Evening star., 1928-11-01
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

"D'Artagnan thought of the miseries
of poor human nature, always dis
satisfied with what it has,. ever desir-
Gus of what it has not dumas.
Surely DArtagnan thought Of a
great deal!
In few words he swept human emo
tions from A to z and came back again
to the starting point.
Poor human nature!
Always dissatisfied with what 1t has
ever desirous of what it has not!
This curious trait of humanity is re-
sponsible for a great deal of the troa-
BILE in the world, as 1t also is for many
of the greatest works in the world,
whether In the realm Of art, science, in
vention or whatnot.
If there was any such thing as uni
versal satisfaction, progress would come
to a halt, and all the thousand and
one things which we know today would
be lacking, in all probability, from the
commonplace map of the everyday.
1t is precisely because people every
where are dissatisfied with what they
have, and are desirous of what they
have not. that men and women go forth
to labor, that young boys and girls
study, that all sorts of people are per-
petually thinking and scheming to ad-
vance themselves.
x X X
This state of affairs exists side by
side with that good content which is
the crown of every worthwhile life.
Its existence Is in no way incompatible
with the possession Of real content.
One may be contented, in general,
theoretical way. and yet highly dis
oaA xr,;f lHtv,,co1f ord bic ctofo nf
affairs in a practical, actual manner.
Both states Of mind exist side by side.
each contributing a certain something
to the complete character.
The one-sided person, who is wholly
under the sway of either state, fails
somehow to impress others as being a
complete person, in the best sense. How
incomplete one may be! How easy it to
to be in such lop-sided condition!
No doubt, if one Of these futurist
artists were to paint humanity as 1t is,
according to his light, he might depict
men and women as squares tr1angles,
circles, each one with portion OF the
total surface missing, so that Mr.. So
and-So would be almost square, Mrs.
Thus-o -or-Thus not exactly round, nor
Miss Hit-and-Miss somewhat but not
quite resembling triangle.
It would seem that poor human ma
tlre is prone to be prey to depres-
sion, especially of the sort which Is
dissatisfied with what it has, reaching
out for what it has not.
There are two main reasons for this.
In the first place, the average person
never has enough to suit him, and IN
the second, absence makes the heart
grow fonder. Perhaps these dlscrmlna-
tions need explanation.
There are very few persons in the
world at any one time who have enough
of everything. If there is nothing that
money will not buy which they cannet
have, then what they miss Is something
which money will not purchase. :.
A man may pine for distractions II
he cannot find anything else more tan
gible to yearn for. Human nature, call
it poor, as Dumas did, or not, ever
longs for the unattainable.
If there is something to be dlscov-
cred. mankind wants to discover IT..
Hence for centuries the world witnessed
the ardor of those engaged in searching
for the North Pole. To the sit-by-the-
fires these adventures seemed fool
hardy but to those engaged in them
they seemed only eminently practical
and lust. If they did not search, who
would? And somebody must.
Absence makes the heart grow
fonder"
What world of dissatisfaction man