WORDS TO LIVE BY

by Kathryn Hulme

DO GOOD AND DISAPPEAR

Faire le bien et disparaître

- G. Hennet de Goutel

It's four words in English and five in French, but the sum
of them can be condensed into the single word, Charity. I first
heard this maxim years ago from the dedicated woman whose story
I was one day to write. She told me that the words *charité*
(from the diary of Geneviève Hennet de Goutel, a heroic French nurse
who died in World War I) were painted in large Gothic letters
over the door of a ward in the Belgian hospital where she *died*
received her nursing training.

The sense of the saying was immediately apparent -- that
when you give something, say something or do something helpful to
a fellow man, you don't stand around waiting to collect your
pound of gratitude -- waiting for the smile, the shy stumbling
words of thanks or, worse still, waiting for the tears which
sometimes occur when great weights of worry are suddenly lifted.
You simply give, say or do, and disappear.

Although this sounds easy, I discovered that it is very
difficult to do. Obviously, sizeable gifts to known charities,
which are deductible for Income Tax purposes, should be named
and claimed unless you're a Don Quixote philanthropist secretly
dedicated to the support of the U.S. Treasury. The field nar-
rows down then to giving to needy friends and private causes, but
even this, I found, often requires Machavellian cunning to
achieve. Once, for example, I made a clothes parcel for a
sensitive and momentarily impoverished friend, dropped it furtively
over her garden gate and sneaked away. The next time I met my

-2-

WORDS TO LIVE BY

freind, she told me how she had found an almost-new tailored
suit, carefully wrapped, dropped by mistake in her garden.
She had turned it over to the neighborhood police station,
to the Lost and Found Department.

It's a tall challenge to try to do good and disappear,
but immensely worth the trying. The happiness resultant from
this kind of giving, when achieved, makes you feel like a
secret shareholder in an immensely profitable organization
that could be named *Charity, Inc*. if Christ had not already
named it in a longer phrase - *Tell no man of this.*

* * * *

WORDS TO LIVE BY

It's four words in English and five in French, but the sum of them can be condensed into a single word - Charity. I first heard this maxim years ago from the dedicated woman whose story I was one day to write. She told me that the words (from the diary of Geneviève Hennet de Goutel, a heroic French nurse who died in World War I) were painted in large Gothic letters over the door of a ward in the convalescent hospital in Belgium where she received her nursing training.

The sense of the message saying was immediately apparent - that when you give something, say something or do something helpful to a fellow man, you don't stand around waiting to collect your pound of gratitude -- waiting for the smile, the shy stumbling words of thanks or, worse still, waiting for the tears which sometimes occur when great weights of worry are suddenly lifted. You simply give, say or do, and disappear.

Although it sounds easy, I discovered that it is very difficult to do. It was as if I had a gaunt and rapacious wolf inside me, hungry for gratitude. Last summer, for instance, up in the Jackson Hole country of Wyoming, I visited a small log cabin church which had a list of its needs posted in the vestibule. For a contribution of fifty dollars a closet for the holy vestments could be built. I had fifty dollars in cash, but instead of putting that in the box, I wrote out a check imprinted with my name and address so there could be no mistake as to which passing tourist had been touched by the simple appeal. And, in due course, came a letter from the grateful Father of that forlorn parish, blessing me for my donation. The letter shamed me then and still does.

Meanwhile, I found an easy way to do good and disappear. I

DO GOOD AND DISAPPEAR
by Kathryn Hulme

vh 10/5/57

STAPLE

ELITE

PICA

Faire le bien et disparaitre

- G. Hennet de Goutel

It's four words in English and five in French, but the sum of them can be condensed into a single word - Charity. I first heard this maxim years ago from the dedicated woman whose story I was one day to write. She told me that the words (from the diary of Genevieve Hennet de Goutel, a herioc French nurse who died in World War I) were painted in large Gothic letters over the door of a ward in the convent hospital in Belgium where she received her nursing training.

The sense of the saying was immediately apparent - that when you give something, say something or do something helpful to a fellow man, you don't stand around waiting to collect your pound of gratitude -- waiting for the smile, the shy stumbling words of thanks or, worse still, waiting for the tears which sometimes occur when great weights of worry are suddenly lifted. You simply give, say or do, and disappear. Although it sounds easy, I discovered

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

THIS WEEK
MAGAZINE

STAPLE

-2-

STAPLE

ELITE

PICA

that it is very difficult to do. It was
as if I had a gaunt and rapacious wolfe in-
side me, hungry for gratitude. Last summer,
for instance, up in the Jackson Hole coun-
try of Wyoming, I & visited a small log
cabin church which had a list of its needs
posted in the vestibule. For a contribution
of a few dollars, a closet for the holy
vestments maximmum could be built. I had some cash
with me, but instead of just dropping it
in the box, I put in an envelope with my
name and address so there could be no mis-
take as to which passing tourist had been
touched by the simple appeal. And, in
due course, came a letter from the grateful
Father of that forlorn parish, blessing me
for my donation. The letter shamed me
than and still does.

And beyond that, it robbed me of the
true inner happiness which comes as the
greatest of all rewards when you simply
"do good and disappear."

******

23

24

25

## Words To Live By

BY KATHRYN HULME

*Author of "The Nun's Story"*

# "Do good... and disappear"

## These four words can enrich your life

I first heard the words I have used for the title of this article years ago from the dedicated woman whose story I was one day to write. She told me that the words came from the diary of Geneviève Hennet de Goutel, a heroic French nurse who died in World War I. They were painted in large Gothic letters over the door of a ward in the convent hospital in Belgium where she received her training.

The sense of the saying was immediately apparent. It's this: when you give something, say something or do something helpful to a fellow man, you don't stand around waiting to collect your pound of gratitude — the shy smile, the stumbling words of thanks or, worse still, the tears which sometimes come when great weights of trouble are suddenly lifted. You simply give, say or do, and disappear.

It sounds easy. But it is very difficult. It is as if one has a gaunt and rapacious wolf inside one, hungry for gratitude.

It's true that our charitable contributions often have to be identified, for tax or other reasons. But that isn't always the case. Last summer in the Jackson Hole country of Wyoming, I visited a small log cabin church which had a list of its needs posted in the vestibule. A contribution of a few dollars would build a closet for the holy vestments.

I had some cash with me, but instead of just dropping it in the box, I put it in an envelope with my name and address so there could be no mistake as to which passing tourist had been touched by the simple appeal. In due course came a letter from the grateful father of that forlorn parish, blessing me for my donation. The letter shamed me then and still does.

But beyond that, it robbed me of the true inner happiness which is the greatest of all rewards — and which comes to you when you simply "do good and disappear."

A MOMENT OF LOVE... the truly unselfish act does not ask for

## This Week

THE NATIONAL SUNDAY MAGAZINE

© 1957, United Newspapers Magazine Corporation, 485 Lexington Avenue, New York 17, N. Y.

EUCLID M. COVINGTON, President • JOHN C. STERLING, Chairman of the Board

WILLIAM I. NICHOLS, Editor and Publisher • STEWART BEACH, Executive Editor

Names and descriptions of all characters in fiction stories and semi-fiction articles in this magazine are wholly imaginary. Any name which happens to be the same as that of any person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. The title "This Week" is registered in the U.S. Patent Office.

July 28, 1957

## In this issue

COVER: By Nolan Patterson

4 CERFBOARD: Gags With Glam

7 Has The H-Bomb "Sunk" Our

10 Are Men Better Looking With

12 8 Questions About Money

14 FICTION: The Dark Lady Of M

17 Angelino Rings The Bell

18 HOW AMERICA EATS: Summer

21 Quiz 'Em

23 LAST LAUGH: Wife's Revenge

THIS WEEK