Omaha daily bee., 1916-12-18
GREATEST PRIDE IN
Funniest PERSONS
Petty Triumphs Make Some
Folks Believe Their Merit
Calls for Monument.
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
By A. r. GRoH.

"Oh, why should the spirit OF mortal
be proudi"
But the spirit OF mortal is proud and
the smallest spirits Of mortals are usu-
ally the proudest.
Isn't II the most astounding thing
to observe the airs put on by some
mortals when they attain little sue
cess1 have seen this weakness
among writers. A young chap gets
few stories into the fiction magazines
with his name blazoned upon them
and Immediately his ego swclls ire
mendously. The smaller the intrinsic
worth OF the man the bigger his ego
tism grows. He fancies the world is
stopping to ask, who is this brilliant
writer who has burst like blazing
sun above the horizon Of common
things? What insight into human
character he hasl What descriptive
powerl What techniquep
Symptoms Of the disorder may
show themselves in the cultivation Of
long hair or the wearing Of funny
necktie or the adoption Of some other
idiosyncrasy Tor idiocity) suitable to
greatness and genius. He, indeed,
Abears his blushing honors thick upon
him"
He forgets the great herd Of writ
ers OF his own small caliber, each
1 struggling to get something across"
each feeding his petty vanity by see
| ing his name at the head OF story
in magazine that will be forgotten
forever next month. This amazing ex-
ample OF colossal vanity revolves In
bis tiny orbit, fancying himself an
heroic figure on the worlds stage
when he is simply a jester.
Even the great authors whose
| works have survived the ravages Of
time are without respect in the eyes
Of this small fry. have heard two
OF these hare-brained heroes telling
each other the fundamental failings Of
| Kipling and Dumas. There they sat
smoking their pipes solemnly-and
temperamentally, and told each other
why the works OF Kipling and Dumas
could never live. Then they turned tc
the more interesting subject Of thcil
own works, the story that one Of them
had had in the September Nobody's
and the character study that the other
| had had in the October Duncey's
Each slipped the honeyed compli
ments OF the other. The gods mus
have laughed. !
| Still, why scott at these frogs, puff
| ing up TO be bulls? Let US laugh a
them. They are living Don Quixote'
and perhaps they have been placed i
| the world to amuse US common people
| in whom the divine fires Of genius d.
not burn.
i Let them puff and puff. ! don't evei
want them 10, burst with putting. lie
them live their little lives, Let then
enjoy their petty triumphs. Let then
view themselves through the mos
powerful magnifying glasses. won
point them to the ruck and ruin OF
thousand years in which the works o
scarce score Of writers have sur
, vived.
We will even learn lesson from
these testers. We will learn to admir-
humility and to laugh vanity to scorr
1--WE viii learn to do our best, no mat
. ter what our calling in life. And W
!. will learn that he serves best who doe
! his best always, without any vain de
sire to make a name for himself
n A great sage once said: Il ha
, rather that future generations shout
! ask WHY a monument had not bee
r erected to me than that they shout
inquire why one had been erected t
t~.p