Omaha daily bee., 1916-01-04
Character
by LYMAN p. POWELL,
President Of Hobart College.


President OF Hobart College.
(From his annual address before the
Phi Beta Kappa society at Cornell uni
verdty)
Character Is the power to stand alone.
even II all about take another point OF
view.
! Character is social grace. Il is the
ability ordinarily TO get on with others.
TO turn the chance acquaintance into q
real friend. II is no by-product OF a
model college to stand alone when there
is no need. That Is. In fact, merely an
idiosycrasy. having no connection with
college and never by-product OF the
model college.
Character ia the ability to see the point
Of view Of others. and quick readiness
20 admit that one may possibly be wrong.
Character includes even tact and pleas
ant address and quick forgetfulness OF
untoward things. Hew to the line we
must. to have the highest character. but.
os has been truly hinted, there Is no need
to pick up chips.
Character includes tho power 70 dis
criminatc between good and evn. be-
tween the important and the trivial. be-
tween the service OF others and the
thought OF self. between good citizenship
and bad. OF. as has too often been said
with truth OF college men, indifferent ciu-
Ecnship. between thoroughness and super
flciality. between truth and faisehood.
Character gives an absorbing interest
In life. II is one OF the most Important
by-produots Of our best colleges that out
Of many interests In life the graduate
chooses one and gives himself with =
sense OF proportion to that single I'm
terest.
No normal person can 70 through q
modern college IN these days and not get
this feeling OF absorption In one thing to
the exclusion OF many other things per-
haps as important, but to which he can
not devote himself without inviting the
humorous counsel OF Mr.. Crothcrs that
there are so many significant things in
hfc today that we ought 60 concentrate
On all
One can be an optimist and yet make
all these distinctions and hold IN mind
all these considerations, for optimism,
after all. Is trained forgetfulness OF many
things; II is the highest motive OF real
research; is Is the emphasis OF the true,
the beautiful. the good.
I like TO think OF that wise woman
who in giving counsel 70 friend IN need
OF It remarked: II never pick UP things
that do not belong TO me. not even
sights"
Again. character is coming TO be re-
garded as having q closer dependence
than In the past on a properly trained
body. The model college has no place
for the ''unsirt ioin." and President Fos-
ter OF Reed college Is entirely correct in
Judgment TO which we are trying In
contribute both at Cornell and at Ho-
bart-that everybody should have phys
Ical training.
Perhaps all institutions will one day
agree to abolish intercolleEiats sports.
am not yet ready to suggest that credit
be given IN the college curriculum Cor
physical training. important as II is. 1
am impressed by the fact that men who
have graduated recently seem physically
more fit than earlier graduated Statistics
seem to Justify this view. As much can
meanwhile be gained in colleges with a
history, II we think OF physical develop.
ment, as q by-product. as though we
give It college credit.
Why should we not7 When We think
deeply into the mysteries Of life We find
that all the things worth while are by
products Did you ever know anybody TO
find happiness by seeking Il? Duty done
faithfully when sometimes weariness Is
the days toll may lead on TO that
bringht star In the sunset whose other
name Is JOY: but whether IL does or not.
the duty must be done and every college
should make sure that among its many
important by-products Is the training Of
the body as . proper setting for the
higher life ana an aid to the achieve
ment OF the same.