Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-09-09
SARAH u. LOWRLEnS
SATURDAY EVENING TALK
vseng Until II Hurts Kills the True Spirit Of Wanting
~ to Cive l..@...
to CiUe

THERE used to be a phrase that
I many speakers used with fervor
when asking for gifts to the war re-
lief funds and for the church mission
funds. They used to urge the givers
TO give until It hurt"
l do not think that is the way great
giving is accomplished. You give
II you give generously--until .'it does
not hurt" Like everything else that
is done well. the best giving is done
with all the heart. Whatever the sac
rifce, one would rather give than not.
and would rather go without some
thing else that ois even vital, than go
without making the gift.
1t is a leftover Puritan notion that
It Is completely painful to be good and
9 trial to be generous, and that re-
lfgion Is stern, and duty is uphill work,
and that that is all one gets out OF
II In the doing on this earth. whatever
the JOY in heaven. There is hard work
involved in being good. so there is in
every other form of pleasure possible
for man from dancing to aviation. Be-
! ing an explorer is hard work-harder
work than being foreign missionary !!
Being great financier is hard work,
harder than being clergyman; and
being successful gambler takes more
concentration than being successful
teacher, while being drunkard Is
much harder on the body and on the
disposition than being an athlete.
Spending ones money on oneself isn't
half the fun that spending it on others
can be, and spending it is really easier
than saving it, in point of the acumen
involved 1t is all matter of choice
which kind of work you will undertake
h. l. t,,l thas ~.
and makes you first rate social asset
for any one who wants you to play
with, or the kind of work that makes
you one with the stars and the seasons
and forces of nature as well as one
with the great tides of human en-
deavor.
, DERSONS who are successfully any
L thing are the way they are because
1t is the way they most want to be.
And in the matter of giving. If you
are generous to the point of spending
on others what you might very COM
fortably spend on yourself. then you
have chosen to give, rather than keep,
because on the whole that is what you
want to do most. all Things considered.
This is rather on my mind to think
out because today / had letter from
some one who reads this Saturday eve
ming talk each week, apparently. ana
who felt aggrieved at friend to whom
she had been generous because she got
no return presents at birthdays or at
Christmas. l fancy she felt hurt not
to be remembered. rather more than
not to have the value of a gift, but she
did feel hurt, and little mad,
thought, and rather as though she would
stop spending good money on a person
who took too much for granted to be
very rewarding.
THERE are few perfectly balanced
i minds in the world in this affair Of
giving and getting. That is they give
and they get with equal pleasure. But
the ma jority of us either like best to
who like best to give enjoy the impor-
tance Of giving pleasure. or of giving
comfort or of giving health or rest or
some material benefit to persons that
but for rs would go without. We like
the Importance even of giving luxuries
TO certain dear people, either because
they are so responsive. or because it Is
fun TO think you can give luxuries here
and there with lavish hand. 1t
makes one feel rich. and to feel rich
l. pleasing sensation for which one
does not mind paying now and again,
especially II one is actually poor
Then, too. the gifts that are vitally
needed which we give we should feel
uncomfortable not to give. Our pleas
ure in the things that we have would be