The Washington times., 1918-06-27
What We Call Weakness May
Be Strength
This Is Based on a Talk With the Ink Man


This Is Based on Talk With the Ink Man
The ink man was on the train-you know him-he
makes the ink that makes the big letters that may have
The ink man had broken his leg in carriage accident
BE not feeling well enough to have fun and so he felt
philosophical he said his mind was full OF questions and
this was one of them:
What is the greatest general weakness of humanity?
The ink thinks that the greatest general weakness
is the lack of self control He also thinks that too much
imagination is bad it gets people into trouble
Lack of self control like many other apparent weak
nesSes such as excessive imagination may often mean IN
reality strength and usefulness So the ink mans views
must be accepted with reservations.
For instance if Christopher Columbus had combined
perfect secontro with lack of imagination he would have
been good useful simple mariner sailing close to Eu
ropes shores until the day of his DEATH but he ad
venturous self reliant imaginative and he could not
troll the impulse risk his Life and the lives OF others on
trip to which much indebted
Imagination took Dante to his Inferno and enabled him
to build his beautiful ''cathedrals in words
Imagination, acting regardless Of accepted thoughts
and accepted limitation responsible for all inventions
and all improvements
Aristotle could not imagine civilization without
slaves but others who followed him COULD imagine such
civilization, and we have it we almost have it
Certain great ones among US cannot imagine civil
zstion without trust control without poverty living next
door to riches but some of US imagine such cviZa
tion-MANY will imagine it, time goes by, and it will
come
tive ability is showing things about railroad
agement that the widest dreamer would not have thought
possible few years ago. And he has only made be-
ginning.
The GREATEST general weakness of humanity, in our
opinion is INABILITY TO MAKE OURSELVES DO
WHAT WE KNOW WE OUGHT TO DO.
you belong to the tribe of the wise advisers (his
writer belongs to that tribe as you know you often tell
a that he can succeed IF HE WILL DO so AND So
he knows that just as well you do. he knows what
he OUGHT to do better than you but HE cannot
MAKE himself do what he knows he ought to do
Every of u.s. the weakest and the worst,
clearly SOME of his mistakes Every of wants to
better he better.
weakness is that cannot MAKE ourselves do what
would like to do
This applies to the greatest men, well as the
smallest
Bacon with his giant intellect knew that he ought not
to take bbes that he ought not basey to desert the
that had befriended him.
But his BRAIN certainly of the greatest ever
created could not make him do what he knew he ought
to do he took the brbes he bounded his best friend to
death and suffered in consequence because he had the
will to MAKE himself do right
Rousseau who had the will vanity confess amaz-
ing and dgraceu Deficiencies had not the will to conquer
them.
Every gambler at the track in Wall Street is
laying the foundation for future failure and disap
pointment He knows that he ought not to gambe-you
need not tell him that But he has not the WILL to keep
from doing what he knows will hurt him
This newspaper talks great deal about whskey drink
ing in the hope that young will be warned before the
evil has taken hold upon them
But we preach rarely to the unfortunte whom
whskey has got BY the throat He needs no preaching
he ought to do Gladly and thankfully he would let you
cut of his right hand if in return you would give him the
strength of will which he lacks.
Our ink thought also that there too much
EMOTION in human beings too much sentiment and that
THEY constitute generally weakness of humanity But
again he deluded ink man Those things indicate
strength From emotion and sentiment get music,
poetry the power of the great actors and singers of the
orator and of the preacher.
Emotion and sentiment important to human
life sunshine and rain to the physical life.
Yes; lack Of power to MAKE ourselves live up our
good resolutions is greatest lack We hardly call
a weakness speak of it something that OUGHT
to have as matter of course.
We must remember that the power of the will, the
power make ourselves DO THINGS is something very
in this worldsomehing feeble enough in man. utterly
unknown in animals
No animal MAKES himself give his life for a min