Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-06
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

The desire to believe Is the thresh-
| old OF the temple; belief is the temple
itself. Those who desire to believe see
| taperS as stars, those who believe see
stars, but both see-stars. Naturally
those who cannot see stars take little
stock in those who can.
The sneerers stand on the temple
stars; they are candles" The simple
minded will declare, "They look like
stars to me-" This is a futile and end
| less argument, and right-minded men
OF all ages have realized it. They gen.
orally end by admiring the believers, as
Emerson, Maupassant, lola did.
One is drawn around irresistibly to
| the belief that love Is better than hate
kindness than cruelty, belief than dis
belief, optimism than pessimisrn. The
saddest trait in human nature is that
| belief has so often resulted in hate
cruelty. Just why this is we leave to
| the psychologists. Whatever the opin-
| ion may be, there would seem to be
no necessity that ire should spring from
BELIEF in love. Thousands of men
and women have believed strongly and
made that belief work itself out in
! terms OF love. Perhaps these have been
to be that the terms of love may be
adopted by those who know nothing
about love itself, just as the phrases OF
humility may be mouthed by men the
direct antithesis of humble.
X X "
Simplicity and humility are not syn
onyms
The former may or may not contain
In itself humility and so is inclusive
or exclusive Of the other, as the case
may be.
The simple minded man or woman
takes a direct, fresh interest in life
unencumbered by two considerations
which continually harry those Of a
| different temperament. They never
think What am going to get out OF
this?" nor "Is this the way to do for
the best net return?"
| Thus the supplemented come great
deal nearer being satisfied and content
In world which seems bent perpetually
on making every one dissatisfied with
| what he is. does or has. The simple
ones of earth take men and things as
they appear, at their face value, and
so much the worse for men and things
If they are false.
This is teaching of the wise men of
| all ages. The danger is not to those
who are deceived, but to those who de-
| ceive. The gift is to the giver, and goes
| back most to him: the hurt Is to the
hurter. and hurts him rost Of all.
Aside from the simple minded ones
the earth is made up principally of
those who are Slick and those who
like to imagine that they are. BY
| sickness" we mean no particularly
| large amount of cleverness, but Just so
much of the Grass, ugly ability to Guido
another which mainly distinguishes
mankind from the beasts.
1t should be pointed out that the
"slickers" and the "would-be slickers''
never put over" on the supplemented
one-half as much as they give them
selves credit for. It Is the easiest way
| out for the others to admit themselves
taken i'm Half the crude cleverneSs
upon which men pride themselves is
simply a lack of desire on the part OF
victims to contest the matter, either
orally or physically.
The accent has been placed at a diff
ferent point in life by the simple-mind-
ed. Gain is not one of his accents, out
doing another not one, hurting another
| not one. His accents are love, beauty,
| helpfulness, the truth. In the pursuit
| of these he must expect to meet mock
cry, since that seems TO be a part OF
| life, too. He must solace himself with
the knowledge that realist, q dreamer
himself, once wrote of him: HE was
one of the supplemented, one whose
| simplicity was divine. and who had re-
| manned on the threshold of the temple,
kneeling before the tapers which from
a distance he took for stars"