals, of the crippled
and the defective, or the common cit
izen against systematic plans to prey
upon him.
To respect every human being and
despise none; to shrink from spoil
ing any mans ideal or hope; to shun