The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1913-12-11
FIRST IMPRESSIONS.


FIRST IMPRESSIONS.
What are known as first impressions are
very dear to the lovers of fine prints, and
from this circumstance it has passed into
saying that first impressions are the best,
and then by analogy the saying is applied
to mental Impressions. AS matter OF fact
the first impressions of an engraving are
nearly always imperfect, and many are
destroyed before perfect prints are secured,
these earlier perfect copies then getting
the name of first impressions. With this
understanding with the meaningof the term
itmay be truethatfirst neutrality-suspicious.
that is to say, the first perfect impressions,
are the best. But those that are really hrst
are very often as bad as the first proofs OF
an engraving. In all matters requiring
Judgment one must guard against the eff
fectsof first impressions which are naturally
superficial. Acritic entering an art gallery
is attracted by this or that picture because
of its novel subject, its holiness, its high
color or some other similar attribute. II he
is wise critic he withholds his judgment
until second or third visit has enabled
him to study the pictures. He may then
find that the striking pictures are meretric-
ious, and that much more modest works,
scarcely noticed at first, have greater mer-
it's In fact, it has been observed as a
general rule that the most satisfying works
of art are not the kind that attract ones
attention at first, so that first impressions
in an art gallery are not to be relied on as
safe guides. Our first impressions OF men
and of cities are also likely to be erroneous.
We arrive in strange place in perfect
health, at q time when the weather condi-
tons are favorable; our appetite is OF the
best, and we go away singing the praises
of the hotel and the neighborhood for ever
afterward. Our friend follows US. He may
be suffering from dyspepsia, be annoyed
by the disappearance Of his baggage, get
caught in a rain storm and be obliged to
sleep in stuffy room with his window
down. His first impression will be very
different from ours. The place is the same,
but it is seen under different conditions.
But the thing, above all, about which we
should be careful is the forming of fixed
impressions of men before we have become
familiar with them. They also appear diff
ferently under different conditions, and
ones firstimpression of new acquaintance
may be made false or imperfect by acct
dental conditions affecting either. Some
men habitually turn their best eide ont to
strangers or new acquaintance and some
their worst. The latter are to be preferred,
for they at least improve on acquaintance.
But in all matters requiring judgment
and there is no judgment Of more impor-
lance than that which we pass upon our
fellow men-we should wait to hear the
evidence before we pronounce verdict.
We cannot avoid receiving impressions,
but we should hold them tentatively, and
not allow the first we get to become fixed
until they have been confirmed. Under q
gruff exterior there is often kindly heart,
and who has not known an Oily Cannon
who, in spite of his smooth ways and kindly
speeches, has turned out to be utterly
heartless and selfish? Instead of welcom-
ing first mental impressions az being SUI
perior to those afterwards obtained we
should beware of them as superficial and
very likely wrong. And especially in judg-
ing men we should seethem very often and
under various conditions before venturinp
to form or express fixed opinions about
their character or attachments. There il
no more complex thing than man, and the
wisest among US cannot hope to understand
him at glance, as would be the case il
first Impressions were really the best.