Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-05-06

| the German philosopher IS
Thought in mind, that you have just
listened to the dialogue Of two fools
in comedy.
Life Is play, and all the men and
women in it players, Shakespeare tells
us. Perhaps this is a better way to
look at the matter than to regard
, life as a comedy. Just a play, which
may contain both tragedy and
comedy, mixed as life alone can mix
1t, and as the stage mixes it by fol
| lowing truthfully life, with all It's
shades and high lights.
| Life is this play, and we are the
players, and 1t helps us in our en-
frances and exits if we can manage
to take it all with good humor, and
be able to see the comic aspects. The
too-too serious man or woman is
handicapped in a world planned like
| Is in valuable.
| 4 X
| When something we have heard
hurts us, let us not brood upon it, but
try our best to believe that we have
listened to the dialogue Of two per-
sons in the universal comedy of
rights and wrongs.
| Life is not merely a comedy of
| errors, but contains much of truth
and more of honesty in its makeup. To
concentrate upon the evil, the nasty
| the ill-humored, the mean, is to fail
to see the other side.
II we had our way we might, in.
deed, shatter this world to bits and
mold 1t nearer to the hearts desire,
as the Persian poet SAID, but, since
this is something that is impossible
we must be content to take life az
we find it. Such an attitude will not
prevent each one of us from trying
to make both ourself and the world d
| bit nearer to that hearts desire.
II we fail often, as fail we must
| being as we are, we shall be consoled
with the thought that the battle has
been regarded through the ages as
the largest which the soul of man
engages in. and is one from which one
need not garner medals to be victor
won some consolation of appreciation
in ones conscience, if ones own con
science is worth while.
X X
Nor shall we ever be free from the
opportunity of good friends who
lacking philosophical insight, insist
on telling US, for our own good,
the tidings of i'll will which others
have for us.
| So what we do not hear ourself. we
shall most certainly be told abou,
later by some one! This is one of the
surest bets in the world, since it does
not depend for success upon whether
a particular horse has It's leg muscles
in good trim or not, but is based
| simply upon fact of human nature
1t has been often said that the
recipient OF bad tidings holds no of
tense against the originator, but
solely against him who brings the
evil tidings. While this is true in
some degree, it is not altogether so
else few of us would have any friends
at all.
did he say that about me?" we
should reply. modelling our reply upon
that of Epictetus, Think of what he
might have said. had he known as
many of my faults as / do
Beautiful on the mountains are thu
feet of those who bring tidings of JOY
| and peace, Isaiah tells us. This is
the other side of the picture. and one
to be remembered when The other il
put out of mind. No matter how
many fools you hear talking as If ir
a comedy, as Schopenhauer said, there
| will always be friends to bring one
beautiful pictures and tales of friend
| ~ conversations. Let these, then
weigh more In the scale than the
others. They ought to. and can be
made to do SO, If one is true to him
/ self