Evening star., 1925-05-22

! There has been a disposition recent.
ly in some quarters to laugh at the
urse for self-irnprovement which
seems to have smitten the American
Of 1t.
This craving is set forth, at greater
or less length. in scores Of advertise
ments IN magazines, appeals wherein
the reader Is exhorted to take some
great course Of instruction which
| fnfallibly will improve his mental,
physical or moral texture.
He Is urged to replenish his will
power. to acquire the muscles of a
Samson, to learn how to make people
| do what he wants, to double and
treble his salary In less than a year,
to secure by mere reading the table
manners OF the best people.
He is assured that If he will sub
scribe to the course in question, and
faithfully apply himself, he will be
| able to blossom as the rose, and do
such deeds as will heartily astound
/ his former self.
The best part Of it, according to
the ads, Is that the whole thing is SO
deliciously easy, SO absurdly sfmpl
Any one with ordinary intelligence,
he is told, can turn the trick.
Not work, but play-that is the
]
selfimprovement. which the great
American public has swallowed with
| avidity, and continues to demand with
q holy determination to grow better
and better.
TRY them in the privacy of yo,.
own home" the reader Is advised by
the advertisement Of the lessons,
which picture to him the benefits sure
to be acquired on easy terms by pleas
ant application.
| Grow strong, become public
speaker, develop an iron determina-
ton, learn to box. learn to do almost
anything the heart Of man Graves
and you VIII be happy.
All this is not something 10 laugh
at. it seems to me, but rather a
tendency Of which the American peo.
pie can be more or less proud.
1t is, reduced to the simplest terms
the age-old search for happiness. II
Is not a Ponce de Leon cropping after
| eternal youth. although sometimes II
partakes a bit of that famous adven.
ture. but is, rather, a search for more
fundamental things.
| No one can be truly happy, In this
world. II he feels a definite lack. To
be happy, one has to have more or
less the self-satisfied feeling natural
to some individuals, who fondly imag.
inc themselves about>perfect.
| These thrice happy mortals usually
are termed "conceited' by those less
fortunate in self-regard. Maybe they
are conceited. but, at the worst, they
are happy.
| One has to have a good opinion OF
himself to be happy AS long as he
suffers from any conscious realization
of shortcoming he will have. in the
back of his mind" restless feeling
that all is not well with him.
| Just let him start on a course OF
| hetterment, whether individually or
in company with others, the bane OF
the inferiority complex begins to lift
| and he becomes enthusiastic and sc
happy, to some degree. at least.
The mere studying satisfies.
| II 1t were not so, who would ever
| undertake any self-improvement mt
| Where. do you suppose, would certain
schools get their long list of students
| who, year after year, willingly tie
themselves down to long hours OF
mental application, after they have
worked all day earning their living?
| A truthful but cynical observer
perhaps more cynical than truthful
| for there is a Larger Truth they over
look-might tell them that their striv
| ing and straining will be to some eX
tent wasted, since, OF 1000 matricu
lated, only 500 will finish the course
/ and, of the 500 to be graduated, only
| 200 will actually make future use o