The Washington herald., 1915-08-20
Contrasts.
BY JOHN ID. BARRY.

BY JOHN II. bAHHf
In New York one occasionally sees queer little
horse cars. drawn either by two horses or by one
horse There is something amusing about them
and quaint They make a startling contrast as
they pass those brand new skyscrapers with aero
plane landings on top.
At one end of the line of progress are the horse
cars. At the other end the buildings with
their facilities for the latest and the most ad-
vanced method of locomoton.
What is most astonishing is that the two
should exist together side by side, the proof of
progress and the denial of progress.
Here is illustration of the history of human
life. The old persists with the new In the midst
of progression we may find what looks like retro
gression.
While ideas moving the world, we
may see everywhere expressions OF old ideas, gen.
orally considered obsolete.
Some of develop a good deal OF resentful
feeling about just this kind of situation. We
think that progress ought to be evenly distributed.
In much OF our talk we assume that it is. We
call to aid what we fancy to be logic to prove
that retrogression and progression cannot posi-
bly, go together.
And yet, so often the things that can't be-
cording to our way of thinking, actually
An acquaintance of mine often says in reply
to arguments: 1T ought not to be So but it is" +"
Occasionally he varies tho expression by saying:
at can't be so but it is"
The impossible is often the real, the true.
Life has way OF disregarding human logic
Most of the people that about are
exactly like the world of progress. No matter
how old-fashioned they may be, when get to
know them we'll enough, we sure to be
prised by hearing them express modern ideas
Even the most protected" the sheltered"
lives can't escape the influence far away.
When we make this kind of discovery we are
likely to be pleased And yet when we make
virtually the same discovery, may be dis
pleased. For eampe, when we hear people we
consider advanced expressing old-fashioned no.
tions, almost certain to be disappointed
or hurt. or rcsentful
The same law is operating.
Though we may recognize the law and find in
terest in tracing its working in the things and in
the people about us, we may yet fail to receive
its most important lesson
We may remain unaware that. just as the law
operates in the things and the people that we see
it operates in ourselves.
We can't, however, ourselves others sec
us, matter how hard may try. There is no
getting away from the slavery imposed on US
by our natures, compelling to believe what we
believe. The more conscientiously we believe, the
more strongly we trust thoughts. 1t is only
by effort of the will and of the imagination
that we can force ourselves into unprejudiced
attitude. This effort makes us see that just as
people about in many ways reactionary and
prejudiced we must be prejudced and reactionary.
There are those who say that this kind of
thinking is bad. 1t may lead to the weakening of
sef-conidencc.
So it may.
But most of us need to have our self-conhdence
weakened. For, rule, self-conhdence is over
confidence, and ovcrconfdence leads US to see
ourselves out OF proportion. 1t makes long to
impose ourselves others, to establish our opin-
ions simply and solely because the opinions are
ours.
1t is only when have taken our properly
modest little place in the universe that we can
put opinions where they belong.
Then shall express ourselves with less en-
phasis Then we shall listen with more respect to
the opinion of others.
incidentally, shan't be without reward for
we shall discover that the old emphasis actually
got in the way OF opinions 1t made it, not
easier. but harder for opinions to be accepted
by Others 1t introduced noise as DIVERSION and
all the vanity and egotism that go with noisy as
surance throwing up the wall of resentment.
Moreover, the method will tend to make
those Others less self-assertive, for it will make
the others ready to receive more sympa-
thetic
When there is apparent loss, there will be real
gain.