Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1932-08-25
THE UNDERSTANDING HEART
minneapolis Journal, June s.

The past week has witnessed the
graduation of several thousand pupils
from the high schools of Minnesota.
Tomorrow witnesses another Com
mencement at the University. The
thoughtful citizen inquiries: What,
after all, have these young people got
ten out of their years Of study? How
much. out of all they have learned,
will they remember ten years hence?
How much wiser are they than their
contemporaries who had not these
educational advantages? Is the game
worth the candle? Does the taxpayer
really get value received for the vast
sums spent ON our educational sys-
tenn?
A certain percentage of these stu
dents have been undergoing simply a
period of vocational training. They
come out of it bookkeepers or steno-
graphers, lawyers or doctors or school
teachers. How much actual "educa-
ton" have they received? What in
sight have they gained into life and
it's values? How far have their inner
The most popular jest in university
circles has to do with "Ph. DIS with
third grade education"
1t remains true, after all these cen
turtles, that knowledge is power"
Other things being equal, the more
man knows, the greater his mastery
over the conditions of existence. His
knowledge must of necessity, in these
days, be confined principally to his
own chosen field; nevertheless, it
| brings some measure of special eff
| ficiency. AS a farmer he must know
soils and seeds, stocks and their prop
err care and feeding. AS accountant,
engineer, or professional man, he
must understand the tools of his
| trade. The more he knows, the far
Their he will go.
| Nevertheless, we know that this is
not all. 1t is not the man with the
widest and most accurate scholarship
who is always the most successful.
Great scholars are often Indifferent
| teachers. The bankers understand
ing of human nature is more impor-
tant than his knowledge of securities.
The lawyer must sway juries as we'll
as write briefs. The doctor often dis
covers that he must
| Minister to the mind diseased,
| Pluck from the memory a rooted
sorrow,
ere his medicine or his surgery will
be of the slightest effect. The states
mans ultimate appeal is to the heart
rather than to the intelligence of
mankind. Edward Everett was man
of the highest culture, a scholar of
broad learning, statesman of rare
integrity and breath of insight. Lin
coin was self taught man, of limited
acquaintance with the classics. Yet
Everett's eloquent Grafton on the bat
tlefield of Gettysburg was almost in
stantly forgotten, while Lincoln's
simple sentences have themselves be-
come a classic.
What is this common denominator
of human experience which must be
added to the profoundest learning, il
it is to become effective in the worlds
life? which so often is hid from the
wise and prudent and revealed unto
babes? In two words, it is the under.
standing heart. It is sympathetic
knowledge of life and its experiences
which enables one to enter under
standingly into another's problems, tt
look at things from his neighbor's
point Of view.
This is a sin qua non of effective
leadership. Lawyer or doctor or min
lister, general or engineer or states
man, it is this equality, added to hi!
understanding of his work, which
lifts him above the merely effective
and makes him great.
This is the truest culture. It ma.
be best fed upon the study of poet!
and prophets and dreamers, of histor!
and fiction and philosophy-upon thos'
disciplines that bear least directl!
that teach one how to live. Happy thu
, graduate of tomorrow whose years il
college have opened his heart ant
, taught him understanding. This L
{ the value Of the personal contacts o
{ the classroom and the fraternity house
This is the secret that one may catcl
/ from some Mark Hopkins or Cyru
Northrop or John c. Hutchinson, an,
miss entirely in the lectures of tn
r most brilliant scholar.
knowledge is power, but wisdom /
better than rubies, and all things tina
may be desired are not to be com
pared to her."
Father criticised the sermon, moth
{ er disliked the blunders of the organ
3 list and the eldest daughter though
? the chOir'S singing atrOciOus TIL,