Evening star., 1925-07-20

"No longer talk at all about the
kind of man that a good man ought
to be. but be SUCH" says Marcus Au.
relius, in the tenth book Of his ''Medi
tations."
He puts the accent on being, not
talking, uttering a solemn warning to
men of all ages to put their good
thoughts into action. not spend their
lives talking so much.
The good man" OF Marcus Aurelius
was no namby- -pamby, no "mollycod
dle,' but simply one who had a little
brains, discretion and decency, and
VINO did his best to live up to them.
This good man was a doer, a "go.
getter, as he would be called in the
modern American language. He did
not waste his time in endless discus.
sion, but, once having thought and
talked about thing enough to de-
termine the right, simply went out
and did 1t.
Don't talk so much about being a
good man, be SUCH" warned Marcus
Aurelius. This sentence is one of the
unforgettable ones from great book,
In TACT, Is one of the memorable say.
ings OF antiquity.
You Will have to go to Holy Writ to
get anything comparable. These
sterling words of Micah come to mind:
DO gooo' and not evil, that ye may
live"
The thought is much the same. Do
no only talk about decency, but EN-.
body 1t in your daily life If YOU
want to really live, do good pass up
the evil.
He Went to Church on Sunday, So
lney called Him an Honest Man" "
ran popular song of many years ago.
The hero OF that ballad would not
have agreed with Aurelius' doctrine.
The point of the song, as remem-
Der 1t, was that this customer was
up to all sorts of lodges six days
a week, but be went to church on
sunday, and therefore they called
MIN an honest man" He was a
good talker.
Matthew Arnold's celebrated phrase,
sweetness and light" has come in
for a good deal of criticism recently
from many of the bright New York
writers, who, having discovered il to
De much venerated by the tribe OF
Baobltt, instantly speak against IL,
ihey forget that much admired by
the Rabbits is really very much worth
admiring, as one of the snappiest of
New YORK writer's, O. o Mcintyre
mas pointed out, no doubt to the
amazement of the "fntellectuals.'
Sweetness and light" It. seems to
me, is sterling phrase, one that has
done much good in the world, since
every writing that holds UP an ideal
must do some good, somehow, some
where.
Marcus Aurelius antedated Arnold
however, in opening his tenth book
by coming the phrase, the good and
just and beautiful" II was the fore
runner of sweetness and light" He
said:
viii you, then, my soul. never be
good and simple and one and naked
more manifest than the body which
surrounds thee?
WIN you never enjoy an affection
ate and contented disposition?
VIII you never be full and with
out want of any kind, longing for
nothing more, nor desiring ANYTHING
either animate or inanimate, for the
enjoyment of pleasures? Nor vet de-
string time wherein you shall have
longer enjoyment, or place, or pleas
ant climate, or society of men with
whom you may live in harmony?
But will you be satisfied with YOUR
present condition. and please with all
that is about you, and will YOU con.
vince yourself that you have every
thlng, and that IL comes from the
gods. that everything is well for thee
and will be we'll whatever shall plea Sc
them. and whatever they shall give
FOR the conservation of the perfect
living being God, the good and Just
and beautiful, which generates and