Thursday, January 7, 1954
You remember that old, very old verse we "learned by heart" in school, which we sometimes recited on Friday afternoons - "Politeness is to do and say the kindest things in the kindest way."
As I have discussed a lot of subjects in this column which have been crowded out of the press by politics, sensational news, crime and the like, you will, no doubt, guess from the above that this is another subject rarely mentioned.
The subject Courtesy, an important subject little discussed, and probably less practiced, in an age made tense by wars and rackets, than in the days of the little, one-room school house.
Anyone with wide and far-reaching social and business contacts will soon learn that Courtesy will open doors of business offices that gruff and boorish manners will close forever. But, what is of more importance, it will draw friends to our side, without whom this would be a dreary world, indeed. If proof were needed of that, all that would be necessary would be to listen to the voices in the halls of the United Nations. Here may be heard, almost any day, the insulting, ill-mannered words of the representatives of the Soviet nation assailing the Christian, civilized people striving for peace, which attacks naturally alienate them from this barbarous cause forever.
Courtesy is more than skin-deep. It stems from the generosity in man and the gentleness in woman. Courtesy is the badge of the gentleman and the mark of a lady, declaring them such, whether dressed in sackcloth or silk, for courtesy can turn rags into royal-purple and calico into regal gowns.
Now, if you would go with me to the hills and mountains of my native West Virginia, I could show you courtesy not found in many other places in the world. It is called "hospitality," but what is hospitality but courtesy, politeness and the generous consideration of the feeling of others?" I was raised in this atmosphere of hospitality, which I "took for granted"-a natural condition which I thought prevailed everywhere, until I went abroad. I had to travel over most parts of the world before I realized that West Virginians are unusual people, especially those who have lived all their lives in the hills and mountains. The customs and manners of other people brought this fact home to me. Space will not allow detailed description of these hill and mountain people, but the following natural trait should be all that is necessary. A man's home in the hills and mountains of West Virginia is really his castle, even though it be only a log cabin daubed with mud. Anyone who enters that home is a guest who would be defended against insult or injury by the life of the host. Regardless of a changing world, there are still homes in the mountains of West Virginia that will receive a total stranger, who would no more be charged for board and lodging than a king of old would have charged a guest from another country. These native inhabitants belong to Nature's royalty; they are the salt of the earth. They never let anyone out-do them in the courtesy of hospitality. Showing again the importance of this subject by citing once more the ill-breeding and uncouth barbarous manner of the Sovietswhich will finally help to destroy their nation. I leave you with the hope that you will reflect on the opening jingle, learned at school - "Politeness is to do and say, the kindest things in the kindest way" - an investment that will pay great dividends. Thursday, January 14, 1954 Now that New Year resolutions have been made, and probably a lot of them broken, may I suggest a "resolution" - a resolution that should be reaffirmed day after day, that we may grow stronger in our love of freedom and in our hatred of slavery. It is a repetition of the resolution made by Abraham Lincoln during the war, when he resolved:: "That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." When Lincoln, the king-size statesman, stood at his full height of greatness and visioned a new birth of freedom under God, the Republic was beset with great dangers. When the prophetic voice declared that government of, for, and by the people would not perish from the earth, because of the force threatening its destruction, the nation was torn and bleeding from war. But that was a physical danger, with the foe out in the open, which can always be met with a like force. I do not mean to minimize the danger that Lincoln saw. The infant Republic, which Lincoln knew to be the world's greatest and, in fact, the only real experiment in freedom, could have been destroyed, especially with jealous kings abroad ready to help destroy it. That is what made Lincoln say, "We shall meanly lose or nobly save the last best hope of earth." But the dangers today which we seem unwilling to face, guard against, and destroy, are greater than the ones Lincoln knew. They are hidden dangers, as deadly as cancer - as fatal as a stab in the back - as noiseless as the lethal fumes in an execution chamber. The dry-rot of socialismn cannot be met with the bayonet! Propaganda, in and out of government, school, college and church, cannot be stopped with bullets! These dangers surround us on all sides. There is no room for doubt left. Past actions foretold their hidden existence; present developments have proven it! Under the excitement of war, men will join and defend their country to the death. The sanctity and freedom of the home will be protected with the last drop of blood. Even in a war against insects, since it is known that ants, beetles and bugs would eat man off the face of the earth if not resisted, all men battle them in the common cause of survival. Why, then do we become an ostrich with its head in the sand, with our very freedom, home, country, religion, and, yes, our God, marked for destruction? So, as never before, gravest dangers should make us highly resolve that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. May the dangers destroying the freedom and faith that have made us great in the sight of God, cause us to reaffirm that resolution until we again reflect the image of Him in "our new birth of freedom." Thursday, January 21, 1954 Selfishness is not a popular subject that will attract a wide audience of readers, yet it is one of the most important subjects. Being unpopular, or at least not a subject to attract attention like the subjects of adventure, romance, or printable scandal, I promise to be brief. The habits, deeds and thoughts of a selfish man are the exact opposite of those who follow the Golden Rule of the Bible. Therefore, if selfishness could be removed from the hearts of mankind, about all other sins would disappear like a grimy snow that has lain under a warm spring sun. Fever, headache, worry, and other petty ills, disappear when the major causes of them are found and removed. We have passed through the Christmas season, the most unselfish season of the year. The giving of gifts, even though but a trifle and the expressions of kindness such as "Merry Christmas," or "Happy New Year," can be translated into the Golden Rule when we say, "Let us be as kind and charitable unto others as we would have them be unto us." Over radio and television dozens of versions of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," were heard. Scrooge, the most selfish man in literature, who lived unto himself and scorned the Golden Rule, was described as "secret, and self contained, and solitary as an oyster," who had the ghost of his dead partner say, "I wear the chain I forged in life." Charles Dickens painted a true picture of human selfishness that will live as long as Christianity survives. He thrilled the hearts of millions when, he had the revived conscience of the selfish man turn him from his own selfish, ironclad rule, and find happiness in the Golden Rule that comes closer to the thoughts of men during the Christmas season. Is this subject important? Let us see. No selfish business man ever became a success and remained happy. He must be, at least, unselfish enough to share his success with the less fortunate, or choose, to remain unhappy, like Scrooge, "secret, self-contained and solitary as an oyster." No selfish minister of the Gospel ever preached a great sermon. No selfish painter ever became a great artist. No selfish writer ever wrote a great poem or essay. No utterly selfish man can perform a great charitable act. Yes, this is a most important subject; if you agree with the above statements, you will also agree that selfishness should not only be abhorred during the recital of "A Christmas Carol" but every day, lest we become like the ghost that told Scrooge, "I wear the chain I forged in life." Thursday, January 28, 1954 As we grow older and wiser from the experiences of life, one of the things we all learn is the priceless value of true friendship. I suppose it is possible for a man to make money without making lasting friends; he might gain power without gaining sincere friends; he might gain a reputation for intelligence and foresight without forming ties of unbreakable friendships - but this I believe: Regardless of money, power or reputation, no man has made a real success of life unless he has been successful in forming lasting friendships, which are the chains of gold that will not break even though money, power and reputation may be lost. It is not criticism, but a true statement concerning ambition that is peculiar to youth to say that the young merchant will endeavour to gain friends to increase the sale of his goods. The politicisn will use various means to procure friends for the votes they will gain him. The young in all professions will try to build a glittering reputation for the purpose of drawing a paying clientele. But the ties of such friendships are fragile things; they are as easily broken as the threads in a day-dream. But this I know: When the long years have melted the dross in life away and left the gold; when the evening of life approaches the young merchant, politician, lawyer or doctor; when the youthful heat of ambition has cooled - they will look back at the friends who have lasted and value them above all the minted gold of the Klondike. Friends are the measure of true Success; they will remain a living testimony to our worth, even after the bubble of reputation bursts, money vanishes, and power has lost its strength. I would not trade one word of approval, of encouragement, from a sincere friend for the power to avoid the slurs and gross insults of a hundred enemies. Many philosophers and wise men have advised us to be careful in choosing our friends. I think they were entirely wrong in thinking we can choose our friends. I think our friends choose us - for our worth, our sincerity and our capability of returning deserved friendship. If there are three living things in this world that see clearly through-and-through you, they are a man's dog, a close, intimate friend, and very little children. If dogs fail to lick our hand, if little children run from us, if sincere friends desert us in fortune or in trouble, we probably deserve to swallow the bitterness from the mouth of our enemies rather than the nectar from the golden cup of friendship. Youth is a great age, throbbing with the intoxication of living. It is colored by romance, with ambition lifting the young to high adventure and continuous action. Being the age of action, the youth seldom has time or inclination to develop the fine art of acquiring friends by being a friend to all mankind. But as our scores of years fall into the discard, and the twilight of life approaches, we come to realize that all the wealth in the world is but nothing unless we have near and dear friends to share the blessing it will bring. After age has cooled the fire of youth to temperate heat, we come to realize that reputation is shoddy, indeed, unless it stem from the approval of our closest and most faithful friends. The temperate meditation that comes to all of us in the evening of life convinces most of us that all the power generated from the heat of tireless youth and young manhood, is energy wasted, unless we have bosom and companionable friends to share its benefits. Years ago, it was a very poor man who boasted: "I am wealthy in my friends." He was rich, indeed!" Thursday, February 4, 1954 As I grow older, I realize that experience has taught me that one of the greatest mistakes made is the belief that money is the only compensation for work and activities, and is necessary in life to prosper and be happy. This I have come to know: All the philosophers who have tried to point the road to Happiness, all the moralists who have endeavored to show the right paths to Contentment, all the sages who have advised, confused humanity - none have shown a way to Happiness and Contentment like the one these lowly people have followed by using The Golden Rule of the Bible as their guide. I have no intention of discussing money, or the making of money, in this article. All know that it is a force with which to work for the good or evil. It is a means to an aim in life - and that aim may be Happiness and Contentment, or miserly greed. But of this be assured: If the reading of the Bible be neglected and Dunn & Bradstreet read instead, we are well on the Road to miserliness. If the Wall Street Journal gets all of our attention, and the Book of Jeremiah be closed, we are on the road to Greed, instead of the one that leads to Happiness and Contentment. But, if the reading of the market reports comes after the reading of the Bible, if the inspiring prophesies of Jeremiah come before financial reports; if we prepare for a strict accounting with our Maker first, and then our bank account - then we are on the road to Happiness and Contentment which is paved with good deeds and noble acts in accordance with The Golden Rule. So, I salute those who honor me with their friendship, as well as my neighbors whose association is benediction, for their noble acts and good deeds which have paid them a compensation in Happiness and Contentment that pay-checks and bank accounts can never bring. Thursday, February 11, 1954 Probably no word is "kicked around" more than the word PRIDE. We condemn a man if he has no pride, and we condemn if he be proud. In illustration, as an extreme example, if a man indulges in drink to the point where he neglects his manners, clothes and work, we dismiss him from our minds, probably with the thought or statement that "He has no pride." On the other hand, if a man be over-fastidious in dress and manners, if he be careful about the associates he chooses, he is probably called "proud" - with the word used as a criticism. Although I am familiar with that passage of Scripture in Proverbs of the Old Testament which declares: "Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall," I have some thing to say in favor of pride. Of course, there is nothing to be said in favor of a haughty spirit, but the "pride" as used in the passage refers to a man who is proud in his own conceit - a conceit that makes him place himself above the Creator. We should most certainly feel a sense of satisfaction - yes exultation - a grand pride - if we have helped someone to decide to turn from the wide road that leads to destruction and start them on the way to salvation and happiness. We should never be haughty or boastful, but every man and woman on earth has the right to feel proud if they have made progress in the right direction, in a world naturally beset with handicaps and reversals. Every man has a right to be proud of his divine heritage on earth. He has a right to be proud of belonging to a brotherhood from the fatherhood of a God who has made him a little less than an angel. If we are not proud of that fact we have little ground on which to scorn or even criticize the infidel or unbeliever, who in the pride of his own conceit, must fall as did Lucifer, never to rise again. That is the kind of pride meant when it was told as that: "Pride goeth before a fall," and not the pride that comes from belonging to a heritage that is divine." This, I now tell you from experience. I have never missed an opportunity no matter where or what the occasion, to appear before any religious assembly. I have never failed to accept an invitation to address religious bodies, no matter whether held in a leaky tent, a grove, a little church in the country, or in large places of assembly. On occasion, I have traveled miles to fill these engagements. Without the least thought of boasting, I have no hesitancy in stating that I am proud of what I have accomplished at some of these meetings. I have seen scores turn from sin and accept a better, a holier way of life, as a reward for my efforts. I point with pride to that accomplishment - and it is not the "Pride (that) goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall." I know of nothing on this earth, from the hands of people, business or government, that would bring the pride I had from this small part I have had in bringing a little closer the ties in the brotherhood of man with the fatherhood of God. Several years ago a young man in his upper teens came to me and asked for employment. I had known him, but not intimately enough to pass judgement on his ability to fill the position he sought. When I asked the young man what salary he expected he, named a price twice more than the amount usually paid to those starting without experience in that particular line. Judging by the experience I have had with executives, top business men and foremen, I am sure that most of them I have known would have dismissed the young man as having a bad case of swelled head. However, I did not. I hired him. When I asked the applicant if he really expected me to hire him at the salary received by most men when after long experience in the position, he replied; "Of course, you know your business, and I don't. But I do know that I will be worth more than that amount to you. I don't see any sense in discounting what I know I am worth, which is what I would do if I should tell you my services would be worth only a few dollars. "As man thinketh, so is he," I reflected - and here, surely was an amazing young fellow. He accepted the starting salary, after I told him that I would advance him in proportion to his aptitude, ability and application to the job. Here was a young man, I thought, who was not afraid to place a value upon himself. If he had no confidence in himself, how could he expect others to value him, I pondered? So, I watched him closely, and it wasn't long until he was receiving more than the amount he had asked in the beginning. After all, we should like people who place a high value upon themselves. Their attitude toward life will be good. They will not depend upon luck. They always think in terms of big things, and they will, with ability, realize big things, obtain real objectives - go places. Our attitude in life is of vast importance. The sunshine or the word is ours if we place ourselves in a position to receive it. On the other hand, if we cultivate the habit of being moody, self-discouraged and timid, all the sunshine in the world will not hide the clouds which really do not exist. We are creatures of God, therefore we must place a very high value upon ourselves. If we do not, our breast will be the home of petty worries, unhappiness, and very little hope of success in life. Life will find us weighing ourselves in the hidden scales of an inferiority complex until our services to anybody, anything worthwhile will, indeed, be worth only a few dollars. If we think in terms of good health, we will more likely be healthy. If we think in terms of millions, we will probably not be paid off in pennies. If we think in terms of bringing happiness to others, the whole world will bring happiness to us. We can write our own ticket, make our own terms, to the extent of our ambition, abilities, and above all, our outlook on life, that will not allow us to settle for anything less than success, if our outlook be wide. I think the soundest advice ever given to young men or women was given by a successful man who said, "Hitch your wagon to a star." The young man I hired had hitched his wagon to a star, which caused him to always look up at the pinnacle, where Success lives, and never the lowlands, strewn with Failure. Thursday, February 18, 1954 Several years ago a young man in his upper teens came to me and asked for employment. I had know him, but not intimately enough to pass judgement on his ability to fill the position he sought. When I asked the young man what salary he expected he, named a price twice more than the amount usually paid to those starting without experience in that particular line. Judging by the experience I have had with executives, top business men and foremen, I am sure that most of them I have known would have dismissed the young man as having a bad case of swelled head. However, I did not. I hired him. When I asked the applicant if he really expected me to hire him at the salary received by most men when after long experience in the position, he replied; "Of course, you know your business, and I don't. But I do know that I will be worth more than that amount to you. I don't see any sense in discounting what I know I am worth, which is what I would do if I should tell you my services would be worth only a few dollars. "As man thinketh, so is he," I reflected - and here, surely was an amazing young fellow. He accepted the starting salary, after I told him that I would advance him in proportion to his aptitude, ability and application to the job. Here was a young man, I thought, who was not afraid to place a value upon himself. If he had no confidence in himself, how could he expect others to value him, I pondered? So, I watched him closely, and it wasn't long until he was receiving more than the amount he had asked in the beginning. After all, we should like people who place a high value upon themselves. Their attitude toward life will be good. They will not depend upon luck. They always think in terms of big things, and they will, with ability, realize big things, obtain real objectives - go places. Our attitude in life is of vast importance. The sunshine or the word is ours if we place ourselves in a position to receive it. On the other hand, if we cultivate the habit of being moody, self-discouraged and timid, all the sunshine in the world will not hide the clouds which really do not exist. We are creatures of God, therefore we must place a very high value upon ourselves. If we do not, our breast will be the home of petty worries, unhappiness, and very little hope of success in life. Life will find us weighing ourselves in the hidden scales of an inferiority complex until our services to anybody, anything worthwhile will, indeed, be worth only a few dollars. If we think in terms of good health, we will more likely be healthy. If we think in terms of millions, we will probably not be paid off in pennies. If we think in terms of bringing happiness to others, the whole world will bring happiness to us. We can write our own ticket, make our own terms, to the extent of our ambition, abilities, and above all, our outlook on life, that will not allow us to settle for anything less than success, if our outlook be wide. I think the soundest advice ever given to young men or women was given by a successful man who said, "Hitch your wagon to a star." The young man I hired had hitched his wagon to a star, which caused him to always look up at the pinnacle, where Success lives, and never the lowlands, strewn with Failure. I again express my regret at the passing of the old McGuffey Readers. My regret does not come from sentiment or oldfashioned ideas, which the following account of my personal experience and observation should show. Few readers will deny my assertion that there has been a great moral and religious let-down since the days when the McGuffey Readers were used in schools as a sort of supplement to that which was taught in the Sunday School and from the pulpit. This does not prove that discarding the readers was the cause of the moral and religious laxity of today, but the following might give us some insight: Inthe sections of America where the McGuffey Readers were used as a textbook, I have talked to many successful men who have told me they attributed their success in life to inspiration received from the Readers and the Bible. There is a reason, of course for that, and one of the reasons is found in the definition of success. By success, I do not mean just becoming a millionaire or a Congressman, or a Hollywood celebrity. I will let McGuffey's Fourth Reader not only explain what success is, but how to acquire it, in a story entitled "Good Will." After the author asks some boys if their notion of success is to get rich as soon as possible by any means, he then explains- "There is no true success in that when you have gained millions you may yet be poorer than when you had nothing; and it is the same reckless ambition which has brought many a bright and capable boy, not to great estate at last, but to miserable failure and disgrace, not to a palace, but to a prison. "Wealth rightly got and rightly used brings rational enjoyment, power, fame - these are all worthy objects of ambition; but they are not the highest objects, and you may acquire them all without achieving true success. But if, whatever you seek, you put good will into all your actions, you are sure of the best success at last; for whatever else you gain or miss you are building up a noble and beautiful character, which is not only the best possesion in this world, but is also about all you can expect to take with you into the next. "I say, good will in all your actions . . ." "In short, boys, by slighting your tasks you hurt yourself more than your employer. By honest service you benefit yourself more than you help him. If you were aiming at mere worldy advancement only, I should still say that good will was the very best investment you could make in business. "By cheating a customer, you gain only a temporary and unreal advantage. By serving him with right good will - you not only secure his confidence but also his good will in return. But this is a sordid consideration compared with the inward satisfaction, the glow and expansion of soul which attend a good action done for itself alone. If I were to sum up all I have to say to you in two last words of love and counsel, those two words would be - Good will." : Thursday, March 4, 1954 It seems that as we become more engrossed, tense and frightened by wars, which have now become almost continuous - we are less and less inclined to discuss the very thing that precipitates war, treachery, which embraces treason, ingratitude, and nearly all the other undesirable traits in man. Anyone who has had a wide business and social experience is bound to be wounded in mind and soul, and disillusioned by acts of treachery, if he be honest and upright with his fellow men. It does not matter in what field treachery may enter - be it in the small trade of neighborhood transactions or on up in large business and politics - it cannot hide itself. Treachery, though at first hidden, like the dagger under the coat, at last betrays itself by the act. There are no acts of treachery more obnoxious than those committed under the pretense of duty or the bold declaration that the act was necessary. There is no place for treachery in duty and no necessity is pressing enough to justify it. Alger Hiss probably considered it necessary for him to betray his country. Probably a crazed and violent man considered it a duty to slay an inoffensive and humanitarian Lincoln. The same may be said of any duty - the duty an employee owes to an employer, and the loyalty an employer owes a loyal employee. Treachery betrayed itself, with all its fangs exposed, at Pearl Harbor, where it precipitated a war; it hid behind a kiss nearly two thousand years ago, and is now breeding in the underground cells of Communism in free America. I now turn to the authority I have learned to use above all the opinions of mortal men - the Holy Bible. And, may I say, now that I have turned from the subject for a moment, I have no intention of presenting these articles wholly as sermons when I refer to the Bible. I merely give irrefutable authority by intelligent, Christian people. The Old Testament records many acts of high treachery to God and man, punished as unpardonable sins. For the many treacherous acts against God and Israel the transgressors were left with light punishment. But for one special act of treachery, that should be remembered because of those who were made to suffer, the Lord said, "I will not turn away the punishment thereof, because they have sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes." But, we must turn from the Old Testament to the New Testament, for an act of treachery that still astonishes and saddens the world. The scene was set at the feast of unleavened bread, the Passover. The first act of the dreadful tragedy was enacted when one of the twelve arose. "And forthwith he came to Jesus and said, Hail, Master; and kissed him . . . But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayeth thou the Son of man with a kiss?" No other authority on treachery is needed, but it might be well to remember that someone once said, "Betrayers are hated even by those whom they benefit." Thursday, March 11, 1954 Do we give enough attention to so-called trifles?" A slight wound from a scratch that merely draws blood is considered a trifle, yet infection may develop that results in the loss of limb and even life. Especially in this era of inflation, a penny is considered a trifle, almost without purchasing power. Yet without the accumulation of pennies, the dollar, that may multiply into a fortune, cannot be had. A pebble - certainly one of the most insignificant of trifles - changed the course of history. Yes, a mere pebble from the brook in the sling of the youthful David prevented all Israel from becoming the slaves of the Philistines. It is little wonder that the giant of Gath, the monstrous Goliath, armed in a coat of mail, a spear and helmet, the weight of which could scarcely be borne by the boy David, would laugh at such trifles as a pebble. The proverbial straw that broke the camel's back was a trifle. One wrong, cruel word is a trifle, yet, in time, millions of them wear away the hardest granite. Like Goliath, we should not laugh at trifles. Just a few decades ago, the atom was one of the smallest things, a mere trifle to speculate about. Today, it threatens to destroy nations and civilization, if not all humanity. The little Dutch lad, who saw a small stream trickling through the earthern dike, knew that ordinarily little streams are a comparative trifle - but this was a trifle to be dealt with, as are most trifles. The story that the boy saved thousands of lives by stopping the stream with his finger, may be true or it may be a myth. But that does not matter. Whether truth or fiction, the little Dutch boy will always be one of the world's heroes - because he knew how to deal with a trifle in order to keep it from spreading into a tragedy. Surely, a step, a stride, is a trifle, but enough of them make a journey around the world. A mere thought, an impulse, is a trifle, but followed it will form habits that last through life. What a trifling thing is a grain of sand, what a little thing is a drop of water. Yet out of these trifles an earth is made. The beautiful blue ocean is made of drops of water, and the highest mountain is of grains of sand - trifles that make a world. As we first must learn to deal in pennies before we deal in dollars, we must learn to consider trifles before we are capable of considering great things, all of which are made up of trifles. I like the jingle learned in school days, which I have never forgotten for the reason that, to me, it best illustrates the importance of a trifle: For want of a nail the shoe was lost, Thursday, March 18, 1954 Most men have two mental scales. In one, they weigh their faults - if they discover any. Probably, the greatest fault in anyone is seeing only the faults in others. These may be on the surface for all to see, beneath which may be hidden a thousand virtues. It is a trait in human nature that is seldom overcome, to magnify our virtues and to minimize our faults. This is not an original thought of course; it was first told us in emphatic language in the Sermon on the Mount, when Christ said: "Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote of thy brother's eye." The beam is in most of our eyes, and it blinds us to the virtues of others, and to the faults others see in us. Therefore, when we weigh the faults of others, all our faults are lighter than a few of theirs. I have come to believe that we become more faulty overselves, when we look only for the faults in others, and we become more virtuous when we look only for the virtues in others. How important then, it is to consider the beam that is in out own eye instead of beholding the mote in our brother's eye. No one is perfect - no, no one; therefore, the old saying, which grew out of Indian wars in frontier days, that, "The only good Indians a dead Indian," could be applied to everyone of us. But there is so much good in all of us, that we enrich our souls, our lives, when we search it out - like the light of the sun, it promotes growth. Underneath the rough surface of mankind may be found the gems of virtue. Gold is seldom, if ever, found in beautiful gardens. Sutter's sawmill stood in the midst of a desolate country in California. Woods and brambled growth made the countryside undesirable and unattractive. Where it had been cleared to farming, the land was unproductive and unsightly. But beneath it was found the purest gold. And so , behind the frowns and sneers of a troubled world - behind the unsmiling and wrinkled face of adversity, fed by wars and misfortunes - may be found the purest gold of virtue, if we search for it. There is some of the gold of virtue under the ragged coat of the beggar. There are a million diamonds, without one flaw, deep in the fires of adversity. There is some of the gold of mercy and forgiveness even in the murderer who kills in a fit of temper, to be found when assayed and weighed in our own scales. Long ago, a very wise man said:" We would willingly have others perfect, yet mend not our own faults. We would have others severely corrected, and will not be corrected ourselves. The large liberty of others displeaseth us, and yet we will not have our own desires denied us. We will have others kept under strict laws, but in no sort will ourselves be restrained. And thus it appeareth how seldom we weigh our neighbor in the same balance with ourselves." If we must weigh faults, let us learn to use the same scales for ourselves in which we weigh the faults of our neighbors. Thursday, March 25, 1954 There can never be enough said about fidelity, faithfulness to a trust; loyalty to those who trust us. In fact, fidelity includes almost all virtues. One cannot be false to a trust without being unfaithful to himself and to His Creator. No one can be disloyal to those who trust him and be loyal to himself and to the precepts of the Bible. In the employment of many people in the businesses I am connected with, I have never accepted the services of anyone whom I could not trust. In fact, I place loyalty high above most other qualities in considering prospective employees. I, as all other business men, I assume, employ people with the aim of a life-long connection. Therefore, if I employ one who is loyal to his job, he is not only loyal to me, but to himself. Even though his ability in any line be not nearly as great as others, it will be directed to my good and to the good of the business, and consequently to his own advancement. On the other hand, it is only a simple fact that one who is unfaithful to a job, a trust can never truly help those who trust him, even though he be a genius of the highest order. In fact, the more ability he has, the more injurious he will be to the business, to himself, and to his employer. If one has the ability to perform only one deed in a weak way it will be to the advantage of those who trust him if he be loyal. If one has the ability to perform wonders, it will be to the disadvantage of those who trust if he be unfaithful . . . disloyal. These are simple facts, as most facts are when we look them in the face. Thursday, April 1, 1954 Colleges are desirable "prep" schools for an education. When young, conditions surrounding me were such that there was no opportunity for me to attend college. That was of great concern to me when a youth, but, in looking back it is now of little importance. I have found that an education may be had in American by even the poorest. Out of the thousands who were self-education, I need only to point to Thomas Edison, Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington Carver. Carver, the son of a slave, performed miracles that Harvard students never achieved. Such men as these will acquire an education without the aid of college. The poor may see to read only by an open fire in a hovel, and the rich by an electric light in a mansion, but both may learn the same things. If a man be intelligent and ambitious, he will become educated under any condition. But colleges prepare us to learn from life and I am in favor of them to the extent that I am a patron of several. I am in favor of anything which trains a boy or girl to think and to think quickly, anything that teaches a boy or girl to get the answer before the other person ceases to stammer and bite his fingernails. Colleges do not dull people, they polish and develop them. Colleges do not make intelligent men, they develop them. A "dullard" will remain a "dullard," whether he goes to college or not, but college will probably make him a more acceptable "dullard." In America, an intelligent, ambitious strong boy has the opportunity to become a bright, successful man. The lack of a college education will not stop him; but college will also help the boy who lacks these qualifications. In fact college might have made an ordinary lawyer out of Lincoln - who knows? Anyway, that's what made one man, with many college degrees, say: "Colleges are sometimes places where diamonds are dimmed and pebbles are polished." I favor colleges. They save many a sore spot from the School of Hard Knocks, and help to avoid long, stony detours to an education. But to those who have not the opportunity to attend college, I point out George Washington Carver, the son of a Negro slave from whom all college faculties learn much. Thursday, April 8, 1954 War is a distasteful subject but one we have always had with us. War has made hypocrites out of men and nations. I mention war because there are now grave doubts whether the United Nations' members are more interested in peace than in diplomatic juggling for position in another war, which sesms inevitable. Many members of the UN are traveling old paths, and the old paths lead to war. Today, the hope for eternal peace. The redemption of man from the sinful, silly blunders of war, lies in a new way, and not in the old and bloody path of the past. The child of the Manger was saved from the sword, and a troubled world was given a Savior, because the Wise Men were courageous enough to travel a new way - "the ways of peace." They followed the signs in the heavens. The new path led Christ from poverty to popularity with throngs following Him in acclaim. But led to a Cross at the end of the journey - there had to be a crown of thorns as the price of the peace promised us in the Bible - "my ways are the ways of peace and all her paths are happiness" - if we but follow them. Unless all members of the UN have the courage to travel the path the Savior blazed, their mission is doomed to failure. The very declaration of their purpose of peace seems to make them the direct heirs of what God bequeathed in His last hours when He whispered, "Peace I leave with you." As no other international organization has had for its sole objective total peace on earth by outlawing war, as has the UN, it would seem that the words whispered before the Cross should fall on sensitive ears in this great enclave, with its unparalleled opportunity. After nearly two thousand years, the Master is telling them: "Peace I leave with you!" The Master paid with the pangs of Gethsemane, the Cross and the spear, for our privilege of "peace on earth good will toward men" - if we accept it. That will happen when each nation obeys the command of the Savior s did Peter when Christ said to him: "Put by the sword." Thursday, April 15, 1954 Frequently in this column, I give the results from my own experiences in life, with the hope that they may help young people on the road to success and happiness, that's the aim of this column. For that reason, I seldom mention politics, as political subjects are quite generally discussed. however, today I wish to discuss "Relief" - not relief to the deserving, the needy, but the "Relief" that has become a national dole for political purposes . . . relief that the independent early builders of this great country would have spurned as an insult had it been offered to them,. The Biblical declaration, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." has been denied by this Socialist program. That program taught young people starting in life, that the government owes them a living. Of course, every person who accepts that false belief becomes a ward of those who work to sustain a government that must fall. In the first term of the New Deal, Mr. Roosevelt had this to say: "Contiual dependence upon relief induces a spiritual and moral disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fibre. To dole out relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human soul." That proved to be hypocrisy; for with the "narcotic: applied by Mr. Roosevelt in the beginning, he, and then, Mr. Truman, gradually increased the dosage until, 20 years later, millions had become hopeless addicts of the enervating drugs of Socialism. To drug and deaden the ambition, initiative and love of independence of the young, vigorous nation includes all the major crimes from murder to treason. Work . . . nothing but work . . . nothing but the compensation from work . . . brings real relief to independent people, who would not be slaves. So the bread from the sweat of another man's face should be bitter to real Americans whose proudest boast has been independence. "Independence now, and independence forever." Thursday, April 22, 1954 Since we all make mistakes, fail at times, it is interesting and probably profitable to look back and evaluate our errors. The failures that caused us the keenest disappointments in life sometimes look like stepping stones to accomplishments when we look back at them in retrospect. The great civilization of man with its miracles of machinery doing man's labor, is the result of trial-and-error effort. If we could walk back over the road that mankind has traveled since the cave man, we would find it strewn with ashes of failure and disappointments. While many have fallen by the wayside, failures and disappointments have spurred the great, the hardy, the daring on to greater efforts. It is they who win the battles, despite the wounds and scars from failures and disappointments. It is they who stumble over the thorny paths, and blunder over the stony way in spite of the laughter and jeers of others until they reach their goal. It is they who trample trifling failures and disappointments under foot and attain success a hundred times stronger because of the light. Many years ago, when the Wright Brothers began to experiment with their kite-like plane, I became interested and watched their progress. I remember failure after failure which must have brought continuous disappointments to them - yet they continued on. I remember the laughter of the public at cartoons picturing the brothers as boys in short pants, flying kites. Such things would have caused those with less courage, vision and imagination to quit. Since Edison spent sleepless hours of failure over a filament for his electric light, probably nothing has resulted in as many failures as the experiments of the Wright brothers. And then, one day, a plane flew over all the failures and left them, with their disappointments on the ground at Kitty Hawk. Failure after failure had been piled up high enough to lift the Wright Brothers in the sky. Don't let failure and disappointment get you down. Use each failure and each disappointment as a rung in a ladder to climb to success - the more rungs in the ladder, the higher you will climb. Thursday, April 29, 1954 If I had to choose one word, and one word only, with which to describe greatness, that word would be "Humility." Nearly two thousand years ago the greatest of the great, a Divine Personality, stood on a mountain and declared that the meek shall inherit the earth. He also said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." This Divine Personality, in the tortured flesh of a man, had the humbleness to carry the Cross on which he was to be crucified, mid the hiss of the rabble and the jeers of barbarous soldiers. He had the meekness to wear a crown of thorns that others might wear a diadem in God's eternal kingdom. That great humility is reflected in our sacred hymns as we sing of the "meek and lowly Jesus," who said to us: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart . . ." Surely, such humility is the word of greatness. Humility in greatness, humbleness in success, meekness in victory do not belong to the greedy, the gangsters, the ungodly. They are words used to measure the greatness of Lincoln, Washington and all great Christian mothers. We all recognize their greatness; now, let us see about the humility that is the measure of that greatness. It was a very humble Lincoln who said: "I have endured a great deal of ridicule without much malice and I have received a great deal of kindness, not quite free from ridicule . . .If the good people., in their wisdom, shall see fit to keep me in the background, I have been too familiar with disappointments to be very much chagrined." That same humility stayed with Lincoln in his greatness to the very end. It was a very meek Washington who prayed: "Almighty God, we make our earnest prayer that Thou will keep the United States in Thy holy protection; that Thou will incline to the hearts of the citizens . . . to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow citizens of the United States at large." Free of high-sounding words and phrases, that unstudied and simple prayer was from a very humble and sincere soul. Everyman, who remembers a Christian mother knows that no example need be given of her prayerful humbleness and humility, and her willingness to walk through "The Valley of the Shadow," for the perpetuation of the human race. When I look back in memory, through the Bible and the fading pages of history, and compare the failures of such men as Hitler with the success of such men as Lincoln; when I compare the success of Christ with the degradation of the infidel - I stand in awe before the passage in Matthew which says: "Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." No man can be great unless he humbles himself before the Cross of the One who said: Take my yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart." Such humility in greatness may never be seen on this earth again. Thursday, May 6, 1954 We hear a lot about going into debt these days. As I do not remember anyone, wise or foolish, great or small, who advised people to go into debt, I suppose it would be considered heresy for me to advise anyone to deliberately do so. It depends both upon the borrower and reasons for which he borrows, and the lender and his reason for lending. If a profit be made by both in the transaction, what may be said against the practice? A ridiculous illustration of foolish borrowing and lending would be for a man to borrow money to indulge in a drunken spree. Yet, that is not much more ridiculous than the policy of government, in the last two decades since 1932, to borrow from the government (the people) almost three hundred billion dollars, and then have a President declare that is a trifle not to be worried over: "We owe it to ourselves." It was a very wise man who said "we have to pay every debt as if God wrote the bill." There are times when it is advisable for both individuals and governments to go into debt. As to government indebtedness let us go back to Alexander Hamilton, probably the world' greatest financier. It was during the trying times of 1781 when Hamilton wrote to his friend Robert Morris, who had given his fortune to the Revolutionary cause only to see a nation emerge without funds. Morris, although willing to give financial assistance to the victorious Colonies, questioned the policy of rushing into debt. Hamilton wrote, in reply to Morris: "A national debt, if not excessive, will be to us a national blessing." That is a far, far cry from the excessive debt of nearly $300 billion, a lot of it spent - in fact most of it - in what amounts to profligate dissipation. While it is not advisable to plunge into debt without forethought, our main concern should be about paying all debts. In fact, we all owe debts. We are in debt the very moment we are born. We are indebted to all things responsible for our very existence. We are indebted to a creator for a body, wonderfully made in His image, that houses an immortal soul. We are indebted to God's nature for the substance of life. We are indebted to an earthly father, who sustains us to an age of accountability; and to a mother, who takes us to her breast, after the pangs of bringing us to life. We are indebted to each other in the responsibility required of doing unto others as we would have others do unto us. No; it is no disgrace to be in debt, if we make every effort to pay it like a man. Thursday, May 13, 1954 We look upon treason as the blackest, the most dastardly and contemptible of all crimes. We even have contempt for the traitor who betrays his country, even though that country be our enemy in the process of trying to destroy us. Treason against the United States is defined by our Constitution. It consists "only in levying aid and comfort to them." That, of course is a capital offense and may be punishable by death. Long before our Constitution declared a more liberal attitude toward treason, kings and monarchs held that even a suspicioned threat against the safety of the reigning house was treasonable and punishable by death often preceded by torture. Yet, today with the crime of treason considered the most heinous of crimes, we commit treason against our Creator, the King of Kings and seemingly without the least thought of having committed a capital offence, or the least dread of punishment. We "levy war against" ourselves, (made in the image of Him) against our bodies, by dissipation and the violation of Nature's laws, which makes us traitors to Him. Any act on our part against the laws of God is certainly high treason, as was seen by a great American when he compared the gravity of treason against God to treason against governments, when he said: "I think lightly of what is called treason against a government. That may be your duty today, or mine. But treason against the people, against mankind, against God, is a great sin not lightly to be spoken of." All men are most certainly "adhering to their enemies" when they allow revenge, spites and hatreds, greed, and all of the thousands of unnecessary evils that vex our souls and destroy our bodies, to enter their lives. It may seem a trifle, but we are certainly "giving aid and comfort" to our enemies when we invite even worry to set its mark upon us, which in time will show almost as plainly as the one upon Cain. Infidel nations, that were treasonable to God, have come and gone with the briefness of a puff of wind. Such depraved men as Joe Stalin, Hitler, and Mussolini, who tried to teach an innocent people to be treacherous to God, died long before their time,. We should be faithful to God first, and then the state, and if we are true to God we cannot be traitors to America. It was another great American who said: "Man is more than Constitutions; better rot beneath the sod. Than be true to Church and State while we are doubly false to God." Thursday, May 20, 1954 If I were asked what my first advice would be to young people starting in life, it would be to have a program of your own, a plan as soon as possible. Of course, in forming a plan to reach a worthy goal, your coach, your prompter, must be your Bible first of all, then the emulation of those who have succeeded by following the promptings of a worthy ambition. But once the plan is formed, the blueprint made, follow it as consistently and as regularly as the habit of eating food. Of course your coach, your prompter is life's battle can only point the way. You will have to fight the battle by developing the daring hardihood, the muscle, the resolve, yourself. The best football coach in the world cannot develop one muscle for you. He can give you an example of how to develop the know-how, but you must develop the muscle yourself, if you would make the goal. The best baseball coach can only give you an example of how and where to stand, and hold the bat, but the home-run comes from constant practice on your own. No matter how much he tries to avoid it, a man lost in a wilderness or on a desert travels in a circle. The same thing may be said of our lives. All of that part of our lives in which we travel without a plan, without a destination in mind, can be said to have been traveled blindly in a circle, without any progress made in finding our lost way. And, in the orbit of that circle will be found nothing but frustration, wasted energy and fruitless reward. On the other hand, no matter how slow or swift the journey, with a planned course toward our destination, we are never lost, and always on our way in the right direction. It is more important now for young people to chart a course in life and follow it than in former years. Only a few decades ago, when democracy prevailed in the Republic, people had to be self-reliant, industrious and independent if they forged ahead. But now, in a short score of years, the socialistic promise of a government-conducted tour for each individual through life, with government assuming all risks that the individual formerly assumed, there is no need of a plan for many. Only the hardy, the intelligent, the brave will turn a deaf ear to this siren call. Regrdless of the foolish statement of a President a few years ago, that "private industry was capable of no further development; (that) we have reached our last frontier," there are frontiers yet in all fields and clear beyond the horizon. My advice to young people - the hardy, the intelligent, the brave - is to have a plan and by that plan, blaze a trail to those frontiers, and at the end you will find success, contentment, and happiness. Thursday, May 27, 1954 I never heard anyone deny the very old saying that every question, everything, every argument, has two sides. Consequently, one side is wrong - a mistake. And this, a mistake, comes under another saying which declares that a mistake "may be a blessing in disguise." A mistake kept the whole course of American history from changing. When in school, that part of American history that recounted the events of the War between the States was of greatest interest to me, and still is for that matter. My interest in the decisions of Generals who usually decided the battles in this most destructive war gave me, what I thought was a very clear picture of the long struggle. But, not long ago, I stood on Cemetery Ridge in Gettysburg, when the conviction came to me that mistakes are sometimes greater factors in changing the course of things than all the skill and tactics. What I had learned from history came back to me with a new meaning, when I thought about General Lee attacking the very center of the Union forces, against the advice of such Generals as Longstreet. This happened on the last day of the 3-day battle, when for two hours, the destruction of Lee's forces were terrific. Then, according to most historians, Lee made his great mistake - and all will agree that the mistakes of this great General were few indeed. He ordered General George Pickett to charge. While Pickett's' charge is one of the most daring and magnificent in history, it probably ended the last hope of the Southern Confederacy. 15,000 of the pick of the South swept across the valley and up the slopes of Cemetery Ridge. In twenty minutes, Pickett's' magnificent troops were all but annihilated. Those twenty minutes measured the high tide of the Southern Confederacy; from that time on, she fought a lost cause. But, for this mistake, regardless of Lee's Army being out-numbered, he might have won the Battle of Gettysburg. And, thus, one mistake can change the whole course of history. My advice is do not worry too much about mistakes, especially small ones. The more action man shows, the more progress he makes and the more mistakes he will make but these may be "blessings in disguise." Columbus sailed under the mistaken idea the he was on a short route to the spices of India. What a grand mistake! What a blessing in disguise, when we look around a fabulous America, discovered by mistakes! Thursday, June 3, 1954 We hear a lot about Liberals and Conservatives these days. We have heard so much about the terms, in fact, that it would seem that Liberals are a new , special breed of people who are born to save mankind from, chaos, economic perdition and eternal condemnation. The terms "Liberals" and "Conservatives," in the older days, were terms describing or labeling a man who was liberal in his charitable attitude towards his fellowmen and conservative when he resisted temptation to indulge in reckless debauchery, profligacy, and what I call "butterfly-living." Now all that seems to have been changed with the birth of revival of political liberals, who want to give away heaven and earth, as being their own bread cast upon the waters, that will come back to them many fold. I think the leader of the so-called "Liberals" in this country who promised "the more abundant life," was sincere when he thought government can produce "the more abundant life" from five small loaves and two small fishes. The government can give us nothing, absolutely nothing. The government can give only what comes from the people. Only free men experience "the more abundant life," and when they become "Liberals," so "liberal" that they are ready and willing to give away their own freedom, then they are slaves. The slaves in the Kremlin can hardly be described as enjoying "the more abundant life." We have all learned a lesson from a great "liberal," I hope which we should never forget. He was "liberal" to the extreme of extravagance and to the extreme of profligacy. This "liberal" separated himself from his father's well-to-do household. He must get away from the hum-drum habits of "conservative" father, and go away "over there" and experience "the more abundant life." Money was made to spend - to throw away - and he scattered his substance to the four winds. He finally had enough of "the more abundant life," after he reached in his frayed and torn pocket and found not a shekel left. With head dangling in shame, he returned to his "conservative" father, hungry, and willing to share the husks with the swine. Not only so-called "liberal" people but our nation could learn a lesson from the Prodigal Son. If we as a nation, continue to indulge in riotous living, who, in the end, will kill the fatted calf for us? Taking the term in its world-wide, modern sense, "Liberals" have nothing to offer except that which was promised by kings and tyrants just before the Dark Ages. As for "Conservatives" - it was a very wise man who asked "What is Conservatism, is it not adherence to the old and the tried, against the new and untried?" The name of that man was Abraham Lincoln. Thursday, June 10, 1954 This article is in defense of the Press. I have heard men condemn the pulpit, preachers, and the church, and as a consequence of their criticism, stay away from public worship. I have heard men condemn Congress and legislatures that make the laws of the land, and as a consequence, violate the laws. I have also heard men condemn the Press - (newspapers) - but as a result, very, very few fail to read them. The Press (newspapers) is as much a part of us as are our clothes, our domestic habits, or the English language. Show me the mail box from the one with a lock on it in the largest post office, or that at the front of entrance of a city home to the one out in the furthermost reaches of a rural community, without a newspaper in it , and the mail man will probably tell you that the owner is not well informed or cannot read or write. Needles to say, there are exceptions, as there are in most cases. What do we do after the day's work is ended? We sit down in the evening, turn on the television, and see a picture of the things that happened that day. We turn on the radio, dial our favorite station, and hear the news that has happened. Possibly we round out the evening by making along distance telephone calls to New York in order to ask a friend about the progress of a favorite stock. Now we have had all the news, every bit of it that is of interest to us - we have seen and heard it all. Do we go to sleep and forget about it and wait for new events? We do not! We get up the next morning and eagerly find the morning paper, before we reach for the tomato juice, grapefruit or melon, and read the happenings of the day before - we want to see it in black and white - we are newspaper addicts, and it is a blessing to democracy that we are. Now, I have neither praise not criticism for the columnist. It is just one man's opinion, and I am entitled to mine. I have neither praise nor censure for the editorial. It is many times written for a purpose. But I have praise and more praise for the thing for which the newspaper is named - the News Item, a work of art! Scan a well-written news item. Not one unnecessary word is used, nor a necessary word omitted. It is as American in perfection as Webster's Dictionary, the Constitution or Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. It is comprehended by all and is a daily example for long-winded writers, speakers and all those who say the least, with the most words. Stifle the press and you strangle the freedom of the nation. It was the immortal Jefferson who said - "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter." Thursday, June 17, 1954 I am sure that the things which we consider trivial in our lives are frequently of great importance though we many ignore the possibility at the time. Like dust and grime on our eyeglasses, greed, jealousy and prejudice can affect our vision until we lose sight of the large things that should loom plainly before us. Prejudice is a poisonous dust which we should wipe away and by "cleaning out glasses" get the true picture. There is the dust of prejudice on our glasses when we fail to see true dignity in so-called "common labor" for from the sweat of the workshop, from the labor in the dark tunnels of the mines, and the long hours of toil in the fields, come the things necessary to progress. Surely, our glasses are dimmed with prejudice if we fail to see that it is the hand of labor that molds the dream into workable form and gives a sort of soul. On the other hand, it is not prejudice on our glasses, but greed, envy, jealousy, that distorts our vision when we look at men like the late John D. Rockefeller and see only the gold that glitters. If we would wipe the grime of suspicion and envy off our glasses, instead of seeing merely a very rich man, we would see one of the greatest humanitarians that ever lived in the late Mr. Rockefeller. If we could see through our prejudice and envy, instead of seeing his gold which we think he hoarded away like a miser, we would see the truth. We would see a vast lot of the misery of mankind disappear as we would see Mr. Rockefeller's gold used to combat disease, that menaced mankind. If we could look through our prejudice we would see his Foundation, which has added to the health, leisure enjoyment and enlightenment of mankind. Yes, the first thing we should do, if we would see the truth, is to wipe off our glasses. As it is prejudice and near sightedness that keep many of us from seeing that the farmer, miner, and laborer are as necessary to progress as the Rockefellers and Carnegies, it is, also prejudice that causes us to ignore or take for granted, the standards of living that the Fords and the Fricks have brought us. Let us not go through life "Wearing dark glasses," grimed with greed, jealousy and prejudice. Thursday, June 24, 1954 I once heard a preacher, a great preacher and lecturer, deliver a talk which I have never forgotten, and never will. He began his lecture by saying: "When going down the Tigris and Euphrates rivers many years ago with a party of English travelers, I found myself under the direction of an old Arab guide whom we hired in Baghdad" "The old guide told me that there once lived not far from the River Indus an ancient Persian by the name of Ali Hafed. He said that Ali Hafed owned a very large farm, that he had orchards, grain fields and gardens, that he had money at interest, and was a wealthy and contented man. He was contented because he was wealthy and wealthy because he was contented. One day there visited an old Persian farmer one of those ancient Buddhist priests one of the wise men of the East." In telling the old farmer how the world was formed, he finally came to diamonds, which he called "a congealed drop of sunlight.:" He told Ali Hafed that if he had a diamond the size of his thumb he could "purchase the country" and if he had a mine of diamonds, he "could place his children upon thrones through influence of their great wealth." Said the guide, "Ali Hafed heard all about diamonds, and how much they were worth, and went to his bed that night a poor man. He hadn't lost anything but he was poor because he was discontented and discontented because he heard he was poor. He said, "I want a mine of diamonds and he lay awake at night." Ali Hafed sold his belongings, collected his money and roamed the world in search of "a mine of diamonds." After he had spent all, he drowned himself in despair. Shortly after, the poor man who had bought Ali Hafed's farm accidentally discovered the Golconda diamond mine, the richest in the world in the back garden over which Ali Hafed had walked a thousand times in contentment and happiness. The name of the lecturer was Russell H. Conwell, and his subject ws "Acres of Diamonds." The lecture taught a great lesson. Before Mr. Conwell proceeded any further with it than the facts related above, I saw that his "Acres of Diamonds" could represent anything of value. It could represent contentment, a thing that we sometimes thank can be found only in Paris or Rome. "Acres of Diamonds" might represent success, a thing that many think can be had only in the "greener pastures," in distant fields. It might represent any of the things that bless mankind; but whatever it represented, I went away from the great lecture with this in mind: "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these THINGS shall be added unto you." And God does not hold special sessions in lands far away, only to add these THINGS they may be found in your own back yard. Thursday, July 1, 1954 In other articles, I have spoken of the necessity of forming our own plans in life if we wish to attain success. May I stress this fact again to all young people for the reason that too much can never be said about this most important subject. As I stated once before a plan should be formed early in life, along regular lines, and I wish to stress the word "Regular" in this article. Unless we adopt a systematic, Regular plan early in life, many years of the most productive part of our working life may be wasted in aimless wandering and frustration. As naturalists have told us, there are no two blades of grass exactly alike. The same thing prevails in all of Nature's marvelous works, including the physical and mental makeup of mankind. Therefore, out ambitions and desires cannot be exactly the same, when they dictate what we can best do in life. Regardless of all occupational tests, these are yours alone. If your ambition and desire plainly show that you prefer to follow the medical profession, if possible, set out to be a doctor, but above all, a Regular doctor and the best in the land. "Hitch your wagon, to a star," and not to anything on this earth that would make you satisfied with a mere livelihood, or to be "just another doctor." The same may be said of all the professions. Don't start creeping or slowly walking, start running early in life towards the top of the profession you select. Don't worry about the fatigue. You can look back and rest in happiness later from the best business, preacher or lawyer's office in the land. But above all be a Regular business man, preacher or lawyer. Let your plans include no pretense, chicanery, cheating, or other Irregularities, or you will never reach the top. Be a Regular man. Years ago, I clipped some verse from a newspaper, which seemed to fit into the plans that I formed very early in life. I carried this clipping in my pocketbook until it became tattered and torn and almost illegible. I now pass it on to you. You might wish to fit into the plans that you may form early in life s a sort of prayer: "Lord, let me live like a Regular Man, Thursday, July 8, 1954 There are some things I have learned in a busy life, worth passing on to others. First, as Happiness is a necessary goal in a full life, learn to talk Happiness. Even though we have to travel through life hand-in-hand with a world full of woe, talk Happiness. Be an exponent, yes, a preacher of Happiness, or sadness and discontent may make you their victim. Be a merchant, be a salesman, of Happiness and a world, sad from war, distress and pain, will bring it to you faster than you can sell it, with plenty left over for your own consumption. Talk Happiness, with a smile, and woe and discontent will cease to cling to your hand, and look for more willing victims. Talk Happiness and it will come to you. Talk Faith, plain and simple faith, and you will learn to believe it yourself. And then, you will not stumble through life. The Bible tells us, "We walk by faith, as a mother to her child, and teach you to walk. God orders us to talk Faith, in the new Testament, which declares, "I . . .exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith." Remember, Doubt never built a bridge across a dangerous gorge, over roaring waters, it was Faith that spanned the chasm. Fear never won a battle; without Faith, we are lost. I am not sure" is not found in the Bible. "I knew that my Redeemer liveth," is faith that has no room for doubt. Talk Faith, preach Faith. Remember, Doubt makes the mountain but Faith can remove it. There will always be the ignorant Chorus of Discontent heard in the world, there will always be the morbid Song of Doubt sung by millions. So, sing the song of Faith, and even though it be but a whisper compared to the Chorus of Discontent and Doubt, others will hear and believe. Talk Faith! Next, talk Success. Wipe Failure from your mind, your actions, your vocabulary. If you blunder, stumble or fall, your companions, your neighbors, and maybe the world, will know it, but never confess failure to yourself, and you have not failed. You have merely fumbled. There is no such thing as Failure while you are fighting. It only comes after you cease to fight. So, while you are fighting, talk Success and that will bolster your determination to win - "never, say fail!" So, in a busy life, I have learned to constantly talk Happiness, Faith and Success. (The other things, Sadness, Doubt, and Failure are not worth talking about). True, like Mahomet's hill, they cannot be had for the wish alone. But by constantly talking Happiness, Faith and Success, in order to crowd out Sadness, Doubt, and Failure, you may finally go to the hill like Mahomet, and find them there. Thursday, July 15, 1954 In the Morning of Life, and even in the Noon of Middle Age, we sometimes form conclusions that prove to be unsound. One of these is the dream most people have of retiring altogether from active work at a certain age, regardless of physical and mental ability to carry on. I too, had such a dream, and was well on my way toward carrying it out when the requirements (which made it a duty to my Country) of World War II called be back to active business in which I have been ever since. I am not all sure now that a total retirement from active work is a condition to be desired. It could be that the man was right who said, "Rest is for the dead." There are plenty of examples in life to prove it. The bees and the ant and the bird and a thousand specimens of lower animal life, certainly are not examples for man to emulate . . .but in this particular instance they serve as perfect models. When they cease work, they are dead. That's the reason they are under the direct control of certain immutable laws which they can not violate. Man is accountable to the same laws . . but he has the privilege or option of violating them. He makes big and small mistakes; the ant and the bee never do. I write about this subject for the reason it concerns everyone who works; and everyone must make his own choice in the matter. "Certain industrial companies retire their employees at a certain age," you say. True, but if "Rest is for the dead," we will and must, keep on working at something, and not sit down and wait for the Grim Reaper to find us resistless and idle. In problems of this kind, we arrive a logical conclusion when we depend upon the facts that life itself teaches us, rather than allow the opinions of other men to guide us in our actions. Of course, we learn from other men . . but what better teacher is there than Nature herself, who opens wide her book for all to read. So, if we follow in the footsteps of Nature, we immediately run up against the fact that she never rests, never takes a vacation, to say nothing of thinking of retirement. Nature works four shifts in God's workshop, without ceasing -spring, summer, autumn and winter. She probably expects her "help" to do the same. That could be the reason, there may be something to the conviction which we hear expressed so often: "He'll not live long, now that he's retired." At the very least, in this, as in most other matters, it would be well for us all to go out under and open sky and listen with a very attentive ear to what Nature has to teach us." Thursday, July 22, 1954 Under certain conditions, men can protect themselves against guns, floods, and fires, but in most cases they are helpless when Slander picks them for its victims. It is a trait of human nature for men to attack problems they think they can conquer, to attack an enemy they think they can overcome, even in physical combat, to never rush in where they are sure they are confronting a force which is stronger than they - but not so with Slander. It usually goes to the top of the lists and picks for its victoms only the successful, the strong. I doubt very much if there has ever been a man who has been successful in life in the past, who attained eminence in any field of endeavor who has not been wounded by Slander and who did not carry the scars of the wounds to his grave. No, Slander like a serpent, does not strike from its ambush at objects that do not move. It strikes at those who are moving rapidly up the throny paths of success, or at those who have attained it. Gossip, which is the messenger, the scandal monger - of Slander, that was whispered about the private life of George Washington when he was living can still be heard. All Presidents have been the open target of Slander; none has escaped its poison darts. The same may be said of all people who have dared to pay the price of success. It is natural for men to work all their lives to build up a deserved fair reputation. It is also natural for Slander, whose food is greed and hate and envy and jealousy, to wish to tear that reputation to tatters. I think that man was right who said Slander "can cut men's'throats with whisperings," and that "whispering tongues can poison truth." Unless we like the food of greed, hate, envy and jealousy, which is the food of Slander, we will avoid passing it on to others as an honest waiter would refuse to bring us poisoned meat on a tray. Slander is a terrible evil, against which there is no defense. It debases the man who originates it; it poisons the man who carries it; it wounds sometimes to the death, the man at whom, it is aimed. Like the atom bomb, it kills all who hear its report, or who are touched by the poison it spreads. There are enough unavoidable evils not of our own making, along the journey through life. So, when we meet avoidable evils, like gossip with whispers;scandal with its maliciousness and Slander with its deadliness, we should detour. We should widely circle these evils lest our minds become infested with their poisons. It was a very noble man who once said:"Slander, the worst of poisons, even finds an easy entrance to ignoble minds." Thursday, July 29, 1954 My advice to young people is do not throw your ideas away. If you throw your ideas away, instead of using them as blueprints with which to build, expand and venture, at the end of a useless life you have a waste basket full of daydreams that find their way to the rubbish heaps of time. And my further advice is, don't let anyone discourage you by telling you that yur ideas are "wild." Probably older people, with a wastebasket almost full of daydreams, will tell you that your ideas are not sound. Don't' let that discourage you. When Benjamin Franklin's neighbors saw him out, bareheaded in a thunderstorm, with the rainpouring on him as he held on to a kite-string, they thought him crazy. He had a wild idea, that he refused to put in the wastebsket of time as a day dream. Andrew Johnson sat humped over with a needle in his hand, sewing a sleeve in a coat. He was a tailor who could neither read nor write. But he had an idea. If the people in his home State of Tennessee had known what that idea was they would have said that he was crazy. But he took the "wild" idea home with him to his wife that night, and she said,"Good, Andy, I will teach you how to read and write." She did and the man with the wild idea became Vice Presdient, and later President of the United States. Over in Hanover County, Virginia years ago, a boy was born to educated parents. But the biographers to this day claim he was illiterate and remained so until he had a "wild idea." While a youth, he spent his time with tappers and hunters instead of with school teachers. He had ideas, but they turned into day dreams, now in the wastebasket of time while he fished, hunted and played the fiddle. Finally forced to work, he became a storekeeper, but ended up hopelessly in debt. However, he had one idea that didn't seem wild; he studied law and was finally admitted to practice. But his father, who was present in the court room at his first trial, hung his head in shame while the young lawyer blundered through his first case. Later, the young lawer saw things of great importance were happening in the Virginia Provincial Covention.. Then he had a "wild idea" - he would defend his country in the face of treason and almost certain death. When Patrick Henry cried, "Give me liberty or give me death," he changed the whole course of history. From then on, Patrick Henry was a success. He had ideas and carried them out. He had political ideas that made him governor, and professional ideas that made him a great lawyer. So, my advice to young people is, that you do not throw your ideas in the waste basket of time. Remember that they are yours - and they may be revelations that come to no one else. What every business needs - yes, what the whole world needs, is new ideas. Don't throw them away. Thursay, August 5, 1954 As the name signifies, the United Nations was formed in the belief that only in unity of all members who believe in total peace can world wide peace be maintained. The general public was led to believe that by sheer force of unity, outaw nations who attempted to beat their plowshares and prining hooks into swords, would be compelled to follow the ways of peace. At least, the intention was so explained by those who were supposed to know the meaning of the charter. It is a sad commentary that the UN like all similar international organizations which fell apart and died in disunity, does not seem to have learned that only in union is there strength. Unity is a powerful force, When applied to people, it is but another name for brotherhood. And, only peaceful people over the globe can be united in a world-wide brotherhood of man. So, in its intent, in its mission for peace, the UN represented millions and millions of people who were hungry for peace after suffering the devastation of war after war. There is no doubt in my mind, and I suppose, very little in the minds of others, that the UN had the greatest chance in the world to bring about the brotherhood of man. If it has remained united, and firm in its intent; it had done all this, it is the belief of thousands that it could have stopped wars without firing a gun. And further, it is my firm belief that any nation bent on war, and forced to follow the ways of peace, would thank the UN as a boy after reaching manhood thanks his father for keeping his feet from the paths of sin. In victory or defeat, all nations lose that engage in war. It is doubtful if there ever was a victorious nation, after it reached its senses and looked around the the devastation which is the price of war, and that would not have thanked Providence had it prevented the onslaught. The UN might have been that preventive force if it had stuck in unity to its original purpose. To illustrate the power of unity, I like the story told about the rich man who was about to die without having too much confidence in his seven quarreling children. He called them to his bedside and handed them a bundle of seven sticks well bound together. He asked them to break it. They all tried but failed. He then untied the bundle and easily broke, each stick, as weak as he was. "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren, to dwell together in unity," is sung in the Psalms; and the Old Testament tells us that "A threefold cord is not easily broken. Thursday, August 12, 1954 Very early in my business life, experiences taught me that people, old and young, engaged in the work they like best, do more and better work. A short time ago, a man who said he was forty-one years old, complained to me about the fact that he had worked for a firm since he was nineteen, without advancement. He had received a raise of pay, he said, but he was ambitious to be advanced in position which, of course, meant higher pay. I questioned the man and found that he wholly disliked the work with which he was occupied. It was hard work of a mechanical nature when he commenced his job, which he continued doing after the operation was done by machinery. While the man seemed ambitious to get along, it took little questioning to find that his job had become a burdensome task, that he always approached it with relief at night. He confessed he always knew exactly how long it was before quitting time, more than an hour before the whistle blew. I was interested in the man's story. He seemed to be energetic, and not in the least lazy. He was ambitious to get along despite his advancing years. But, when I mentioned his present occupation, the man reacted as though the machine on which he worked was an enemy. His case was but one of thousands - he was a round peg in a square hole; he had no aptitude and liking for his work, a grave misfortune for both him and his employer. Of course, there are many men who can adjust themselves to work which they do not like, and go on to advancement. On the other hand, there are many capable men who just cannot work successfully at a job they dislike. While the man who fires or supervises an operation is not responsible for the man's weakness, he has, nevertheless, the responsibility of being able to place round pegs in round holes and square pegs in square holes. If he has the abilty, there is little need for discharging a man after he has been hired. As I am discussing this subject from my own personal experience in the matter, I must say that I have found it necessary, in my whole business experience, to dischage less than a half-dozen out of the thousands who have worked for me or rather, who have worked with me. I am proud and happy to say this. While I have made it a set rule not to interfere with the decisions of my key men, foremen and supervisors in the many corporations I represent, I consider that it is not interference to deal with men after they have discharged them. So, I confess for the first time. When men have appealed to me, after being discharged wholly for the reasons that they could not do the jobs, I have in a number of instances slipped them around to another of my companies and placed them in the job I thought them best suited to. In nine times out of ten they have made good. It was a wise man who said, "The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything." But it is not a wise man who does nothing about a square peg rattling in a round hole, especially if that peg be himself. Thursday, August 19, 1954 On a television program a few weeks ago, a telephone call picked at random, was made to a number far away from the studio station. After the master of ceremonies of the quiz-program had his number, he said, "You tell me the famous author of this famous line and I will pay you 1,000 silver dollars. Are you ready? Who said: "The only way to have a friend is to be one?" These famous words helped to make a great American writer famous. When the correct answer, "Ralph Waldo Emerson," was given after many prior phone calls, the following thoughts occurred to me: Any farmer, business man, teacher, laborer, or anyone else who had true and lasting friends, could just as well have been the author of that famous line. The truth of the quotation is so obvious that no other answer is possible. Even though the program was intensely interesting, I confess I lost interest in the remainder of it in analyzing the meaning of real true friendship, which, must be absolutely mutual between two friends, if the affinity exists. Here, I thought, is something - and one of the most important things in life - that is not made by vows oaths or contacts. As binding as these may be, real friendship is above these and will not be bound by them. A business contact made btween two parties may be binding and lived out to the letter, as most contracts are. But they are made with the hope of gain. The ties of real friendship are never joined with the hope of gain,; but if the ties be mutual they are more binding than any contract, both in times of need or in times of success. World conditions will make no difference to real friends. The same may be said of love. It may require a vow, sometimes in passion; of which (when made for that reason) thousands are broken every day. Friendship requires no vow, yet,if real, it is stronger than all the vows on earth. The same may be said of the oath, that is made, many times, with mental reservations. There are no mental reservations in lasting friendships. I can think of no worse condition on earth than to live on after all real friends have passed away. And so, after reflecting on the famous quiz saying, I decided that friendships are made like two streams joining. Both have to "be one" before they can join; and then they flow on stronger from the union - and as long as they "be one," they are inseparable. The man who said that "Friends should be preferred to kings," knew how to "be one." Thursday, August 26, 1954 In discussing books with a small circle of acquaintances and friends, a lady remarked, "These days, there are so very many books on the seller's shelves, it has become difficult for me to select one that I really like." Another replied, that she had solved that problem by letting a number of book-of-the-month clubs select the best books for her. She was a member of three book clubs. She intended to continue her membership in these clubs, she said, with the hope of getting the best books published. My case is different. I had no trouble in procuring the best book published so far, without the aid of clubs or the advice of socalled experts in such matters. The book I have in mind covers many subjects. You may conclude from that, that it may be Webster's Dictionary or a one volume encyclopedia - but it is not. It is less complicated than either of these; and very much easier to read. The book is a popular-seller, and has been for a number of years. In fact, it was this year's best seller. Before I give you the title of the book, I would like to tell you about a few of the things I have found in it that might help you.In your decisions as to whether or not you would wish to purchase the volume. But first, the cost of the book is nominal when compared to its value, for there is really more than one book compiled in the volume. At times, I like stirring adventure stories; and in this volume the greatest that ever happened are to be found. I am not exactly sure what would be called a lover of poetry. Yet, sometimes, at the end of a day that has been filled with vexing cares and disappointments, I pick up my choice volume and am cheered and rested by the finest poetry that has ever been written. To tell you about a love story, would be like telling you all about a movie you are on your way to see. It might take all the thrill out of it. So I am not going to tell you about this love story for the same reason. I will say this, however; it has been pictured onscreen and acted on the stage; It has been cried over more than any other love story ever written. "You will want to read it." I once had what specialist doctors called, a fatal ailment. They gave me but a short time to live. I gathered all the doctor books I could find, and read and re-read them. I finally threw them away and picked up this wonderful volume I have been telling you about. It not only taught me how to live but how to die. The name of my "best-book-of-the-month" is The Holy Bible. Thursday, September 2, 1954 One of the most unforgettble characters I have ever known was a little old woman, now gone. After learning more about the values that really count in life, I look back now through the years and see greatness in this old lady, that very few of the so-called great possess. In my boyhood days, I knew this remarkable lady best. Time had already tried to etch deep marks and lines in her face, but failed. She, somehow, managed to curve and blend each line into the smile that seldom left her face. I think the greatest pleasure my little old lady had was bringing pleasure to others. She never brought anyone sadness, disappointment or pain. My grand old lady's fingers were gnarled at the joints and drawn from what was then called rheumatism. While others in the surrounding neighborhood claimed their rheumatic pains were weather barometers, as an excuse to talk about their ailments at length, this lovely old lady never mentioned her pains - she was only interested in bringing pleasure to others, not pain. I suppose that most communities have a boy or girl who goes astray, and the communtiy in which this little, frail old lady lived was no exception. When the boy, whose name I shall not divulge, of course, was accused of a minor crime, his neighbors sat in judgement. There was scarcely a household where two or more neighbors met in which all the boy's faults, and imagined faults, were not mentioned, enlarged upon. "I knew something bad would come to that boy," was a common phrase, and a repeated one. Apparently they were not interested in any virtues that boy must have possessed, or in his future. Apparently they were only interested in passing judgement on his faults. But, not so in my little old lady's home. When the neighbors delightedly broke the news of the crime, for one of the few times in her life she slightly wrinkled her brow - but not in condemnations, but in censure. She was thinking like a lawyer marshalling all the facts of his case - getting all the facts into his brief - she was cataloguing in her mind all the good points, all the virtues of the boy that her neighbordhood lost sight of in their biased snap-judgement. When she had related all these, she smiled and said, they could overbalance his tendency to err, and set him back on the right road - she was a great lady! I have not mentioned names on account of the boy and the community that I was forced to somewhat criticize. But if I were looking for real Greatness, I doubt whether I would look in a mansion alone, be it the White House or a palace; be it the home of a statesman or great soldier - I might look in a lowly home, such as the one that was warmed by the smile of my little old lady. Thursday, September 9, 1954 If I were asked to name the gretest gambler in the land I believe I would name the man who tackles a job, business deal, or profession, without considering any of the possibilities of success or failure. To point out the other extreme,if I were asked to name one of the major causes of failure in life, one of them would be the lack of self-reliance which keeps one from making important decisions. The latter is like a man who dies from the weather or starvation while he sits on a log in the midst of a dense forest in which he is hopelessly lost, knowing he is too far away from earthly help. He is bound to perish unless he comes to a decision to travel in some direction, which might be in the direction of home. This shows no self-reliance; and when he has no one to depend upon for a decision in which his life may be the at stake, he cannot make one. That is an extrme example, nevertheless,, I think it no more extreme than the ones in the Bible, where souls depend upon a decision. When a decision was not forthhcoming they were asked, "How long halt ye between two opinions?" Indecision is an impassable, moveless gate that completely bars the entrance to Opportunity which can only be opened by self-reliance and self-confidence. Without this self-confidence, self-reliance, Success is a rainbow promise, and can no more be attained than the fabulous pot of gold at its end. As we climb the ladder of Success, the higher we ascend the more hazardous becomes each rung above; and to mount these without falling requires our own decisions made in self-reliance. No mother, father, friend or neighbor, can take you by the hand and help you up. You are along with your problem; it does not belong to any part of the world's problems. You may listen to the discouragements or advice of others, but your own decision, made in self-reliance, will retard or speed your progress. No one can help you to the top; you will have to decide that the ladder can be scaled. Experience has taught me that if I were a teacher in our schools, I would require each pupil to major in self-reliance, both in classes and on the play-ground. Then when their decisions in their plans of life's battles are made, they would be made with a confidence and self-reliance that would keep them from turning back . . . for- "No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the the kingdom of God." Thursday, September 16, 1954 It is important that we look in our mirror once in a while and have a heart-to-heart talk with that fellow who looks out at us. He is the most important person in our lives. Remember the fellow who looks out of the mirror at us knows our every thought, design and impulse. So we might as well toss away every pretence , subterfuge and mental reservation and be candid with this fellow, who can be our worst enemy or best friend. If we are truthful with him, we cannot be false to any one else. We might tell little white lies to those we love almost without their knowing the truth. We might be able to blend the truth with a bit of falsehood in our association and contact with relatives, friends, and neighbors, without arousing their suspicions, but, there looking out of the mirror at us, is the one person in the whole wide world to whom we cannot lie and get away with it. There have been those who have committed murder, thinking there is a possibility of such a thing as "the perfect crime," which no one can discover. They are fools. If they be human, a face looks out of their mirrors at them and says, "You murderer, I'll dog you to your grave!" I repeat, if they be human, that fellow in the mirror will mete out a slow punishment before they die that would make the gallows merciful in comparison. We might be able to conceal our weaknesses, our shortcomings, our sins of commission and omission, from a disinterested world,but not from the fellow who looks out at us from out a mirror. So, the next time we meet face-to-face, we should talk out failings over with him for the reason that he is the only one who can do anything about them. If we wear the mask of hypocrisy,the shield of pretense, the cloak of honesty, over an unrighteous breast, it might be possible to gain a worldy advantage, for a time, over the unwary, the innocent, the trusting. We might fool them for a while into making them believe that we are one of them instead of the pretender we are. But we cannot fool that fellow looking of of the mirror at us; and, unless our conscience is wholly dead, we are gong to hear him say, "Well, you may have fooled everybody in the world except the two that count most - God and me!" Yes, it is importnt that we talk things over with that fellow who looks out of our mirror at us. If we did, we may finally come to a complete understanding with him. When that happens he will be our friend, instead of our foe. Let's get acquainted with him the next time we stand before a mirror. Thursday, September 23, 1954 Everyone writes part of his own autobiography each time he speaks to another. If he be an interesting conversationalist, he writes it without the use of pen, paper or typewriter; he writes it upon the memory of those with whom he converses. So it is important to remember that in our daily conversation we record the story of our life on the memory of other people; and many of these memories will reproduce our own autobiography almost with the exactness of a tape or wax recording. I would like to ask my readers, especially those who have passed the meridian and are approaching the late afternoon of life, to test the truth of the above statements. I am sure if you leaf back through the pages of memory, you will recall with pleasure the chaste and interesting conversation of some minster, teacher, farmer or lowly worker. You will need no printed autobiogrphy to describe the lives of these good people. By their words, they have imprinted indelibly upon your memory an unfading picture of a life of goodness and kindness. These people wrote their own autobiographies upon your memory, which you recall with pleasure because they obeyed the New Testament which told them "Be ye holy in all manner of conversation." But not only do the brilliant interesting and good reveal a picture of their lives in conversation. There are others who have imprinted the tragedy of their lives on our memory. We cannot help but remember the profane oath, the senseless cursing,the stupid obscenity in the conversations which reveal the inner lives of some. They, too, have recorded the autobiographies of their lives in our memory. But we must all agree the recording has been done by shocking our minds, as the unwelcome disturbance of an earthquake records its violence on a seismograph. You have been "Vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked," to quote the New Testament again. So, when we engage in conversation we should remember: A contract once made can be dissolved and forgotten by all parties concerned; a man on his way down the wide road of sin may turn and be forgiven; our mistakes in life, in many instances, may be counteracted by worthy accomplishments, but a word once spoken is beyond recall. It is part of the line, verse, and chapter of our autobiography, written on the memory of others from our conversation - and this "word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver," says Proverbs. Thursday, September 30, 1954 Driving a car is easily done over a wide, level paved road. On a good road, the most ancient and delapidated car will go farther, and with great ease, than will a Cadillac can lumber over a dirt trail which is gully-cut by floods, coiled with curves and treacherous with mud-holes and filling stones from precipitous banks. If, all our life, we have driven over the wide, level road paved for us - never had to labor over the treacherous trails - we are inclined to accept the beautiful, wide-paved thoroughfare as a mere matter of fact. The driving is so easily accomplished that it seems to be monotonous to some, who become careless as they long for another route. Is that the trouble with a lot of Americans? Has the going been too easy? Has the broad and level highway, paved with the granite of the Constitution by our forefathers,made traveling so easy that we have become careless at the wheel?" Is that why some homesick Americans wish to leave our broad Liberty Road, which has no speed limit to Success, and go back to The King's Highway, "The Rocky Road to Dublin," or the rice-paths of China? Our Liberty Road buildrrs knew about these roads over there, and many others that are rougher, which lead to Nowhere. The latter could be called "Political" and economic" roads, whose waysides are littered with wrecks and which come to a dead-end. Our Builders knew that men and nations who had traveled over these rough and crooked roads had never reached Freedom, and never will. So, knowing this they blazed a new road for us, and they built it well. They avoided using the cobble stones of Communism and the brittle boulders of bureaucracy, surfaced with the thin tars of totalitarianism. This Liberty Road leads to contentment and happiness - if we don't go to sleep at the wheel. The road in other countries have been traveled more and longer than out new road. They are well-beaten by runners, but they lead in the wrong direction, in fact I would like to illustrate. On a tour in Mexico, my attention was called to a sort of cuckoo bird. It can fly, but more often runs over the ground with its head down. It takes off over the roughest of ground, running in any direction.. The name of the bird is the "Road Runner." Making the fastest time it can with its beak to the ground, it usually ends up against a cactus or sand dune. I recall that crazy bird in connection with my subject, which brought the thought, "What's the use of being a Road Runner, if you are on the wrong road!" Thursday, October 7, 1954 I am sure the best advice that can be given to young people starting in life is that they exercise their vision instead of starting on a wild pursuit of Opportunity. Many people have failed in life because of this mad pursuit. Opportunity doesn't come ready-made to fit the individual needs of every man born. Each individual has something to do with the making of it, as the lives of most successful will prove. To depend upon Opportunity alone to bring us success, is not much more hopeful than to depend upon the pari-mutuel at the race track to make us rich. If you have vision, Opportunity will be at your finger-tips; but without vision, it will never be found. Here is something from Proverbs that could be appropriately carved upon the tombstone of evey nation that has failed. "Where there is no vision, the people perish." No Nation, not even one man, has perished for the want of opportunity, for the simple reason that with vision opportunity may be seen everywhere. With remotely controlled mechanical monsters, whizzing through space; with machinery obeying the pressure of a button or touch of a lever; with TV showing us the color of a rose through the air - with all this seeming perfection, you have heard young people starting in life to say: "There is not much left for us to do; there is little opportunity." That statement shows lack of vision. It approaches the want of vision of a former President who pessimistically declared to the people,"Private industry has reached its last frontier; it is capable of no further development." Men with vision know that the more progress there is, the greater the opportunity for better and faster progress. Young people starting in life should compare the opportunities they possess with the opportunities of their forefathers who faced a vast wilderness filled with disease and enemies, and nothing else. But they had something else. They had vision, without which they would have perished. A young man, with a warped and misshapen body, that made him almost repulsive to his fellow workmen, stood seemingly helpless among them. There was nothing about this cripple that indicated he was a child of Opportunity. But he had visions of a generator that would produce artificial lightning to work as an electric force for man. Charles Steinmetz did not need opportunity. The vision he possessed created one. Proverbs does not say," Where there is no Opportunity, the people perish." Thursday, October 14, 1954 Almost everytime I turn on the radio or TV these days, I hear a song that has become very popular. I believe the song will live a long time because of the truth expressed in the lyric rather than on the merit of the tune alone. The words in the song - or words that have the same meaning - will never be forgottten, for the reason the truth in the words of the song is as old as consideration in man; as old as unselfishness; as old as politeness and courtesy; as old as the desire of parents to make the home a happy place in which to live and rear childern. The title of the song is,"Little Things Mean a Lot." They mean a lot, especially to little children. Continuous words of encouragement to little childen are little things, yet they mean more in the formative years of the child than all the studied philosophies, eloquent sermons and teachings mean to it later, when the pattern of life is fixed. Once formed, philosophies change the habits of old men and women as easily as kind words of encouragement cause children to form sensible ones. Yes, little words of encouragement spoken kindly enough and often enough to little children mean a lot. They could change a child growing in sin, into a better one. On the other hand - and this I believe as much as I believe my Bible - a little, very small unkindness to a child is a great offense in the sight of God. Great statesmen learn the value of little things; for short words meant a lot - they kept James G. Blaine from becoming President. The first small gun, caused to be fired by an enraged and nervous officer at Fort Sumter, was a little thing, but a nation paid for it with its young blood. Yes, little things sometimes mean more than seemingly great things. BY throwing a lever, or by touching a little button, monstrous machinery can be set in motion; likewise, a few short words said by one man before an assembled Congress can throw our nation in to war, almost as easily as throwing a lever or pressing a button. Years ago, it used to be the custom to write "verses" in another's album. I used to read them for the sentiment, and sometimes, sound sense, they expressed. Here is one I read and have never forgotten: It is just the little homely things, Thursday, October 21, 1954 Our love of courage caused "the daring young man on the flying trapeze" to be put into song, which has been sung or heard by millions. While, we recognize the foolhardiness of a man being shot from a cannon at fairs and circuses, the lack of judgement of Steve Brodie, diving from a bridge; the sheer silliness of floating over Niagara Falls in a barrel - all these acts, nevertheless, cause names to be associated with courage, and long remembered. But if we stop for a moment in reflection and ask ourselves: "Is it real courage that causes a man to court danger to prove he is brave?" The answer makes us look for heroism elsewhere. In fact, the courageous man inevitably meets danger; he does not search it out to prove that he is not a coward. Come with me and I will show you where true courage may be found, where you least suspect it. Come with me to almost any average home in this broad land and I will show you where millions of heroic people live, or have lived, whose bravery, courage, and valor have remained un-noticed and unsung. The taproot of a miraculously strong and growing America is deep in the home. If our homes be stong, the nation grows great; if our homes be merely houses, the tree of democracy withers and dies. Great warriors, orators, and statesmen are necessary in the protection of a strong America, but it is the fathers and mothers who have nurtured it and made it marvelously strong. Now that takes true courage. It takes courage, fortitude and valor to raise a child in the perfect manner that will make it an asset to the nation - - a perfect part to fit into the ever growing structure. All intelligent parents know that children are prone to succumb to temptation. It therefore requires the constant care and attention of parents to shape the child from its cradle to its teens to fit well and advantageously into a growing nation. With the average family of four children, the task is truly tremendous. Therefore, you can look at your neighbors and reflect: "There are the heroes and heroines who built the great nation of all." When you look at America, you look at the handiwork of great parents, who had no cheering crowds to encourage them in a heroic task, like the crowds who applaud politicians, or the man who "flies through the air with the greatest of ease." Thursday, October 28, 1954 Lest I be misunderstood, let me say I am in favor of college degrees - as many as you can get - and the higher the better. In my youth, I did not have the opportunity to earn a college degree by my own efforts, but in later years I had an honorary degree conferred upon me. Whether deserved or not, I would not trade that honor for all the medals of war, honors of public office, or for any gift that is empty and hollow, becaue it has a price tag on it. But there are natural qualities in man, which when exercised to their fullest, are reflected in the growth and strength of a nation. These, colleges cannot create. When the greatest achievement in modern history was undertaken in the wilderness of America, a college degree was a very rare thing indeed. When the foundation of the Republic was laid, there was no Harvard, no Yale, or Columbia to teach the architects blueprinting, or aid the builders in calculations. Yet, when and if the Republic fails, it will not be for want of a perfect, solid foundation, built without much assistance from colleges. Lacking a college, what then aided the builders when they saw the foundation had to be laid? The ground was broken by men of great self-reliance, which is but another name for old-fashioned "gumption," (common sense), that seems to be going out of style. The corner stone of the building was laid by men with iron in their souls, put there by the lash of tyranny. They built from experience, which is another name for "horse-sense," (which no college can teach), and which is going out for practice. College degrees would have made the task easier; but could such a foundation been laid without old-fashioned mother wit, gumption, common horse-sense and vision? The full exercise of these natural qualities is what made history when the foundation of the Republic was laid. Unless we exercise these qualities to the fullest, employing the tough strength of the foundation layers, we will continue to call on the psychiatrist to comabt our alarming and growing weaknesses. We will contine to lean, more and more, on the states' breast for support. We will contine to fall deeper, head-over-heels in national debt; of which, for want of common sense, a man in a high place remarked: " We owe it to ourselves; it doesn't have to be paid." It was a wise man, who when he observed the strength of the ground work of the Republic said: "Common sense is not so common." Thursday, November 4, 1954 All our lives we have heard, "He was a leader of men," spoken with implied praise. Before the sentence is accepted as praise, I think it should be extended to include the answer to: "A leader to where . . . to what?" Jesse James was a leader of men. He led his gang to the penitentiary, death and (what may be worse) into hiding like a hunted wild animal. He was a perfect leader of men. It was said that his ability was such that not one of his men ever disobeyed his orders. He led to what? Murder and robbery, because he was a great leader of men. On the other hand, Billy Sunday was a leader of men. He led thousands and thousands down his "saw-dust trail" away from the showy primrose trail, scarlet with evil. He turned a circus tent into tabernacle and filled it to overflowing with anxious minds inquiring about their souls. He led thousands of these back to their Bibles, that many had not seen since they reposed in their mothers' laps. He led to where? Away from the hoof-marked and bloody road of Jesse James, away from murder and robbery, and all sin in its many confusing forms. Both men and the ability to lead men; their roads led in different directions. Al Capone was a leader of men. He led hundreds of men to a blaze a bloody trail through our civilization with a machine gun. He led men in a crime-wave that hasn't wholly ebbed to this day. His commands were under-world law that brought obedience until they ended in gibberish in an insane asylum, where he died, screaming in a straight-jacket. The Man who traveled down through Emmaus way was a leader of men. He led by the sea that smoothed its angry waves at the touch of His feet. He led by the well, where He spoke kind and encouraging words to the woman. He led more and many more men as His journey ended, after He had traveled the tortuous way up to Golgatha. After two milleniums, He is still the great leader of men. All these were leaders of men. But, to where . . . to what? Great admiration has been expressed in the past for the ability of men like Napoleon and Bismarck as leaders. But who among us, in any day of final judgement, would not wish our record to show, "He led ten men to success, happiness, and godliness," rather than, "He led ten million men to battle?" Thursday, November 11, 1954 Thousands have traveled thousands of miles, and spent any amount of money asked by scalpers for tickets, to see Jack Dempsey or Joe Louis batter his opponent into insensibility with his fists. They wished to see Superman. In the course of a year, millions sit attentively in front of movie screens or TV sets and watch a figure from a cartoonist's pen swoop through the air. It is Superman using his superhuman power to avenge some imaginary wrong or evil. They wish to see Superman, even if he exists only in the comic papers. A man slightly smaller than the average, with a very low forehead and a Charlie Chaplin mustache, walked out of a prison and sold the Nordic, and other German branches of people on the idea that they were the chosen people of the world. If he was the only man who recognized them as a superior race, why should he not lead them to conquer the world? He led them to their own destruction, as German graves scattered over half the world will testify. But, before they died, they pointed to Adolph Hitler as a Superman. We look in all walks of life for the Superman, the near-pefect man, until we realize that a man may never have been defeated in their boxing ring, on the battle field or in the busines office, and still be as imperfect as a paste diamond. We have looked in the wrong place; the reflection in the mirror is not necessarily Superman. He cannot be seen with the naked eye. We must look where no one else is privileged to look for Superman - with in ourselves. The hardest man in the world to whip is our own self; and no man knows the outcome of the battle except God and the man who fights it. We sometimes look upon a general like Alexander the Great, whose story every schoolboy knows, as a Superman. We never associate his name with defeat. Yet, in the greatest battle he ever fought, the battle with himself, he was defeated - he died drunk in his tent at the age of 33. The man who conquers the world and lets the weakness of his own desires whip him, is not a Superman. A man is merely strong who conquers others, but not until he conquers himself is he Superman. Superman may be found in the successful business office, in the arena, or on the battlefield . . if he has defeated himself . . . defeated the thousands of weaknesses and temptations hidden in the breast of everyman. Proverbs describes the Superman, when we are told, ". . . he that ruleth his spirit (is better) than he that taketh a city." Thursday, November 18, 1954 I suppose that every man and woman living who, when a child, read the fairy tales of Hans Christian Anderson, remembers what he said about life. He said, "Every man's life is a fairy tale, written by God's fingers." "But, ah," some may say, "that definition may be suitable for Hans Christian Anderson, whose life ws evidently a happy and prosperous one." If there be any who think Anderson lived a life without the usual misfortune that are the lot of most men, they are entirely wrong. His life was a poverty-ridden one. Unhappy years and failures marked his early life. Yet, by seeing life as "a fairy-tale, written by God's fingers," he probably made more children happy by causing them to see life as a Godly fairy-tale, than any man who ever lived. I don't know who first discovered it - whether it was before or after the English language was first spoken - all I know is that it is a truth that belongs to any age of man - that is, "Life is what we make it." Despite a youthful life in poverty and failure, Hans Christian Anderson made his life a story as he thought God would have penned it - and children flocked happily to him, by the millions. Yet, life is what we make it - and it can be an inferno or a fairyland. If we wish to dwell in the fairyland, as did Hans Christian Anderson, there will be found plenty of the sunshine of love. On the other hand, if we do not learn how to live, there will be plenty of the shadows of hate to reflect our mood - it is altogether what we make it. Hans Christian Anderson knew that his "Fairyland" is the handiwork of God. In it, He painted the rainbow, the sunrise and sunset. They are there to bring joy to both the prince and the pauper. Because life is what we make it, the prince may see only shadows of the sorrows of tomorrow (which may never come), while the life of the pauper is made rich by the tints and colors in these paintings by God. God once painted a Fairyland which he called a Garden. In it were no thorns and thistles, no tears or hate. He placed a man and woman in this faultless garden to commence life - to commence the Book of Life. They had a choice; they disobeyed God. When they came down to die, they could have been the first who said: "Life is what we made it." It has been so ever since. Thursday, November 25, 1954 Salesmanship is one of the greatest arts practiced by mankind. That particular kind of salesmanship which involves a business exchange of values has made America the richest nation in all history. The so-called successful "Master Salesman" possesses a knowledge of human nature, a wide grasp of psychology, an uncanny knowledge of values and a persuasive vocabulary that really qualifies him as a "master." His education is wider and more comprehensive than that required in most other professions. For that reason, when the great English writer called us "a nation of shop-keepers," I, for one, felt we had been complimented rather than insulted. But salesmanship, in its wide sense, does not always depend on the profit element alone to produce "master salesmen." Without a working knowledge of salesmanship, and the ability to apply it all walks of life, it is doubtful, in my mind, if very many would succeed in any occupation or profession. The ability to sell is not only a requirement of the grocer or realtor; it has brought success to most, including the lover, the doctor, and the preacher. The physician's knowledge of the mind frustrated by sickness has probably enabled him to cure more patients than by the administration of drugs, and as for the preacher - I am sure all readers will agree that ever since Thomas of the New Testament doubted the divintiy of his Master, Christianity has to be "sold" to a doubting people. We refer to Christ as the "Great Physician." He was, also a Great Salesman; and if the Greatest Salesman had not said to Thomas, "Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing," Thomas never would have said, "My Lord and my God." Therefore, every great preacher strives to condition his congregation to a receptive attitude. He must have its undivided interest to dispel all doubt and make it want what he has to sell. What is a great sermon, then, from the one on the Mount to the one from the pulpit, but a masterly sales talk? The master knew that a statement from him would not, alone, sell Christianity to the ages. Therefore, he appointed twleve "district sales mangers." The sales field was the wide world, and the product was salvation and redemption. After that was established, the Master said: " Go ye into all the world, and preach (sell) the gospel to every creature." Now I ask, do you know of any other art greater than the art of salesmanship?" Thursday, December 9, 1954 A few days ago, I picked up a pamphlet that caught and held my attention. It was about Fame; and the contention of the pamphleteer was that Fame was not worth the effort required to attain it, for the reason that usually one had to die before becoming famous. I do not agree with the pamphlet, for the simple reason, I believe every man who has lived wished to acquire some degree of fame, if for no other reason than for the purpose of proving to himself that he possessed the virtue, or the ability, that merits fame. As for the second part of the statement, "That usually one had to die before becoming famous," that requires no argument other than this: One has to die before realizing the fulfillment of the promise in the Bible of eternal life. In support of the contention that most people have to die to win fame, the pamphleteer quoted such weird and depressing essays as the following." Fame is a revenue payable only to our ghosts; and to deny ourselves all present satisfaction, or to expose ourselves to so much hazard for this, were as great a madness as to starve ourselves or fight desperately for food to be laid on our tomb after death." That is, indeed, a morbid view of Fame, with which I in no-wise agree. I believe that every preacher, who has spent his whole life in the ministry on a salary scarcely large enough to keep him and his family from want, has carried on and on, with the hope that he would some day preach a sermon that would make him famous - not, however, for the sake of fame alone, but for the good that sermon might do to mankind. I believe that the hope of fame has been the incentive that caused men to sacrifice, "Burn the midnight oil," and work almost without ceasing, to acquire great wealth - not to be called "rich" - there is no fame in that alone - but to become famous humanitarians; to use their wealth in the Christian cause of humanity. The late John D. Rockefller Sr., was only one of such. I believe that when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, he knew that he was writing his name on the scroll of fame. I believe he wanted that fame - that is, the fame that comes from making men free, which could not have been had without his signature. To be famous is merely to have the reputation of a good man; and to be infamous is merely to have the repuation of a bad man. Thursday, December 16, 1954 All my life I have heArd the term "common people," used by Pepople who feel superior to those whom they consider to be in a class below them. In fact, it has become somewhat disgusting when one listens to demagogic politicians referring to the "Common Man," "The Forgotten Man," as if the Creator made an inferior class of men for them to look down upon and "save," because they were too helpless to protect themselves. This class of politicians usually has reference to the farmer, mechanic, the laborer, when they speak of the "common" or "The Forgotten Man." The true fact of the matter is, this class is really the salt of the earth, the backbone of any country, the element sustaining the politician who invents "The Forgotten Man." That politician's hand was never grimed by toil that actually produces. If there was a class of people who become independent because they "are on their own," who must work out their own salvation without expecting help from others, it is the class it whom the parasites refer as the" Common Man." I now refer to my own experience to prove a point. If to labor with the hands makes one "common," as the term is used by those who feel superior, I confess to being one of thecommonest of the common. My youth and early manhood were spent in extreme toil, a fact which I wouild in no wise change if I were privileged to live my life again. I am proud that I, too am, one of the "common men," who was "on his own," and had to "work out his own salvation." From this unremitting toil, I was enabled lter to hire thousands of my fellow "common men," and deal personally with them, man-to-man - which brings me to the point I wish to prove. I do not go to the demagogues, who look down from their imaginary pedestals upon the "common man," to find a high degree of courage, an unqualified loyalty and deep-rooted sense of fair play. I have found these sterling qualitifies in the thousands of so-called "common men" who have worked for and with me through the years. It is these men, and not the demagogues who have taught me an unchangeable belief in mankind - a belief that has become sort of a touchstone and way of life to me. Because of that belief I have ever tried to help the so-called "common men" associated with me - and I am proud to be one of them.
For want of a shoe, the horse was lost,
For want of a horse, the rider was lost,
For want of a rider, the battle was lost,
For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost---
And all for want of horseshoe nail."
With Regular friends and true;
Let me play the game on a Regular plan
And play it that way through;
Let me win or lose with a Regular smile
And never be known to whine,
For that is a Regular Fellow's style
And I want to make it mine.
Let me live to a Regular good old age,
With Regular snow-white hair,
Having done my labor and won my wage
And played my game for fair;
And so at last when the people scan
My face on its peaceful bier,
They'll say, "Well, he was a Regular Man!"
And drop a Regular tear!"
The unobtrusive friendly things,
The "won't-you-let-me-help-you" things,
That make our pathway light.