Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-08-18

Certainly one Of the rules Of Ia ppy
living IL not to 60 out of your way
to r1dicule people.
| There 10 nothing that q person
will remember longer. to your hurt.
than the thoughtless things you say
in contempt.
The more q person IL deserving, per-
| haps. the more he resents it, the
deeper the hurt, the less liable he Is
to forget It,
Cast ridicule upon a handscme man
for his 'homely features" he will
| laugh at you. Heap reproaches upon
| the extravagant fellow for his tight.
! wad ways" certainly he will not mind
| it much.
Touch but upon one feature. how.
| ever. in which either gentleman 10
| sensitive, and you will see the mouth
tighten up. the features set, and
there will be much more you will
never see.
There will be a portrait engraved
in his mind
1t will be a picture Of You. and
beneath it will be some such legend
as this:
"A Disagreeable Fellow
You may be, of course, the most
charming chap in tho world, among
those you think enough Of not TO
| poke fun at, but that will not save
| YOU in the present instance.
Undoubtedly there is some Justice
to what YOU said. Who said there
| was not? But what difference does
| that make? The more true it was
| Is a case in which silence is indeed,
golden.
Lord Chesterfield. shrewd oh.
server Of human nature in his day
and age. said: :
However frivolous a GONNA nv NAV
be, still. while you are among them
do not show them by your inattention
that you think them so: but rather
take their tone, and conform in some
degree to their weakness, instead Of
manifesting your contempt for them
There Is nothing that people bear
| more impatiently or forgive less, thar
| contempt, and an injury is much
sooner forgiven than an insult
He wrote the above in 1746. Two
years later he said, in one of his let
terS:
BE convinced that there are no
persons so insignificant and inconsid-
cradle but may Some time or other
! and in something or other, have IT
in their power to be of use to you.
which they certainly will not, If you
nave once shown them contempt"
Again Lord Chesterfield wrote:
Wrongs are often forgiven, but
contempt never Is. Our pride remem-
bers 1t forever. 1t implies a discov-
cry of weakness, which we are much
| more careful to conceal than crimes
Many a man will confess his crimes
to a common friend. but never knew
q man who would tell his silly weak
nesses to his most intimate ones.
AS many friend will tell us our
faults, without reserve. who will not
40 much az hint at our follies: that
discovery IS too notifying to our
self-love. either to tell another, or to
be told of, ones self"
70 attempt any amplification Of the
above would be to gild the lily. Philip
Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chester
field, knew human nature from the
ground up. He was cynical for a rea
son. He was finished product of
civilization. He knew the rules and
regulations of community living, and
observed them. Also he expected
others to observe them.
X
Living in civilized groups known
AS cities, one must be polite. to the
best of his ability, al least. The man
who insists-nay, prides himself--on
telling You to your face" Is an I'M
social boor and deserves the dislike
he earns.