The San Francisco call., 1913-07-20

nERHAPs there is today more meas
uring of pains and blessings. more
weighing of what man has and
what he has not, what this one has and
that one wants, than there ever was
before in the history of the world.
greater number of people have place
and power than ever before, and the
possibilities of the number being con-
stantly increased makes every man
feel he ought to be one to augment the
grand new total.
II he has the requisite abilities he
will be If he has the hindering de-
fects that roughen his way inconceiv-
ably he will not be.
OF these defects an envious dispo-
sltion. plus exalted self-appreciation'
plus lazlness-a common combination
Offset almost any set of virtues, and
outweigh no end of merit.
This business of balancing goes on
constantly in society and trade. a
man must recognize sooner or later he
is being constantly weighed in the
balance, and perhaps as constantly
found wanting 1t is useless for him
to blame the man that holds the scales
or any Of the men that hold scales, and
the more he is inclined to do so, in
stead Of keeping a pretty snug watch
upon how he is measuring up, the less
likely he is TO learn to change the
weights against him.
DRAWBACKS To ADVANCEMENT
The balance has perhaps been one of
the most popular illustrations among
moral teachers. Anything you can get
into a balance you can weigh. Tons
and pounds and ounces are definite.
gratifying things, and there are some
other things not so tangible that have
almost as precise a content. The eX-
plicit, the algebraical, we like to deal
with, except when 1t comes to figuring
up our own defects.
We like to put our virtues in the bal
ance and find that they are worth their
weight in gold or in that newer metal
vet-radium. We may have covetous
natures, be smitten with laziness, and
have anything but heavenly tempers.
yet we are not prone to put any of
these faults into the pan to find out
how much they overbalance even our
noblest qualities.
One of the great drawbacks to the
advancement of many a man is that,
while he may not have more than one
Glaring defect and really has a great
number of virtues the balance the
world sees for him is not that in which
the virtues are the heavy weights, but
in which the defect causes the beam to
fly high.
One of the defects of nature which
has been known to hold a man down as
surely as If he had leaden weights tied
70 his feet is that disposition to believe
he is being imposed upon. 1t is a dis
position he can conquer. and If he is so
fortunate as TO do so he can see how
intolera Bile, how hateful, he formerly
made himself.
LAZY MAN THINKS HE'S MARTYR
Though a man have the virtues Of a
saint, he will find his path most thorny
If he Will make himself nuisance. His
path Will be thOrny whether he be in
dependent or dependent upon others for
his chance to exist. If he be Of the lat
ter class he is likely to be one of the
most discOntented of human beings. His
SOOd qualities, as he believes. are but
tardily recognized, but not so much be-
cause of the poor vision of those who
might recognize them as because he
hangs in front of his true merits the
curtain of discomfort or moroseness. He
puts the worst of himself foremost
every time.
LazinesS has subtle attractiveness