The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1917-11-24
WHAT TO Get OUT OF LIFE
BY STOUGHTON COOLEY.

BY STOUGHTON COOLEY,
1t is probably true of life, as OF ev-
erything else, one gets out of it &C.
cording as one puts into it, The
crouch who complains of everything
meets a pretty grouchy world; while
mensely amusing. The selfish person
sees nothing but other people looking
out for themselves; while the generous
one meets big hearts everywhere.
This is not to say it is an ideal
world or that everyone gets his due:
by no means; but it is to say that it
is plastic world, a world in flux,
that may be moulded and shaped to
human will; that it is, in fact, world
so moulded and shaped. Beau Brum-
mel remarked how much better
heaven had treated man than beasts.
For, whereas the animals had been
given fur and the birds feathers which
they could not change, man had been
sent into the world naked in order
that he might clothe his body to suit
his fancy. That is the charm, the
never ending charm Of the world. It
can be shaped to suit our fancy.
Granted that the world can be
changed that indeed it is changed by
man, it is highly important how one
exercises his powers. Each of course
must choose for himself how he shall
treat the world, but it is interesting to
! note how some have chosen.
On Murray Hill in the heart of New
York city, just a block west of the
bronze tablet that marks the site Of
the old Murray homestead where
| Mary Lindley Murray entertained the
British officers while General Putnam
made good his escape, is q brownstone
| house in which lives a man who is
| quite widely known to the world. The
son of a rich and we'll known father,
he has during the present war fl
nanced deals for the Entente Allies
that made him a financier of the
world.
Just what he has done aside from
conducting large financiel deals the
| general public does not know It
! thinks he has done nothing for any,
body but himself. This may or may
not be true; it is the current thought.
The world thinks him hard man !;
and it is reasonable to infer that nc
thinks it hard world. That at least
is his outward attitude. For, like the
desparado who finds it necessary to go
armed this man who lives in the CEN
ter of one of the largest cities of the
world feels himself unsafe in the
presence of fellows unless protected by
arms.
Gets Little Out of Life.
And so it happens that an armed
man may be seen on the sidewalk at
any hour of the day or night, as
though some prisoner in the house
might escape. The man within is a.
prisoner in a sense: he is afraid some
one will attack him. He was wounded
not very long ago, and some one may
repeat the attempt on his life. He is
very rich, and has great power: yet
he sees in every stranger a possible
enemy who would do him bodily harm
Considering his wealth and power he
seems to be getting very little out of
life.
Contrasted with the life of this man
may be placed that of a woman who
lives on the same street about the
same distance east of the bronze tab
let to the memory of Mary Lindley
Murray. She also is reckoned as
among the rich. She may not be as
rich as the man, but she probably
! spe7ds a much larger proportion of
her income. But there are no armed
guards on the sidewalk before here
house. Indeed, if you approach the
door you will find a tiny brass plate
on the inside of the door between the
lace curtain and the glass bearing the
words, walk i'm
Why should this rich man have
armed men about his house to prevent
| any one from entering, and the rich
woman have the invitation to walk
in? Why should the man be so timid
and the woman be so fearless? Why
should he repel the public, while she
invites it?
| Comparison of Two Lives.
! The whole philosophy of life lies
| hidden in the answer to those ques-
tions. The man has given little to the
world. He has scowled at his fellow
men. He never goes out of his way to
aid the people. He has indeed undone
some of the things his father did for
| the public. He has an art gallery
UullC duu SIOChcu NY Ills 1cI1lci WILL
the .rarest gems of the world, yet it's
doors are closed.
But the woman devotes all her time
energy, and means to the service Of
| her fellowmen. She also has gems in
| her house. But no one would think
| of breaking in to steal them, for one
has but to ask and they will be given.
The rich man has in his library ex-
amples Of the" printers art that are
| worth more than their weight in gold.
The rich woman has literary gems Of
far greater value that she gives freely
to all who will. read them. The man
treasures solitary copy that takes it's
value from the fact that no one else
has a duplicate, copy. The woman
values here il proportion to the num-
Der she can get people to read
This looks as though there were
truth in the statement that we lose
what we keep, and gain what we give
away. For the man; after getting as
much out of the world as he can is
afraid the world will take his life;
while the woman who has devoted
herself to the service Of her fellow
| men finds tho world "a cer +o do hor