The Washington times., 1919-03-16
Word With a Bad Record

they always kept very short words for things most i'm
portant.
What are words that we most often and that are
necessary US? Here some how short they all are
YES NO, &C, COME BUT, DIE, LIVE, and IF.
have big words, plenty of them, poysynabc re-
ddan but they not words that men use when they
want to say something in hurry
This editorial is about the short word IF, the word
that towers up LIES castle frghtens many discourages
others and excuses shortcomings.
wellnown line says that in the bright lexicon of
youth there is no such word Fall That is high
sounding but inaccurate youth determined to sing like
Caruso lift itself by its bOotsraps square the circle
eonive perpetual motion in the face of gTavations
force, youth would fail
Youth fails at least dozen times usually before it
succeeds And every failure rightly understood helps on
toward the final success.
You failure of youths dictionary. But
you might cut from the dictionary from conversation and
from life that big little word IF with which begin
almost every confession of incOmpetency
In this picture you see the road and the castle of fe
From the Left where come off to the right leads the
path the mountains In the middle stands the big If
reach that word fall down and go farther they
had ignored it, refused to it, walked around it. they
could have gone travelling the road that few travel
the road of real independence freedom and courage
One man says eff had had father to send me to
college" Another eff had inherited fortune even
enough money to give me start
Another eff get leisure and a freedom from worry
I'll show the world what do" Another eff the
game worth the candle I'd make the effort needed
And indefinitely
Each thinking himself quite original walks as far
as the word II and then like the the picture lies
down and goes no farther.
The you admire the men whose dictionary had
L. the who passed through life without seeing
caring about the two big letters that stand out in this
picture
They said to Columbus ''IF you try it. you will sail
certain distance then fall the edge of the ocean
into eternal space They actually thought then that you
could sail to the edge of the world and fall off of it. But
Columbus sailed.
Because they would not be frightened by the gloomy
H. ancestors rebeled and separated from England fl
they had failed they would have been hanged traitors
But they went around that IF and on beyond
Caesar crossed the Rubcon and had magnificent time
while lasted because he chose to ignore the fact that IF
his enemies in the Senate got him that would be the end
Alexander led thirty thousand Macedonians against the
millions of Persia and made himself ruler of the world
just he rode the savage horse boy of twelve be-
cause there were IFS for him.
Aristotle his great teacher evidently left that word
out Of the young princes education.
If he had failed to master Bucephaus the horse would
have killed him.
If he had not known how to stampede the great war
elephants of the Pesans his would have been tramped
and he made slave by the Persian king Instead the king
offered him his daughter and half his empire Alexander
took it all and set fire to the palace to amuse dubious
lady.
The world at least fair share of it, belongs to any
body that escape from and go independent of it.
some reader WILL say That Is all very well In theory
But II you had poor chance life, bad health miserable
appearance neglected education what could you do?''
Find your answer in history. Epctetus was slave
and so was Aesop. And of them was deformed but
the wisdom of those two is teaching the world at this
minute.
Pope was sickly creature. The female nurse put a
heavy canvas jacket around him and sewed him into if
each day that he might sit up and work He had
excuse for doing nothing, he had chosen Read his
Essay Man. and you will see that he didn't choose
Robert Burns was poor ploughman drank too much
and was always in trouble with ALI that did not
prevent work that has inspired millions
This country meets with admiration and gratitude the
brave that return from Europe after covering their
country with glory fighters the ground or in the air
or on the water