Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-11-12
KNOW THYSELF-AND THY KECHBOR

Tne philosopher who save the world the maxim,
Know thyself' might have added TO It the words, land
thy neighbor.. That he did not ID due, pArhAps, to the
fact that, being Z philosopher. he understood that the
second Injunction was included in the nrst, and supposed
that others would also understand.
All knowledge is comparative. Our conceptions Of
one thdng are governed. and balancsd, and modified by
our conceptions OF other things. Terms Of weight ana
measurement by themselves mean nothing to uA, We
conceive OF objects a. being light Or heavy. long or short.
by comparing them with other objects with whose prop
critics We are familiar. We understand numbers only in
being straight only a. We can also think Of one being
crooked. In the country Of the Lliputians CULVER was
q giant In the land Of the Brobdignasians he was a
dwarf. 4&f /.
30, in the realm OF human relations. one can have
but = poor knowledge OF hinnsslf unless he has also a
knowledge Of others. He mas. BY = process Of introspec-
ton. conceive himself to bet most exalted being when, IL
he had a knowledge Of his fellows, he would 6nd himself
to be . very ordinary mortal. The Phartses, It IL true, In
stituted comparisons. ana reached wrong conclusions, put
his comparison. which led him to thank God that he was
not a. the publican. was bassA. not on knowledge Of him
self or his nsishbor, but on q case-hardensd esotism
which rsnAersd him impsrvieus to knowledge OF himself
or others
The man who has . broad, dsap and ynpathetic
'knowlsdse OF his fellows may be depended on to have
that knowledge Of ssaf which was In the thought Of the
philosopher. He may, perhaps, not estimate himself in
all particulars at his full value: but he will not be likely
to o~verestimate himself. knowledge contributes to mod
esty: But his knowledge will DO a working knowledge
which viii contribute to service. and his ~possesion, Of 1t
will tend to make him . more useful member Of society.
" VWA AoANV ~ III ASOA0u sA4u8 y
a nation. The same principles apply a. with the indi.
vidual. Az Charles Lamb declared that he could not hate
the man whom he knew, 30 the people OF q nation cannot
hate those neAghbors toward whom their attitude 10 one
Of sympathetic Undertaking. Most wass are the result
Of misunderstan dins. and the present war is conspicuous
ly SO.
Germany has conspicuously failed 70 understand her
neighbors. She has been self sufdcient and sslf-centered.
Her false estimate Of the character Of other peoples has
led to a false estimate of her own. The German super
man Is a creature of the German Imagination generated
nv fhA fncrrRinD NJ fhA CHAIRMAN ~nnnN}o,rAno~ p,n0n 1fnnlf
And because. through this sxaggeration of sslf-conscious-
ness. here was obtained 4 distorted view Of the relations
between the German and ms %neighbors, Germany under
took an impossible task. and the whole German concep-
ton OF the order Of things II doomed to dsstruetion.>
Tho maxim, Know thyself," in its broad meaning.
has its application to- our own nation - wei ~ to others.
Properly understood it will lead u, not to wrap about
ourselves the cloak Of . fAncisd superiority. but rather
to approach all the world in the open spirit of q common
brotherhood, and to seek to know our neighbour % they
are. and thereby to approach the standard Of manhood
which should be ours. s