The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-07-07
nfkMos F0R A sCRAPBOOK

This reporter receives many 0pistles from young newspapermen and journalism students requesting rulyurn-writing hints. We believe the best guide for colyumists was composed by newspaperman Ed Howe: No man may write interest ingly and keep within the bounds of Your beliefs. He must occasionally 90 so far as to pleasantly shock you and cause the uncomfortable feel Ing that good man cannot follow him all the way. The writer who aims to write nothing offensive to anyone presently writes only hymns and leaflets explaining the Sunday school lesson; and then only chil- dref1 read him; and they read him because they fear they will be scold- ed if they do not. Only interesting writers are actually read"
 No scrapbOOk of literary gems would De complete without G. B. story :. 4 writer once visited Shaw and expressed surprise that there wasn't single vase of flow CTS in his apartment. T thought you were fond of flowers" he re- marked 6haw's abrupt response: T am fond of flowers. am also fond of children. But don't cut off their heads and stick them in pots around the house!"
 George Jean Nathan is known as . strong arm dramatic critic, But those who have read his tonnes are aware that George is also a shrewd philosopher who has penned incisive comments about te foibles of the human race. Frixamp1e: ''In every thoroughly charming and effective personality one finds suggestion, however small, of the gutter. This trace of finished vulgarity is es- Sential to the completely winning manner. The suavest and most highly polished man or woman be- comes uninteresting save as he or she possesses it. In the soul of every fetching man there is a streak of ingratiating commences, in the heart of every alluring wo- man, a touch of calico'
 From Somerset Maugham's "Of Human Bondage: The Vicar looked up at his nephew. Then these last two years may be regarded as 70 much wasted time?" Philip reflected for an instant: T don't know about that. learned one or two useful things. learned to look at hands, which I'd never looked ct before. And instead of just locking at houses and trees I learned to look at houses and trees against the sky. And learned also that shadows are not black but col- ored."
 Many HeywoOd Broun colyums rate a place in anybody's scrapbook. But . paragraph Heywood penned five years before America went to war stands out in our mind. It dis plays his prophetic wisdom, and his words remain pertinent today. To wit: If there is a general Eu- ropean war, we may be able to stay cut. But make no mistake in as- suming that we can remain un- touched by the brutal spectacle. It is not well for any nation to say, It is naught to use what happens across the water. There are no caves in which men can hide when their fellows cry out in agony. We are part of the world, and all hu- man beings are knitted together into Q corporal unity. It was Cain who said, Am I my brothers keeper?' And for his sin he was banisheG from the company of his fellows. He was the first of the worlds isola- tionists.'
 Those who must work for liv- ing dream of the day when they can retire. Those who have the means to retire seldom do. Doing nothing would literally bore them to death. Stephan Leacock once wrote: What is retirement? Have walk in the closing part of the afternoon, and suddently looked up to realize that the leaves have prac- tically gone? And the sun has set and the day gone before you knew it--and with that cold wind blows across the landscape? That's re- tirement."
 Ralph Waldo Emerson's common sense: There is time in every mans education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignor- ance: that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better or worse as bis portion! that through TvvyAINnrNc rRIrnU