Evening star., 1938-01-22
Is
The Way to
A Man Is Miserable
Unless He Has the
Power to Give.
BY ANGELO PATRI.

BY ANGELO PATRI.
I IFE is worth while as long as one is
happy in 1t, and no longer. Hap
piness Is 4 personal matter quite be-
yond the reach Of parental control.
school control or government order.
One is happy according to his own
feeling and that feeling rises out Of
mental satisfaction with ones lot
It Is q law of nature that to be
happy one must be useful, busy about
something that helps the people con-
cerned about the business. One makes
dishes or washes them, as well as
using them, or one does not make him.
self useful and 50 cannot make him.
self happy. It Is well to remember
this when We are trying so nightly
to help young people of to q good
start.
Helping them to put themselves in
the right attitude to take what op-
portunity offers, training them 50 that
they can have the ability to see the
opportunity and make the most of 1t,
Is our only contribution. We cannot
give them single atom Of power, 4
single gleam Of intelligence. Giving
them money won't help because it
won't stick, being without those self
grown roots that make it . symbol of
personal power. Lacking that, it is
washed away as fast as it is given.
Giving them jobs that they have not
selected for themselves and for which
they have not fitted themselves won't
help, either. The applied job Is like
the applied money. 1t has no self
grown roots and cannot stand up in
bad weather.
The nub Of the matter is that self
help Is the only help that counts for
anything. Self-activity, which means
activity Of mind and body under ones
own direction. is what brings intelli-
eence into life; and it is only then,
when the intelligence moves the per-
son to act worthily, that the worker
feels content, satisfied and happy.
Man Is constituted 50 that taking
makes him miserable unless he has
the power to give in return. Youth
has the right to training and educa-
ton and opportunity. It is our duty
to provide these. We cannot give them
anything nor could they take any,
thing worth while If they would.
am not anxious to see the youth of
the world hard at work In factories,
shops. ofices, giving their strength
to industrial labor or labor Of other
sorts. I still think that there are
plenty Of matured men and women 70
carry on the work Of the world. Let
the younger ones of the teens and
early 20s complete their growth and
training before starting out in COM
petition with older workers. We are
going to have q dearth Of skilled
workers. II it is not upon us now. The
coming generation ought to be trained
to do thorough, craftsmanlike, work.
manlike jobs before they take over.
We have been making . mistake
along this line. Boys and girls de-
cided they would 60 to work. Some
body got them job, any Job, or they
found one for themselves and went
to work. Young men, who had never
seen the inside Of . car, took Jobs in
garages; Jobs as gardeners assistants
when they didn't know 4 dandelion
from q forget-me-not. A man who
had never polished spoon or brushed
a floor took Job as q houseman, and
his wife. who had never made an ap-
pie pie, secured . place as a cook.
This Is all wrong. Any work that one
does ought to be considered sacred
because it Is . direct expression Of
ones own self. Its effect should be
happiness for the worker, satisfaction
for the employer.
Youth needs training toward self.
help. They do not ask us for Jobs or
for money. but they do ask for educa-
ton, training. fitness, to take over
their own job, and to that they are
entitled. They want to help them
selves.
Copyright, 1889