Evening star., 1927-11-20
Fame of Parents May Affect Careers of Younger Genera0

he would educate Hilary. The boy
was sent to school and later to the
university. But just as he was grad
uated from the university his guar
dian died and he was left with moth
ing except the meager salary he
earned from job he secured as an
unimportant customs inspector.
The life he now lived was shabby
and colorless in comparison to the
gayety of his youth, and gradually
he withdrew into himself. becoming
more and more morose and consoling
himself as best he could with dreams
of his romantic childhood and the
life his parents lived. All the real
ability and imagination he inherited
from them were rendered futile and
undvailing by his yearnings for the
glamorous past Had they instilled IN
him during those first l. years of his
life the idea of ultimately hitting NM
self for some type of occupation wnlch
would be not only method or earn
ing his living but a means or sell
expression he might today be Leading
q life of usefulness. absorbed in his
work and surrounded by friends whom
he had drawn TO himself by reason
of his breadth of culture and wide
interests.
ONE of the most significant factors
~ in the failure of men IS their
finchins from reality. They do not like
the world as they find it. are afraid or
il. and so ignore it and flee from 1t, sat
isfving themselves with spurious sue
cesses or with pure fantasy-lmagln-
ing the world to be what they would
have it to be. They are not honest
even with themselves. and succeed
in making themselves believe they are
different from every one else; that
their case is a special one and that
there is some good reason why no
one could succeed under like circum-
stances They are not strong enough
10 overcome the particular handicap
which is preventing their complete ad-
justment. and so they retire more and
more within themselves. letting the
world go by and persuading them
selI es that they are eNceptional per-
sons, when to the cold eyes of the out.
slider they seem merely pitiable fail
ureS.
From all these cases of failure, due
tO family situations. one striking con-
clusion is TO be drawn: The family
situation alone does not cause the
failure; it may determine the kind
of failure but it can only cause one
when the individual is weaker than
the opposing circumstances. In other
words. "a very healthy. or. as we say.
morally strong personality will sue.
ceed in an extremely bad environ.
ment. while the weak personality may
fail even i'm very good one-the less
healthy the Individual the better the
Getting needed for success.
Thus IL Philip Il. will be strong
enough to rise above unfavorable cir.
cumstances. though it may take him
wears to do so. but a William T..
weak and disagreeable at the outset,
will need extraordinary wisdom and
guidence to make him n useful citizen
and a happy and contented man.
The wise parent will seek to under.
stand his child with this intent-will
seek to evaluate his abilities and his
weaknesses. to strengthen his weak
noints when that is possible by graded
exercises in morale. much as he might
ice graded exercises In calisthenics,
nd to modify the environment for
I'M when that is necessary. This
reans that the parent must honestly
valuats himself also and seek to
understand better the part he plays
in the situation of his child. The
solution Of his chiId's problem may
require that he mend his own WAYS
suite as much as those of his child: