The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1914-05-03
ideals"
By Gi1f11an Scott,

Ing and making for the advancement of
man
There is every kind Of evidence that
the steady advancement OF man to-
ward perfection is the ideal Of mans
Creator
Through tortuous ways; through
maze and tangle; through sickness and
accident, trouble and worry, doubt and
fear and loss; through every kind of
obstacle and temptation and dlSap-
pofntment and disbursement man
struggles and fights and muddles and
makes heaps Of mistakes; yet ever
the world shows PROGRESS.
Sure, there's progress; WHO can
doubt it2 All history discloses
progress. Look back a century. Isn't
the march Of progress evident7 No
need to go into detail. Man today is
an immense Improvement upon man
Il hundred years ago.
Man IS becoming more and more
capable OF high ideals. and it's the
growth of ideals which leads more
and more to advancement.
The expression Of ideals is therefore
"a be commended and encouraged.
Some will be mistaken and will ac-
oordtngiy fail Of fulfillment; but that
mustn't deter others. There must first
be expression: then the weighing in
the balance; then the rejection or the
adoption Newer mind the reflections;
it's the aggregate of adoptions which
The nation which adopts the highest
ideals In the nation which will even
tuaIly dominate the world
The race Is not always to the swift
but rather to the sure; and the surest
road is along the line of high ideals.
The ideallst Is usually a philoso-
pher and learns 10 take rebuffs calmly.
The sense that a given ideal is right
suff1ces to uphold him; though it meets
with opposition
Everyone should have Ideals and
strive to attain 10 them
High ideals give definite purpose to
life; they are as a rudder to a ship
and constitute q controlling power
when there's inclination to wobble
or drift
Every side of life should be domI-
mated by ideals. Business. pleasure,
the home, the office, the factory, the
farm, city affairs. national affairs, per-
sona1 conduct all will benefit by the
influence Of high ideals and all win
suffer by absence Of or departure from
high ideals.
It's never too late to mend We can
always begin again. So long as there's
life we can adopt ideals possible to
the remaining conditions Common
what's impossible. With ideals beck
oninR us we gain strength to advance,
to do our best, to exercise patience,
TO keep afloat. to resist the temptation
to give in, to refuse to consider our
selves beaten. Lacking physical
strength. and what Drawn can't do
brain win accomplish.
In city and national affairs the
greatest enemy OF ideals is selhshness.
Selhshness blocks the road to
progress. yet progress continues. Sell
hshness has always stood in the way
OF progress which demanded self sac
rt1ce.
Tt's so easy to be selfish and so hard
to make self sacrifice. Mans greatest
anemy therefore Is self hness.
Self preservation being the first law
OF nature. man Is naturally selfish;
and one OF mans highest ideals is to
overcome that law and be unselfish.
That's a mighty stifr proposition.
You can't play a game Of cards or
or enter g. profession without trying
20 beat the other fellow. Of course
that's cuft1vat1ng seifishness. It's too
bad isn't 1t? What can you do about
IT. It's a reasonable ideal to try to
succeed in business, to try to win the
game The only answer Is the square
DEAL Play the game fairly and hon
estly5 be Just; take no mean advan-
tage: and be as unself1sh as the rules
OF the game permit Hence. rea-
Garyi the ideal being honorable deal
ing and equity In all things
The question of what constitutes
reasonable amount OF selfishness Is
pretty broad one. and the answer de-
pends upon the nature Of the indi-
vidual called upon to answer it. Self
sacrifice IS so unbearably repugnant
to some selfish natures that they
crowd Co the very edge OF the law and
tell you they're justified in their &C
lions SO long as they Just manage to
Eeep out OF jail
TheEe peopie apr5arentfy forget there
are more rnwritten laws than writ
tan; laws which appeal TO generosity,
sympathy. kindltness OF Ieart, neigh
boriiness. courteousness, gentlemanli-
ness. good fellowship, good citizenship.
There's no law compelling a man to
raise h&s hat to lady; but he does it.
There's no law compelling us to res
cue q drowning person; but we do our
utmost 70 do so; and absolutely de-
cine any reward.
Why1 Because so far we've adop-
ted an ideal course OF conduct and are
bound by unwritten laws to adhere to
&C.,
Have We reached the limit then? If
ideals up to q recognized point are
good, can we not push the point fur
Their and extend the limit to cover ev-
cry evil we feel should be remedied?
Have we reached the limit of inven-
tionF Not on your life; we've only jtERt
begun
We must be prepared To add to our
ideals and not rest satisfied with things
as they are. We must continue in a
state of healthy discomfort; always
seeking advan cement and a nearer ap-
proach to the greatest ideal of life
HAPPINESS.
Mother Shipton said Carriages with
out horses shall go, ships without
sails shall go" She was voted luna
tic; but her prophecy came true.
I'm prepared TO believe anything E
possible. I shan't be a bit surprised
II the business man presses a button
when he's finished breakfast, glides
era cefully out of the window in his
armchair. and floats in at his Office
window on the hundred and seventh
floor, peacefully smoking a cigar and
glancing at the newspaper between
recognitions OF his neighbors. A few
minutes later his wife will find her
self being kissed on the stairs (where?
AZ rnl1 sar7 On TIE nr.nrsr. rla &c of