The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1918-09-29
How Little We Know
The Truly Great Things We Can Not Even
Imagine

-s-y
the art of writing replied Racine, who boosted that he
wrote poetry easily:
"I hope to teach you to write with difficulty"
m The world needs critics that will teach men to think
with difficulty to think closely to think patiently and to
think little of themselves and their mental accomplish
ments, remembering Dr.. Johnsons advice, Read over
your compositions and wherever you meet with passage
which you think is particularly fne strike it OUT
80 Look over your thoughts analyze your intellectual
egosm and whenever you really have any high opinion
Of yourself strike It out.
- Button the French naturalist was never thinking less
accurately than when he said in his lacerued egotsm
Read only the work of of genius; these are but
feW-NewtOu Bacon, Leibnitz, Montesquieu and l."
s he might as well have said, "There are few great
budings-the Cathedral of Cologne, prairiedog house.
St. Peters at Rome and beavers mud hut"
The differences between Newton and Button and Bacon
and Montesqueu great between St. Peters built
By Michael Angelo and the little hut built by beaver.
NeWton's mathematical genius, transcendng to the
limits Of imagination formulated the law that governs the
movements Of suns planets and comets through infinite
space whereas Button who compares himself with Newton
cataOgued and described intelgently the little animals
that hop creep crawl fly and swim on this planet
* Montesquieu wrote an admirable painstakng labor
i0us book The Spirit of Laws To this book he devoted
thirty years Of his e analysing the motives that undere
mems actions and the laws that they create to regulate and
protect themselves
= But compared to Bacon, who the worlds second
great philosophical thinker Aristotle being the first Mon
tssquieu piece of floating thistle compared with
i've hundred horsepower flying machine
This picture illustrates well in manner that can be
made interesting and instructive to children the feebleness
Of thought the hopeessness of graphing with facts abso
lutely beyond the reach of thought.
What this rushing locomotive is to the frogs and fox
the outside universe in which live shiver and die
rs human beings
The frog the locomotive on its way does not know
whence it comes whittier is going why it travels
Man the that lights and warns him. flying
forever through space taking this little planet with it. He
studies the vast nebula in which born He knows
that Ofo ruhia
million times as big earth, born, live, die and
grow cold as do
ask those questions of little and you will get
intelligent from the frog if you asked him
why the express train rushes by what the plan of the
man in the blue overaIls sitting at the throttle.
The big father frog thinks he knows He soon works
out theory about the locomotive the noise and the smoke
BE tells the younger frogs and Mrs Frog his theory and
that is wrong for them to question his knowledge
believe that they could think it out for themselves
The little frog perhaps, does think about it for him
sch, and thinks more foolishly than Father Frog.
Old Father Frog, if he believes in astroogy tells the
little frog You born under the influence of the train
that by here early in the morning 1t has always been
a bad influence for frogs
The frogs enjoy the superstition and keep track of the
trains that influence their birth.
Farther along the track SITS well satisfied with him
SELF Mr. Fox BE has travelled in hour farther than any
frog travels in life
He has gone of country knows there are other
tracks which other locomotives He has stolen
chickens the station where trains stop and start
He has stood hill by the track and seen man
throwing coal into blazing door. He has another
man take from big pipe the water that feeds power the
locomotive
" The fox looks down upon the frog and despses the
ignorant hopper.
The fox never doubts that he knows it all.
And like the frog the fox in reality knows nothing of
beginnings Of the erand of the train or the
brain that applies heat to water, producing steam and
power
We, with the knowledge of which boast are wise
foxes looking down upon humble frogs.
About real problems about the great questions that
have asked since the beginning know little as
the frogs and the fox know about locomotives
- We do not even know how to ask the questions We
do not know what is that should want to know
The wisest Of the Greeks Socrates, for when he
was told that oracle had declared him to be the wsest
Of he said, ut must be because know that know