Omaha daily bee., 1912-03-12
Sympathy Test Of Character
BY VIRGINIA TERHuNE VAN DE WATER

'rm lots more sorry for people In
trouble than I am for people In good
iuckl- declared a blum. man.
The people In good luck don't need
sympathy 80 much remarked his friend
"Probobly that Is why you don't rejoice
with them so thoroughly"
mo" was the honest reply. Its be-
cause I always. away down In my heart,
contrast the unfortunate chaps condition
with mine. and that prevents my Joy for
him being as wholesale and big as would
be my pity for him were he In trc able.
suppose. after all. II 10 because insilne-
lively one draws comparisons between
ones own luck and that OF the other fell
low"
The remark was painfully true with re-
gard TO human nature In general.
II never knew" said one woman. how
much good there was In human nature
until I was In trouble"
"And L. said another. never apprs-
ciated how much mean and petty envy
there was in human nature untii l had a
stroke OF good luck.
The last speaker had had more than
her share Of hard times, financial
straits and wearing dissppointments, and
through them all her friends had been
glad to help her when they could. But
now she was smartlng under the first
appreciation Of the fact that there are
| some people who find II easier 70 mourn
with those who mourn than 10 reJoic,
with those who rejoire. The friends whs
( had felt a pleasure. a glow Of self-right'
eous content In helping her over her dif.
ficulties and in playing Lady Bountiful TO
her In her necessities, found II not all
together pleasant to see her fortunes
soaring above their own.
Don't let your head be turned by your
success, a friend warned one who, aftsf
quartsr-century OF patient, unrecog-
nlsed labor was beginning TO como into
his own.
There IL no danger" was the grave
reply. There are always some people
standing ready with humps of mud 70
hit that same head II Il rises too high
above the stagnant spa of the common
place"
This is not all pessimIsn or eynieism.
HaANic Va thc RNasSA thNAe
Is for misfortune a pity that h almost
divine. and sorrow and suffering draw II
forth. II speaks well for hs men and wo-
men that the trouble of our neighbors
actually mars our own happiness, coming
between us and our pleasant occupations,
giving US a genuine heart ache when
we remember the friend who sits In the
shadow while we reval in the sunlight
And yet, when we look at the other side
Of the picture. we cannot deny that there
are persons who do not symnathIze as
generously with those who are sad. The
very Joy and light heartedness OF the
care-free sometimes brings into sharper
rellf our less fortunate estate: their
freedom from heavy burdens reminds IA
OF the weight Of those we must bear.
II takes a nature Of unusual generality
and nobility to be glad for the friend who
il passing one on ones upward climb
Somehow. we say II is not fair. Have
we not worked, have we not tolled. have
we not fought?
Yes. and 80 has the other person. We
may never have seen the struggle. but
II was there. Nobody In the world gets
anything that Is worth while for nothing;
one must always pay some price for ones
success. We need not fear that the sue
cessful woman will not get "alI that Is