Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-16
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES +. TRACEWELL.

Perhaps human beings differ in
nothing more than in their need for
privacy.
Some men fairly revel in contacts;
they are never happy except when some
one else is around. Crowded places at
tract them. They like to rub elbows.
Other men shrink from human con-
facts, go into crowded places as little
as possible, and hnd certain amount
OF solitude . necessity in their daily
lives.
The eregariouS man will never under
stand the other, and even II he makes
an attempt Will fail lamentably, because
he likely will brand the other as
''misanthrope."
Nothing could be farther from the
truth than this. Such a man is not I'M
social, neither Is he o hater Of man
kind. The psychological forces of his
ness a necessity, whereas the psychical
makeup of the other type knows no
such need.
II any one thinks for q second that
there is anything queer, aS the COM
mon usage has 1t. about the man who
demands some solitude in his life, hs
may correct his wrong thinking by re-
calling the large number Of prominent
men who indulge in such periods OF
alOOfneSS.
One of the great international figures
in finance has in his European ot11ce
silence ROOM" wherein he may re-
tire for absolute privacy. When he is
in that room no one has 2 right to dis
turb him. That Is the law. No one
dares enter, for any Gauss or reason
whatsoever.
Many an American business man has
| a similar private ONCE, or Sanctum
where he goes for that bit of communion
with himself which seems necessity In
/ the hurry Of the business life.
Many an American man. business Oh
chemher at home, where he might
escape for the nonce from the boisterou!
play of the children.
! X X y
We know a man with several lively
little ones who recently moved into .
| larger home. The one thing which hi
likes about the place is the large third
floor room, in effect an oldtime attic
| where the children can be turned loose
| IT can send them up there" he said
with broad smile of appreciation, "anc
can't even hear themP
Now here was an active man OF al
| fairs, we'll Injured to noise, hurly- burly
| toss and tussle, who nevertheless adj
mitted q real need In his life for somG
silence.
One need not go as fer as Carlyle:
worship Of the great silent men," MeI
may be silent for no particular reason
Often a shrewd reader OF human
! nature realizes that silence may or MAJ
not be golden. Often 1t is the dulles
lead. A man may be silent not enll
because he is deep, but also because HI
] is shallow.
| The discerning man comes to feel, thu
more he has experience with life, tina
silence not only is portion of tn
wise man, but also the mask through
which the wise fool conceals himself.
All fools are not pure fools. There
are capable fools, as well ms clowntsf
onas, SO that nc man can be sure, wheI
he meets one who talks little, whether
he has run across the one or other
or whether he has, indeed, found I
truly wise man at last.
| The desire for silence, then, can b'
construed as no sure sign OF anything
| except that the man wants to be alone
| with himself for a while.
This desire needs no justification. i
is as old as humanity. Since DavtC
retired into himself to write his psalm!
| TOR such of them as he did Write) neT
have known the need of solitude.
| y
| The trouble today lies in securing 1t
Man is q gregaTious animal, so we weTi
| taught in school, one who prefers II
be around his fellows. Some races arr
more solitary In habit thGn others, bu