Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-27
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRAcEwELL.

plexes, all Of us? Were 10 not for this
sweet check upon the brutality Of cur
spirits, few Of US. perhaps, would know
anything of truth, honesty, justice,
purity, loveliness.
An inferiority complex is the great
check upon ugliness, injustice. i'm
purity, dishonesty. untruth, things Of
evil import. Virtue and praise demand
their opposites, although some in this
age, as in all ages, have demanded that
praise be given to things evil.
There seems something about human
ity which makes them proud, tntolerant,
when everything is going well for them.
1t takes miSfortune-or such 1T seems
to quell the haughtineSs so natural to
man. The pride that ever goeth before
fall does not belong to the inferiority
complex. The complex OF actions and
reactions, both mental and physical,
which has been accepted under the
name of inferior" has come about as
the result Of the fall.
4 X
The fall of man is not something
which happened some 5000 years ago
in beautiful spot called Eden, but IL
an actual happening in the lives Of
every one, man, woman or child. Many
Of the hardest falls take place in child
hood, or perhaps took place--that Is .
better way to say tin the childhocds
Of all those lons-gone persons who were
our ancestors. one Of the most com
plete and curious records OF such q
fall" is contained in william Ellery
Ieonard's The Locomotive God" pub
lisIed by the Century Co. In 1927. In
400 pages he attempts to tell the where
fore of his dread of noise and turmoil
and his fear Of going more than a hall
mile from his home. These strange
things of course, are something dlt-
ferent from an inferiority complex IN
its simple state, but in essence they are
the same. The completes with which
most people are saddled are not so
serious, in fact. as we are attempting
to show. They are not handicapS at
ALL but probably are responsible 1or
such moral character as they gain. al
though most often the credit Is given
elsewhere.
The inferiority complex Is the real
safety valve of human beings. When
attempts have been made to picture
the "superman" of the future, every
higfl-handed rascal whose physlcai
beauty is his only attraction. But the
Romans once had an emperor
feet tall, who ate 40 pounds OF meat
a day and drank or 6 gallons or
wine. The so-called "superman" scarce
~ could equal that. The true best man
Of the future would still have his in.
feriority complex, because that would
seem to be the only way to keep MIN
from running roughshod over the
world.
Decency, in a word, as human beings
understand 1t. comes largely from the
inferiority complex, that group or mass
OF thougnts-for are they not thoughts,
after All?-which make us humble be-
fore authority, awe-struck IN the face
OF the majesty of Nature, retiring In
stead of elbowing our way to the front,
modest before excessive praise.
Every one is familiar with che OF the
simplest workings of this complex. Let
the average person receive praise for
something or other, the chances are
that he will say "Oh, didn't do any
thingl" when all the time he is thing
ing, down in the secret place IN his
own mind, "Well, that was pretty good.
wasn't it--why on earth am saying
that didn't do anything"
Well may a man ask himself that
question, wondering at his own modesty.
Of himself he would be braggart, dis
tasteful to even the boosters, the go-
getters. He is saved by his better part.
his inferiority complex, which perhaps
comes down from a remote ancestor
who. when congratulated by the lord
of the castle for saving the countess,
said In all honesty, MY lord, did
nothing: 1t was God who guided me TO
help her sweet ladyship."