Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-12

would come to pass, life would at once
pick up immensely, without recourse
to words.
Words are all right in their place
On paper they are fine, and in the air
when spoken with kindness and some
intelligence, sweeter than the honey
comb.
with infinite wisdom words appear
In the great books of the world, with
lesser ability in the lesser writings
The happiness of all writing Is that
one may receive help, or inspiration, or
entertainment, from the lesser writings
no less than from the greater and
greatest, according to the mood in
which one finds himself, and especially
according to the bond which may ex-
list between the unknown writer, on the
one hand, and the even more unknown
reader. on the other.
Yet this beautiful friendship must bt
built on something more than argyll
ments against worry! If writer tell:
me that must not worry, and pre-
sents o thousand good arguments to
prove that he Is right and am wrong
turn away from him, for know that
in the last analysis he has not grasped
my problem.
No doubt he is q large, beefy person
who never had a pain or ache in his
life, who is never i'll, and who never
worries. Finding himself constitution
ally unable to worry. he firmly believes
that others should be Of like mind. and
could be If they were not so stubborn
as to resist his affirmations.
n X ~
One Is reminded of the enthusiastic
souls who write SO freely and gayly OF
the beauties of optimism.
"Rn cOIIro QaOfle fhav state III
all one had to do was to think them
selves into valor. BE happy" as II
one had to think happiness to ex-
perience 1t. We have read scores OF
these books, some very good in their
way. and not without some help from
each one Of them. but not in the way
which the writer imagined To state a
thing is not to prove 1t. to tell one to
be at peace with the world Is not to
make one so.
To argue against worry Is In the same
boat. 1t may do some good, for a time,
in diverting the attention, or making
the victim angry, and thus taking his
thought off himself, but in the long
run the popular sport of attempting to
force an acquaintance. to give up the
habit of worry is based on a false as
sumption that truth is all-powerful.
Unfortunately for mankind, truth Is
not more omnlpotent than virtue Is uni
versally prevalent. To know the truth,
especially in the field Of ethics, morals
and emotions, is-to know the truth.
Whether the truth will set you free, as
is often asserted, is another matter.
The propensity to worry is not at all
logical. but Is based on the inheritance
Of acquired characteristics, and inher-
ent physical and mental structures. To
tell a worrying man or woman not to
worry is to give helpful advice. but one
must be prepared to see it suffer the
fate OF much good advice.
Perhaps the most successful anti
worry propaganda was the once popu-
lar song. II Should Worry" There was
no intelligent thought In 1t, simply a
philosophy OF indifference. He or she
who can work up this philosophy with
out hurt to others often save themselves
a great deal OF harmful worry. Some
worry, for instance. about the use of
themselves" following ''he or She" but
we do not worry about 1t, for 1t seems to
us the best solution, and the most nat
ural, Of a perplexing problem in Eng
lish construction.