Evening star., 1925-08-25
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES L. TRACEWELL.

Nothing shows the universal broth
erhood of man better than the fact
that the ancient Stole philosophy fits
average American today.
The practical wisdom of the old
Greeks. as amplifed by the Romans,
needs scarcely a change to suit thou
sands of men and women living here
and now.
Our very dictionaries recognize
this, as well as the language of the
man in the street" Ask the
famous John Smith, What is a
philosopher" Invariably he will
reply: "A philosopher is a guy who
tries to make himself content, no
matter what happens"
Websters biggest dictionary says
the term philosopher" is now COM
monty confined to specialists in
mental and moral sciences, going on
to give its third definition, as follows:
"One who reduces the principles of
philosophy to practice in the conduct
of life, especially one who lives In
accordance with the principles advo-
Gated by the ancient Stoics; one who
meets or regards all vicissitudeS with
calmness."
The secondary meaning Of philos-
ophy itself. in this dictionary, is
given as practical wisdom"
AS far as the average person of to-
day is concerned, no matter what his
education may be. philosophy can
we'll be taken simply to mean prac-
teal wisdom In the conduct OF life,
and a philosopher to be one who
squares his life according to the prac-
tical theories of Marcus Aurelius,
Epictetus and Seneca.
The whole trend Of Christianity,
since the beginning. has been toward
deeds. rather than mere words. st.
Paul never lost a chance to tell his
churches that faith without deeds was
dead
The rise of various practical appli-
cations of Christianity throughout the
United States in the past so years has
pointed squarely at the desire OF hun
dreds of thousands OF Americans for
a religion to use "seyen days a
week." as the saying is.
The human heart today still needs
practical wisdom it may apply to
everyday living, whether 1t gets II
from old books, or from new ones,
whether as religion or simply as
ethics and morals.
No life is to be sneered at that is
lived with the definite idea of trying to
make the best of itself. For that rea-
son there are literally millions of phi
losophers in this country, men and
women-and even children-who per-
haps might laugh at you if you would
call them such, but who, nevertheless,
are just as much philosophers as
Plato or Socrates or Diogenes ever
thought of being.
1t is safe to say that every person
who has read thus far in this essay
today is somewhat of a philosopher;
for, as ! have been trying to point out,
philosophy is not something strange.
but way of looking at life that mil
lions of people, in all lands, already
have acquired, or are acquiring.
There are, of course. those who live
more or less like animals. who never
think about anything. never read the
papers, never know what is going on
Immediately around them. These are
the folk put down by the psychologists
as "high-grade morons," that is.
grown persons whose minds have not
kept up with the bodily procession.
Most persons. however, of average
birth and education, prefer to take life
as a somewhat serious-but not too
serious-proposition especially after
they have reached the so-called years
of discretion.
AS a matter of cold fact, there is
many a fiapper with paint on her
cheeks who looks at life in very de-
termined philosophical manner, in our
way of speaking "A pretty philoso-
pher, indeed you say. But yes, she