Evening star., 1934-08-10
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACETELL.

1 to call the antics" Of our subject,
carries away with him the impression
only that the fellow Is suffering from
/ a bad case Of the "swelIed head"
/ It is true that he is. but that is not
ali that Is there. as We are attempting
I to point out. One must have been
/ the close observer of several OF these
interesting fellows before realizing
/ that each is a great deal more than a
I particularly fine specimen Of the
swell So-called.
! II Is because he does succeed. in
/ his way. and often gets more credit
F for success than he deserves. that his
/ way of doing it must continue to be
Of interest TO all students of human
I nature
/ When he comes into a plant or
other business establishment he Is
very cautions. He does not know who
can help him and who cannot. He is
/ taking no chances, hence he is polite
TO all. not. of course, for courtesy's
sake, but simply for his own. How
/ direct he Isl How simple his planl
Less intense men, men less given to
thinking at all times about them
selves, often scatter their forces,
waste their energies In trying TO oe
nice" as they call it. to all corners,
whether they know they can be of
any assistance or not. Such men are
as polite to the Office boy as to the
president of the firm.
Not so the self -centered man. the
"self-made" man, II you will. For one
may think. from this viewpoint, that
far too much praise has been given
all phases of the ''self-made" man.
He is not self-made at all, but SIM
ply has kicked those who have helped
him away from him at the first
/ chance he got The thing may be
seen working itself out all over the
world.
After he has been at 1t for a time,
depending upon his innate ability,
and the breaks" and the good will of
others, who later he will quietly re-
pudiate, he begins TO stop speaking to
those who plainly cannot help him in
his victorious course toward the great
goal which no man except he, glorious
one, ever attained.
This is the first sign, and is greeted
by it's victims by such unSpoken or
spoken remarks as Hes getting the
swell head" and Who does he think
he is, anyway" and His head Is
getting to big for his hat"
These judgments speak volumes for
the recognition by the average man
of the real seat of the trouble-in the
mind, the forward-seeking mind,
which reaches with single grasp for
signs of material success in world
which often seems wholly material.
This fine fellow no doubt would say
that the others were looking for
signs of swelled head, and so found
it, that he was, truly. no different
now than before, but only more de-
termined, having tasted of success as
bloodhound smells the trail.
He is unfair to others, because he
fails to give credit where credit is due.
He is unfair to himself because he
does not need to adopt such tactics.
Therefore one must believe that
their adoption is part and parcel Of
an underestimation of his own ability.
He doubted himself so much that a
little success struck him as too Won
derful. When he stopped to ask him.
self how the impossible could have
been attained, who could be response
be for it, he had a flash of inspira-
ton:
Myself" he said, happily.
Maybe the rest of humanity Is a
fool, and he alone right. for. by
George, the thing seems to work.