The Washington herald., 1915-09-11
Getting Away from Ourselves.
By JOHN ID. BARRY.

There is little book by William James that
have been re-reading of late. "On Some of
! Life's Ideals" published by Henry Holt & Co.
1t easily be read through in couple of
hours or less. 1t contains truths that are i'm
portant for us and that we are either ignorant
of or overlook. 1t might be called THE I'm
portance of Our Trying to Understand One An
other,' or "The Value of Other Peoples Percep-
tions That We Happen to Miss" 1t is divided
into two essays, "On a Certain Blindness in Hu-
man Beings" and What Makes Life Signih-
can't" 1t is, the whole, so clearly written
that few readers shut out. At this time OF all
times, while the world is torn with the greatest
war it has ever known, should do we'll to reflect
on the message here, to digest it, to make it part
Of ourselves If we only make it living force
in our consciousness shall find the world a
much more beautiful and wonderful place than it
was before and shall find ourselves less dis
posed to do mischief and, where tempted
to intrude and to injure, disposed to take
the attitude of humility and to learn.
What we know about ono another and what
we know about things we are constantly tempted
to flaunt 1t would be we'll for us to remind our
selves from time to time of what don't know
about things and about one another, particularly
of what we overlook in the way of good There
are treasures lying all about we never see.
The defect does not lie in the treasures; it lies
in ourselves. Moreover, what what
we think is influenced by our vision, made
defective by weaknesses lying behind. "We are
practical beings" says James, each of us with n-
tied functions and duties to perform. Each is bound
to feel intensely the importance of his duties
and the significance of the situation that call these
forth But this feeling is in each of us a vital
secret, for sympathy with which vanly look to
others. The others too much absorbed in their
own vital secrets to take interest in Hence
the stupidity and injustice of opinions so far
they deal with the significance of alien lives
Hence the falsty of judgments so far they
presume to decide in absolute way the value
of other persons conditions or ideals"
1t is the realization of the truth in those words
that has inspired all the reform movements of
mankind, all the efforts to get away from the
established and hardened social customs, from
conventional and practical opinion, from severity
of judgment, from all Furnishing. Suppose that
suddenly, by a miracle, all the men in the war
were to realize another keenly as they
realized themselves, with all the human iInplica-
tions reaching out and stirring their feelings
What would happeno Instantly the war would
Shane-faced and horror stricken the men
would all go home. On the way each man would
not think merely of his own family and friends
of the tics that made life dear to him; he would
think OF the families and the friends OF those he
had been regarding his foes OF those he had
been trying destroy, whose feelings were exactly
like his own.
We are ALL of course, aware of these facts. We
may even call them commonplace. Then why
dwell on them? Simply because awareness is not
enough. Facts are not enough. We must get the
meaning. We catch the animating spirit.
And the only way it can be caught is by feeling
If we felt the pain were tempted to cause we
should instantly become paralyzed. In behalf OF
those others exactly like ourselves we should have
the alertness that practice in our own defense
every day of lives. Even now, unenlightened
as are, savages we have shown ourselves
to be, in this year of Our Lord, nearly every one
of feels for some one, for many more than
one, sensitive interest great as we feel for
ourselves, perhaps greater. Those fighters over
there. remember, in all essentials exactly like
us. Many of them are just as humane perhaps
more humane just theoretically opposed to war,
perhaps more strongly opposed. Easily under
the forces brought to bear on them, we might
be in their boots. Like us, they feel the human
closely that the anguish of their loved ones is their
own anguish, perhaps vastly increased.
Till we 60 on from this point, feel the i'm
portance of realizing the feelings of others, dear
to not dear, till get into the way of
practicing to achieve the feat, we can never be
said to be truly civilized. Other tasks just as
hard and harder and much less important, we
set ourselves and actually perform, some of them
tasks that put fearful strain on our resources
But this task has been woefully neglected. More
over it has been made not less difficult by educa-
tion but more difficult On this charge fear
full arraignment might be made against our schools
and colleges. Not only have they tended to en-
courage the breaking up of the people of a nation
into unsympathetic social classes but they have
also deliberately and wfully fostered spirit that
has created antagonsm among the nations A
similar charge has been made against religion
There are those who go so far as to say that the
war has been caused by the spirit of antagonism
fostered by religion through the generations. But
the truth is it seems to me, that neither religion
nor education is to blame What is to blame is the
perversion OF the real spirit of religion and the