Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-12
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TR4CEWELL.

| Praise, and praise alone. is what they
tolerate. Let the unwary so much as
breathe single slight criticism, or what
they so conStrue. they Immediately
spring to the defense, either directly
or by indirection. Every one IL perfect.
so how can the slightest fault be found
in this friend of mine? Has she not
told me herself that she is perfect? How
dare you demonstrate mildly that the
lady is merely a good press agent for
herself? What right have you to cru
ely point out the sad truth tbut which
no one has right to know that every
bit of praise OF her came first from her
own fair lips? She sells" herself we'll,
one must admit. but that does not pre-
vent her sales talk from being the same
old hokum
These champions OF humanity who
will not permit n remark except In
praise, are merely so many suprrhtand-
ardized persons. Perhaps Sinclair Lewis
has seen through their pretruBe better
than any other writer before the Amefi-
, can public. In his yafiotls novels hr haE
puncturcd their self-esteem beyond re-
pair, but they nevertheless keep on
blowing up themselves and their friends
with great gusto. Lewis they brand NJ
belonging to the "inteliigentsia." and his
books they call exaggerated
One Of the cults OF the standardized
American Ia that Of optimism. The good
points of this way Of looking at the life
and the world have so overbalanccd
their Judgment that they fail to find, or
at any rate pretend to fail to find, any
good whatsoever in pessimism, Of which
the most prevalent form Is that Of ordi-
nary everyday criticism.
These champions of humanity have
swallowed the cult of optimism, hook,
line and Sinker, as the fishermen say.
They will not listen TO criticism, nor
permit any one else to listen to 1t If
they can help it, They Immediately
spring to the defense of friends, enemies,
acquaintance and those whom they
do not know and perhaps have never
seen II so much as n single word of
plain talk is directed against such, ali,
so dear persons!
The absurdity of 1t all Is that most Of
these other persons are very well able
to take care of themselves and would
not ask nor permit them to become their
involuntary champions on the spur of
the moment. What more absurd
spectacle is there to be beheld in ordi-
nary life than some commonplace per-
son flying into great rage because
some other everyday man has ventured
to say that he does not care for pro-
| duction of some great man?
To listen to the offended one carry on,
the observer might think that he was a
| dear personal friend of the great man.
Hear him go on: There is not a word
of truth in such a ridiculous charge
Why, that great person would no more
think of making a mistake than the
| average person would of committing
| faults. 1t is positively insulting to be
| forced to listen to such charge against
| such fine mani
| And the charge is nothing at all, OF
course; merely a personal opinion that
| the mans latest magazine article is not
so wonderful, after all! And yet If the
defender of humanity had written il
| himself, with his whole career depend
| ing upon it, he could be no more in
censed at the temerity of any one who
dared to express an honest--and per-
haps just-judgment.
| Difference of opinion-how little the
| average human being can stand it, and
| how determined he is to put it down
| at once and to permit only one opinion
| to prevail in so far as he is able-hiS
own, of course. Yet difference of opin-
| ion Is the very spice of intellectual
life. Without 1t mankind become q
mere herd of curious animals dressed
in cloth instead Of fur, which. like the
| woolly sheep. follow the leader blindly
more often to destruction than not.