Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-07
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

! wonder the poor fellows don't plunge
! the country into two depressions
! Yet there is q solid basis for the
necessity for being polite, and no one
need ever feel ashamed Of himself for
! 1t. :. Indeed. America suffers from its
\ TACK, as any -one may know when he
starts down the street in his automo-
! bile. Politeness is good. even II one is
dimly aware at the time that he is
wasting IL on the principle of throwing
! pearls before swine.
The necessity which one feels to make
/ some remark when another says some
thing is due partly to the feeling which
exists among ordinarily polite people
! that stated remark does call for a
1 reply To have ones statements greeted
with a grunt is universally regarded as
I insulting. No reply at all, according to
! circumstances, ranges from sheer in1pu-
! dence to strategy.
: It is strategy perhaps when the man
/ of action reserves comment on a state
ment of fact made to him about some
! thing or other. Suppose you have Just
] sold a piece of property and, CHANGING
/ to meet him, apprise him of the fact
/ Notice the way he handles it. He
does not say That's goodl' or where
/ is it located" He has. in fact, prac-
/ tically no interest in the matter as a
/ matter. He passes no opinion on facts
as facts but may be interested In how
/ you came out in the deal.
Did you get what you paid for it?"
he may ask. Note that this is only in
directly a comment on a fact His
business instinct is stirred, despite him.
self
When you say that you did, he has
nothing further to say about the mat
| ter. He looks stolidly down the street
and wonders if the afternoon will be
good for playing golf.
/ 4
The ecquisitive mind thus differs
largely Nom the inqulsitive. The for
mer accepts facts without question. It
is sold, therefore 1t is sold The in
quisitive mind, wondering, might try to
inform itself as to why you sold and to
whom.
The whole thing resolves itself in the
last analysis into a question of interest.
! The dwarf of the fairy tale is outdone
( Nothing that is human Is foreign to
me-" said he.
Our man of keen interest believes
that nothing at all in the earth, above
the earth or in the waters Of the earth
is UNIT for his speculation. Hence we
| find him dreaming, muSing meditating
turning over and over in his mind facts
and fancies which the other type of
mind promptly released as matters of
little or no interest.
Yet these men look strangely alike.
At bottom, however, they will be forever
strangers, although the man of action
may have, and often does have. the
most profound respect for the dreamer.
Many of him, however, processes only
contempt for the dreamer. He despises
a polite fool who finds 1t necessary to
make comments when no comments are
/ needed.
Here. as elsewhere, the interested type
| OF mind is more tolerant. He gives the
man of action credit for his every due.
and even sees in him in some cases
qualities which the other possesses only
through courtesy
Whether it is necessary to comment
on fact must be left after all. to the
individual. Perhaps the man of action
might whet the edge of his interest
| with profit to himself No doubt the
polite dreamer might withhold COM
ment more than he does and yet be as
kindly In his conversation as ever. In
/ this matter there is no fixed rule, but
only the abiding play of character. the
sunshine and shadow of life.