The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1921-10-31
SPORTING SPIRIT
BEST PHILOSOPHY,
DECLARES WRITER
Advises Against Whining
Or Boosting to Gain
-
Happiness.
ny DoI,o1,tx DIX.


Il have eaten what was ser be-
lore me and asked no questions.
Could any philosophy be broader
or more comprehensive than that?
Could any attitude toward life be
drawer than that? Isn't II the very
quintessence of the sporting spirit |
to take fate as II comes, without
whining when things go badly,
without Boosting when things 80
we'll!
All OF US would like to be born
with the traditional gold spoon in
our mouths, and to have life to
perpetual banquet at which every
dish was q masterpiece of the Gull
nary art, prepared by q chef.
Unfortunately, the dish that fate
sets before most Of US in youth Is
poverty. garnished by self-deniaI
and favored with hard work. and
whether We get JOY. and strength,
and health out of the eating OF
that. or whether IL sours upon our
stomachs and gives us the bilious
dyspepsia that we call Socialism
apd anarchy. depends altogether on
the spirit which We bring to the
meal. We can make it either a
feast or a famine.
We can rail at the destiny that
cast our lines in hard places. We
can rage because others have au-
tomobTes, while we have to walk.
We can be filled with envy of
those who are better OF. We can
turn the whole life into NORWOOD
sapf gall, that so embitters the
sHy breath We draw that we are
eady to curse God and die.
Or we can eat what Is set before
us and ask no questions. We can
accept our portion of poverty and
find In IL much of sweetness and
goodness, much that nourishes soul
and body. Or, IL We crave finer
fare. we can still eat with graft
tude the humble food that gives us
the huskiness and the spiritual vi
tamnes that enable us to climb
the ladder of success. For there
Is no education like the education
that poverty gives. There is no
spur to ambition like the desire
for better things than one was
born to. 1t is the men like Andrew
Carnegie and Rockefeller and
Schwab and a hundred others you
might name. who ate oatmeal ana
mush and milk in their boyhoods,
who feast on turtle soup and vim
tage wines in their middle age.
How much Of scandal and di-
vorce and domestic misery might
be prevented, how many children
might be saved from being half
orphaned, and how many homes
might be kept together, IL only
husbands and wives would make
up their minds to eat what was
set before them at the domestic
table. and ask no questions!
OF course every young couple
that gets married believes that for
the next forty or, fifty years they
will live on angels food. The hus-
band thinks that marriage is
going to be nothing but love
idyIl with a woman who is going
to remain perpetually young and
beautiful and eager to please him,
and full of Joy and gaiety.
IRE wife thinks that marriage
will be one glad sweet song with
n romantic lover, who is always
telling her how beautiful and Won
derful she is. and who brings her
violets, and feeds her on candy,
and spends his time trying to
amuse and please her.
The man finds out that even the
most loyey-dovey sweetheart is
converted by marriage into a
prickly creature, all feelings, and
nerves and temper. He also ascer-
tains that matrimOny is an expen-
sive luxury that takes all and
little more than a man can earn.
The woman finds out that mar
rage changes her husband from
handsome matinee hero into an un-
appetizing stranger, who is often
unshaven an unshorn, and whose
principal, indoor sport Is knocking
her. She also finds that marriage
has brought her sickness, and suf-
ferfng, and sacrifices of which she
has never dreamed.
So the man is disillusioned with
the woman and the woman Is dis
gruntled with the man, and they
try to find consultations for their
disappointment on shady path
ways, and the result IS disaster for
everybody concerned.
How much better II they would
eat what was set before them and
ask no questions. II they would
make the best Of each other and
the situation and try to forget
that they ever had a sweet tooth
\ or thought that marriage would be
ali pie.
NH OF us make mistakes as we
fuui!sA and credulous and easily
hoodwinked. We are careless and
tuexpsrI In our work.
some OF Is have Intelligence
enough to acknowledge our mis-
taxes ana profit by them and to
accept criticism gratefully and
learn from II. Others never ac-
aaowlsdEs their errors. They al
,vays blame others for their fall
ing the victims they have been to
circumstances.
Il takes courage and wisdom and
breadth Of view TO eat crow and
ESk no questions. but the men and
women who can do It shall one day
cit In abe seats Of the mighty.
Hardest Of all and truest test OF
character 70 Il to eat what Is set
before you and ask no questions
r~hen fate spreads the banquet
table Tkcn Il Is that some become
pornpous and chesty. and swell
SsAded: that they forget the
friends Of other days who gave
them handouts when they lacked
.hs price of a meal: IL Is then that
they became arrogant and boastful
9. thei- achievements and when
they tell q weary world all about
,he!r limousines and palaces and
YrrncE chefs and what sort of
sAaes they always have on their
Nightingale tongues.
Ru. others eat their feast of sue
cess in silence and humble graft
tnds for vhN; they have been per-