The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1922-07-17
MONDAY, JULY II, }s22.
HE TEACHINGS OF WISE MEN


Since time began there have been |
certain wise mon whose teachings !
have been handed down the ages
without the help of organizations in
their honor. Some of them, desplsed
for years, have Gnally asserted iiem
Selves because of undoubted intelli-
Gonce and truthful observation. Hun
drcds Of these men are known to the
average reader and their sayings
represent the experience Of the diff
feront ages in which tAoy lived; for
famous men get much of their wis
dom from ~humbcr noghbors who die
and are soon forgotten
know an old gentleman who was
once associated with Ralph Waldo
Emerson. and who says that Emerson
told him that he learned much from a
carpenter of his neighbohood En-
erson was the recorder Of his neigh
borhocd OF his city, Of his genera
ton, ana certainly much of :le wis
dom he finally put into books came
from tie hotter-class farmers, me.
chanics bankers, doctors. preachers
and lawyers With whom he associat.
Cd.
The aIhorisms Of sage represent
the experience and intelligence Of
thousands. if not millions, for every
sage learns not only from his i'm.
mediate associates, but from the say
irg of wise men Of a much older
time. And these had the benefit OF
tie experience, observation and IN
tc.ligencc Of other thousands or mil
lions. 1t IL a mistake to believe that
certain age or generation produced
only one or two, hall dozen men
Of keen Intelligence ard analytic
power There are millions Of men
living today who have Gear minds,
and are able to sif, events
Perhaps In a thousand years only
1alf dozen men Of our age viii be
conspicuous in the books of that re-
mote period, and perhaps many Of
those forgotten have been wiser than
the few who, for one reason or an
other rcacl the fame necessary to
become recorders of our prosont-day
actions. ambitions and views Of life.
lately picked up wcl-writton
history Of a certain philosopher; one
Of those who was dcspised in his
time-so much, indeed. that more
ilan eight hgulred books were writ
ten to deny his teaching. Bat these
books only called wide attention tc
the man, and the hnal Judgment was
that his opinions were IA the ma n
true aud important. in spite of much
hlasI"emy, vulgarity and meanncss
In writing of this man, it became
necessary to trace his origin. Wher,
did he get this or that notion, doc
trine or belief? In following this in
vestigation, the writer Of tho book
Which interested me examined Phil
osophers as far back as history goes
with the final conclusion that thu
famous man being examined by a
friendly critic, originated almost
nothing at an This famous phil
osol'1er, it seemed. was man of ire
mendous intellect education, aut
ability to consider and classify the
philosophy of the past but in the enc
il appeared that this comparatively
modern man knew little not knowr
and printed hundreds of years before
he was born.
This examination of older phios
ophers found very interesting. AnC
found this result: For hundreds O
years the wisost men have recorded
their opinions and their experiences
viii the world and its inhabitants
and, in the essentials, they are in al
most perfect agreement. They al
discuss roligiouss systems, and mos
of them show more or less respect
Tor the supersttions of their time
but III Their arguments, it plainly ap
pears they did not intellectually be
lioye in t1cm finally the great bulk
of the philosophers have left nc
doubt of their dependence on mater.
ial facts.
And observed another impressive
thing The wisest men of old had
mainly the same opinions as are en-
tertained by the ordinary men of to.
day. found almost nothing new in
a survey Of the most noted ancient
and modern philosophy; have heard
my neighbors express the same opin.
IONS over and over Have candid
talk with your fairly intelligent and
worthy friend, and you will hear him
quoting doctrines expressed by
Socrates and Plato, although he may
never have read the works of either
But the digested wisdom of all men
has come down to him, and re be-
lievos in II because he cannot helieyn