Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-17

"Ah. take the cash, and let the credit
CO." Omar said, in another connection.
But the rule may be applied here as
well. Our honest man who said, II am
sorry for any one that Is in trouble. !"
did not lie awake nights worrying about
the troubles of humanity.
What he could correct he righted, as
far as he could, but the fact that mil
lions Of injustices and wrongs, utterly
outside his cognizance, weighed heavily
upon the abstract level Of justice, wor-
ried him not at all.
He could do nothing about them-in
fact could know nothing Of them, in
the very nature of things. Only when
q case came home to him did he nave
any thought about 1t at all. II ne
knew the person, he attempted TO help.
II he could not help, he at least felt
sorry, and he meant it.
4 +
The individual conscience must be
the measure of all such things. 1t
works from the inside out, not from the
outside in, that is why 1t Is Impossible
for another to speak with authority
about the good intentions OF any one.
Fortunate is the man whose very words
carry conviction.
For him whose words lack this quail
ity of conviction there is no recourse
from the judgments Of others. where
right or wrong, and especially wnen
wrong.
To be misjudged Is very common.
More people are judged incorrectly,
for thoughts they have not held, LOT
inimical Intentions which they by no
means proposed, than are given their
correct due in the course OF an average
day.
It Is very easy to make hasty sum.
mary OF another, and to add the sum OF
his iniquities. The total is staggering
but 1t is often wrong. >. >.
1t Is a much more difi1cult feat to Sit
in Judgment on another human being
and to do the sitting in spirit OF
fairness and unfaltering honesty.
The surest way to do 1t, indeed, Is
not to do 1t at all.
We have noticed in our study OF the
same capable gentleman whom we
quoted that he seldom passes opinions
on others. In the pest we commented
on the interesting trait of men OF action,
as they are called, in not voicing opin-
ions on accomplished facts. They
merely accept them.
The man of whom We speak today
goes them one better. He has no
opinion as to the g0OQneSS OF DdQneSS,
the Inability or LIABILITY, of an
other human being. He may have 1t,
in the privacy Of his own home, but
certainly not in any public, whether
with comrades or others.
He leaves all off-hand judgments to
others, retaining at the same time his
capacity for sympathy. Surely 1t is a
sort of religion in action. religion in the
every day life. when one learns to sub
stitute sympathy for judgment.
The sympathetic attitude will mean
that one will attempt to search for
good reasons for words and deeds, in
stead of reasons which would explain
others on the basis OF something
inimical, crooked. suspicious.
One may be fooled?
Heavens, one is fooled every day one
lives, and what is the difference? The
main thing is not to fool ones self, II
possible. The song is to the singer, and
comes back most to him, Whitman said.
Since life Is divided into two parts, a
Grass acceptance of things as they seem
to us, and a great striving for things
which we do not see-the substance of
things hoped fort is necessary to
keep this second great channel un-
clogged. as unspotted from the first as
humanity possible To this great task,
too. one may dedicate his purse, his life,
and his sacred honor.