Norwich bulletin., 1913-07-05
THE MAN WHO TALKS

lHE MAN WHU IALkS l Few people realize what a scape- l goat we make of heredity. There is no reason under the sun why your 1 disposition or mine should be> like that of our forbears, or why we should I suffer the same physical diseases or
 manifest the same idiosyncracies. If We are conscious of what they were and take pride in being tempera- mentally or physically like them then | there is no doubt we can be; if we have 1 the same habits they had, live in the same atmospheric or climatic condi- l tIons, we can die as they did. If we
 realize our mission in life we shall 1 be different from them on every un- desirable point of view. We can as well be healthier than they as we can De rlcher, or we may be physically weaker than they and create condi- tons which make us poorer. Man is to live his life not the life of his for bears, and his achievements or his failures should be his own. If condi tons are poor behind him it Is up to
 him to make them better.
 It has been said that rich man | must take exercise and live like a poor man to sustain health. Elegant ease and high living are known to be menace to the we'll being of man. It Is one thing to be wealthy and an other to be healthy. Strength has to 1 be acquired and is even more neceS sary for our we'll being than wealth. It is not a crime to be rich but to
 many people wealth has proven to be
 a misfortune. Wealth as well as want
 has made many people insane-where wealth increases Selfishness it dwarfs the human soul and blinds it to it's own interests. There are some things all men have to work for-strength and knowledge and wisdom cannot be had for money; neither can love nor virtue Character is greater than creates wealth. Natures laws do not encourage laziness, and it is not to the idle life yields it's satisfying re- wards.
 In the garden a three e-stalked holly hook stands in it's chosen place close beside the peonies with it's bud clusters in initial form. too close to bloom until it has individualized them at equal distances along it's rising stem, which reminds me that it, like the poppy, IS distributed by the wind,
 and finds a new place every year. This is a squatter from my neighbours garden and 1 spare it because of the silkiness and beauty of it's flowers. It is the tallest of the mallow family anu US pOpuIdI ndI0e, IOIIyn nOCh, l0llS us it is a mallow from the hoIy-lan
 Maurice Macterlinck in his Old l fashioned Flowers says the Rose mallow, Hollyhock, riding the nigh horse of her many names, fauntS her cockades of fieshier silkiness than a
 maiden's breast" The hollyhock has to be humored to do it's best, and it's nomadic habit of wandering all over a neighborhood is not regarded as highly to its credit; but when l spy it among the weeds 1 spare it because
 it has, a glory all it's own which 1 en- 1 joy
 How much easier it is for most of 1 us to sense our duty towards others 1 instead of toward ourselves Few
 mortals seem to grasp the thought 1 that the easiest way to reform others l is to reform themselves Good self | government is not as common as most i folks think; and it is the lack of it | that creates most of the friction in i life. Old Buttinsky was a man who 1 forming his duty toward those with whom he was associated. He could | tell everyone of them how to improve | themselves, and there wasn't one of 1 them who did not realize what a, bore | he was His conceit of his own good i ness made those he was disposed to 1 advise for their own well-being, feel l that he was no good The man who | is too positive in any direction is in 1 danger of producing a negative effect.
 Excesses of every sort make an end of discretion There is little danger 1 of excessive effort when we tackle
 our duty toward self
 | What is the use of having a dis i turbing past? This is what keeps 1 people awake nights worse than any 1 other one thing, and it makes lunatics 1 0f nf hn in 1 the present and live well see nothing 1 in the past which haunts them. If | they have erred, they may also have profited by their errors; and the error which teaches a wholesome lesson a1- i ways seems good to look back upon.
 It is persistence in evil-a pride in ! being the black sheep of the family 1 which concretes past that bears 1 heavily upon the heart. which arouses | conscience to sit in Judgment within
 us. This is the judge we cannot flee 1 rom and our contempt for the court
 makes it all the worse for us. If we i have a past that causes us wakeful nights it is time ito rob it of it's power 1 by a consciousness that we are able to
 make good today equal ten thous- and bad yesterdays.
 To get right down to the truth I | suppose any one is a religious minded person who prefers goodness to evil and finds pleasure in good works. l The issues made by people over their 1 differences in religious opinions are
 not the fruit of righteousness. Men ! do not quarrel over their religion, but about their interpretations of scrip 1 ture, or their conceptions of belief or | duty. To conform to any belief is not religion; but kindly acts prompted by | a spirit of love is. When yeu get a 1 clear view you find true religion is
 the same the world over There is l nothing pious about a denominational ] fence-that is a man made limit that | has no heavenly certificate of charac- | ter. It seems to be a tug-of-war line l where there has been declared | peace; but this is something people | who like to argue can dispute over l forever. In business religion isn't 1 recognized unless it pays 160 cents on | the dollar; and in Heaven something more than sectarian label will be required.
 The man who strives to avoid fric- ! tion in this world has good sense
 Friction isn't really necessary in the | every day affairs of life It puts a body in a bad frame of mind and adds nothing to the effeciency or capacity of the individual. Some people chafe 1 over trifes-fume and fuss and scold i about the smallest affairs, not because 1 it helps anything forward but be- l cause it relieves a discontented spirit l Discontentment can chase cheerful
 ness out of the heart and put wrinkles in the face and turn down I the corners of the mouth in short or ! der. It hangs grouch label on al 1 it's victims. It is as easy to radiate
 sunshine as gloom; and forty times as