The Washington herald., 1917-01-20
How | Discovered Myself
~ oRIsoN SWEET MARDEN.


need of me in the world, / awoke to
| the fact that there must be soul in
me. something bigger than was,
and therefore something that l
must give to others. have always
/ believed in the school as hitherto
! unrecognized field, because the world
is school, and the application is
/ therefore limitless."
This was the kernel of what the
woman principal of New York
evening high school said in telling
a newspaper how she had discovered
! herself.
This teacher is remarkably sue
cessful because she discovered early
in life the something bigger than her
thus-far discovered self which she
felt she must give to others" Al
| though educated for society girl,
the call from the within of herself
to teach was so loud that it could
not be resisted. Through teaching
she has not only found the larger
woman in herself, but she is help
ing thousands of other women and
girls to do the same for themselves.
Emerson says that the best friend
of any human being is someone who
will make him do what he can do.
The one who shows us possibilities
of which we were ignorant, resources
within US which we had never seen
ourselves, who believes in us and
inspires us to greater endeavor to
find the larger man or woman Of
the Creators plan, renders US a
service which is absolutely invalua-
Bile.
Had It not been for such a friend.
the eminent English writer and
churchman, DR.. William Paley, might
never have discovered himself 1t
was said, according to his biographer,
that during the early part of his
term at Cambridge he spent his time
in agreeable idleness. One of his
companions called on him early one
morning, and told him he had been
unable to sleep, from the convic-
tion that he (Paley) was squander-
ing his talents which, If properly di-
rected, might be most useful to him
self and to the world, concluding
with these words: "If you persist
in your Incidence. I must renounce
your society" The result was that
Palcy entirely changed his course Of
! life
Most of the people who 60
through life doing little things when
they are capable of doing big
things. do so because they have
never made supreme effort to get
down into themselves where their
greater possibilities dwell They
arc either Indifferent or indolent, or
they don't know how to call out
their resources, how or where to find
| themselves.
There are boys in every town and
village and rural district who would
become great powers in the land If
they could only be awakened, if they
could only get glimpse of their pos
sibilities. There arc many possible
| Edisons and Lincolns in this country,
but they remain possibilities, because
they do not think it worth while to
make struggle or a sacrifice to get
at their sleeping powers. They think
too much of having a good time to
try to improve themselves, to de-
velop their faculties. They long for
the store, the factory or office to
close, not to explore their undiscov-
cred personal territory, but that they
can get out and have good time.
1t is a noticeable fact that both
Lincoln and Edison, and all other
great souls found themselves through
self effort, through their individual
and strenuous efforts to make the
most of the talents that had been
given them.
The necessity for personal effort
has made a man famouS-has COM
PEELED him to- contribute to the up
! lift of humanity, to the progress of
| the Worldwide would have remained
a practically useless member of So
ciety but for this priceless spur.
A housewife explaining to her hus-
band why the bread was not good
said, There is as good stuff in this
loaf of bread as in any loaf l have
made, but nobody can eat it because
there is not enough yeast in it, and
of course it did not rise"
This is just what is the matter
with lot of young people with good
material in them, good man timber,
good woman timber They lack
yeast. There is not enough of the
| rising quality. not enough of the