Evening star., 1925-07-10
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES Z. TRACEWELL.

"big man." man who does things, and
who does them because he thinks them
first.
He stands erect
IF thou findest in human life any
thing better than justice, truth, tenn.
perance, fortitude, and, in word.
anything better than thy own mind s
self-satisfaction in the things which it
enables thee to do according to right
reason; II, I say, thou seest anything
better than this. turn to 1t with all thy
soul, and enjoy that which thou hast
found to be the best"
So says Marcus Aurelius, continuing:
But if nothing appears to be better
than the deity (the best) which Is plant
ed in thee; if thou f1ndest
everything else smaller and of less
value than this, give place to nothing
else, for If thou dost once diverge and
incline to 1t, thou wilt no longer with
out distraction be able to give the pref
erence to that good thing which is thy
proper possession and thy own"
These words constitute. of course, a
counsel Of perfection, which perhaps
no one In this world can live up to;
but 1t is worth while, now and then, to
stop in the midst of our daily life and
to consider them.
All the preaching is not done from
the pulpit.
Many a man gets a better sermon
from some chance remark of his little
child than from all the ministers he
ever heard, with all due respect to
them and their holy calling.
Sometimes the searching question of
little one strikes deep into the heart
and a man gets lesson that sticks.
20 "a
to thyself which shall compel thee to
break thy promise, to lose thy self.re-
spect, to hate any man, to suspect. to
curse, to act the hypocrite, to desire
anything which needs walls and cur
tains," says our old Roman.
Thou hast embarked. thou hast
made the voyage. thou art come TO
shore; set out" he says, succinctly
describing the life of man.
He warns us not to spend TOO
much time in thoughts about others,
what is such person doing, and
why, and what Is he saying. and
what is he thinking of, and what is
he contriving, and whatever else of
the kind makes us wander away
from the observation of our own
ruling power"
The preceding paragraph shows
the intense practical nature of this
dreamer. The great ancient writer's
had what l call innate brains; their
thinking powers were not due to the
piling OF century upon century but
came to them naturally. in astonish-
ing force. sufficient to compel US TO
admiration after a lapse of thousands
of years.
Marcus tells us plainly to cease
poking into other folks business. and
to mind our own little better.
1t Is good advice still
First aid was familiar to him,
but not exactly in the modern sense.
Come TO thy own aid" he said.
paraphrasing the later, Heaven
helps those who helps themselves"
No matter what virtues or vices
men share, our author says, conclud- :
ing the third book, there remains
that which is peculiar to the good
man, to be pleased and content with
what happens, and with the thread
which is spun for him; and not to
defile the divinity which is planted
in his breast. nor disturb it by a
crowd of images, but to preserve it
tranquil.
And if all men refuse to believe
that he lives a simple modest and
contented life, he is neither angry
with any of them, nor does he devil
ate from the way which leads to the
end of life, to which man ought TO
come pure, tranquil, ready to depart
and without any compulsion perfectly
reconciled to his lot"