Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-20

One of the classic messages OF this
| day and generation, which we predict
will so be regarded In. the years to
come, was that sent by Albert Einstein
| to the meeting in New York recently
which celebrated the fiftieth anniver-
sary Of the birth Of the German
scientist.
you meet to celebrate myth bear
| ing my name" he said. This proves,
however, that in our time; amidst all
| the tll-on1ened striving after power and
| luxury there still, lives an appreciation
| for the eternal aims Of the human
spirit"
Like Lincol1's Gettysburg address, 1t
| is very short, but IL calls renewed atten-
ton to the human verities and makes
| the average man stop and think in the
midst of the everyday hubbub.
What he, says has been said before,
but probably never better, especially
since 1t comes from philosopher and
scientist who is popularity believed to
| live in cloudy distractions not to be
understood by the man on the street"
The very brevity of the message-tell-
ing of the mathematician will make its
appeal, whereas lengthy essay upon
the subject might have left the world
cold.
,.In our time there still lives
an appreciation for the eternal aims of
the human spirit"
And this, he says, in spite of much
striving after power and luxury, which
he brands as ''ill-omened."
With the modesty of the man who
sees the world as 1t is, with. all its
scarcely to-be-reconciled aims, Prof.
Einstein nevertheless has a faith in the
all-pervading power Of the human
spirit.
And If such man has it--and this
Is what interests us most-it would seem
that the rest of us ought to have 1t,
and to cling. to 1t, despite the striking
manifestations involved In power and
luxury. a
In an inventive and scientific age,
the things Of the human spirit often
seem to fall by the wayside. The finer
things of life are often so fine that
one shrinks from mentioning them In
public. Thus propaganda, blatant In
FAINT Of the age, precocious beyond
words, seldom mentions them.
As for the eternal aims" Of this
same spirit, many profess to regard
them as nusty. perhaps fit for Sunday
and state occasions, but scarcely to be
regarded as interesting as other SUBJ
jects, say the comparative merits of
| two new motor cars.
| That man who deals primarily
with mathematical distractions found
it expedierlt to speak solely Of 1.-THE
eternal aims of the human spirit
when he answered a cablegram of
congratulation ought to be inspiring to
millions.
| X &s*
In these very aims lie the hope and
happiness Of the human race. Out of
them and through them has come such
| progress as mankind knows. This SUBJ
lime progression, from cruelty to love,
has been along the path Of the human
spirit. The greatest scientists have
recognized this no less than the greatest
philosophers and theologians. 1t does
not come by knowledge alone, for know
| ing is often cruel, or Indifferent, which
almost amounts to the same thing. 1t
does not arrive through meditation
alone, for faith without works is vain.
Only by the best and most enlight-
ened Thought of the best and most
enlightened men, at any one time and
place in history and the world, has
come such progress as humanity may
lay claim, to. These thoughts often
have been thought at great peril and