The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1927-05-19
The Value Of Time---How We
Neglect It
There Is Good Task for Every Hour; Task That Is
Better for the Mind Than Idle Rest, Which Is
Death Intellectual

In
Each Of has the years to spend on this
earth.
We spend the first years hoping great things the next
few years dropping illusions and the last few years
regreng the mistakes the missed opportunities and the
wasted time Of the whole life And after that the
grave and perhaps shuttle Of the cards and be-
ginning here where we left off.
On this EARTH full Of opportunities filled with wonders
surrounded by the mystery Of the infinite appears for
seconda second at least in the eyes Of ude And during
his little second earth HE ACTUALLY DEVoTEs MOST
OF HIS ATTENTION TO DISCOVERING SOME WAY .'oF
PASSING THE TIME
Have you noticed how the people pass the time how they
try to make the hours fly by unnotiCed?
They walk into railroad station They put penny in
machine make play some foolish tune Then they listen
passing the time the brain dead.
They go to restaurant They order what they want
Immediately terrific noise begins band is playing and
again the time passes, and again thought is impossible
They meet each other. They talk CERTAIN definite plat
tudes weather. baseball jokes nothing in particular and again
the time passes-and it passes very fast
The husband goes home and tells his little trashy story
the day his wife, and that passes time And then she tells
her LITTLE trashy story about nothing at aand that passes
some more time.
And by by they go to bed and seeand that passes
about one-third Of all their time.
And so it goes
Men play cards in the train to pass the time Men lean
back and sleep their way from big city to another o
the time They forget how much time they will have o
sleep In the grave they forget how rapidly the time will pass
again doentkpOw whether second million years have
passed
Row shall we pass the time till supper" and How shall
We pass the time till and home?" Those the
Questions that modern human beings ask.
There are books that need reading there is thinking that
every and and child do There problems
that need be settled There work that be done to
develop the mind or the muscle or the character.
There good task for every hour that better
for the mind than idle rest which death intellectual
Take any Of the and who devote their
energies now to passing the time and put that man or
another planet Mars with its great canals or
Saturn with the rings Jupiter with the many You
nAfin
time Eyes and would be open all Of the would
be awake eager to study the wonders of the and my
There nothing marvellous on any planet at least
50 far intellectual capacity for receiving impressions
goes, than upon this planet of our
Every little blade Of grass growing every change Of the
clouds and the wind expression chds face
indication Of happiness among human beings,
worthy Of the earnest attention Of manprovidng he fit
to be called man.
There occupation for every waking ecOndbut the great
majority of when not worrying about mistakes in the
past struggling for dollar in the present. retng about
an uncertain future, ACTUALLY TRY TO PASS OUR TIME
For this cannot blame ourselves For only
since yesterday have up from the animal condition
where brain little developed where the mind was
nothing and where the muscles and appetite were all The
faculty acquired the faculty most easily agued-though
and abstract speculation recently acquired faculties
it is probable that not thousand among
the abe men, capable Of four hours thought
day II probable that the average human being lives and
dies without four hours Of real thought in his whole e
II is also probable that you, assuming you be good
fair Individual might be capable of fifteen minutes thought
day you should try it. the fifteen minutes would
grow thirty minutes and eventually you might be able to
spend hour in actual thought problem of Importance
to yourself and to others.
That would be better than many machines
or many brass bands better than many bridge games baseball
games poker games Better than many hours and weeks
Of gossip without meaning.
good book in your pocket definite train of thought
occupying and interesting your indose friends to
take railroad journey, not pack Of cards two
legged gossip
The day will come at the best when you will look back
from the edge of the to the beginning ago.
wish that you could have those years again The day will
the that you passing and wish that you had
chance to do what might have been done.
L IRE ~ HI