{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_48565/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_48565","id":"gutenberg_48565","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48565","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Psychiatry/Psychology","Conduct of life"],"text":"[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nMAKING LIFE WORTH WHILE\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: A modern Musketeer]\n\n\n\n\n    MAKING LIFE\n    WORTH WHILE\n\n    BY\n    DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS\n\n    _Author of \u201cLaugh and Live\u201d_\n\n    [Illustration]\n\n    NEW YORK\n    BRITTON PUBLISHING COMPANY\n\n\n\n\n    COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY\n    BRITTON PUBLISHING COMPANY\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n  CHAPTER                                         PAGE\n        I  LITTLE GRAINS OF SAND                    13\n\n       II  AS THE TWIG IS BENT                      23\n\n      III  THE NEW ORDER OF LIVING                  31\n\n       IV  FEEDING THE INTELLECT                    41\n\n        V  BACKING UP THE FLAG                      49\n\n       VI  HALF-BAKED KNOWLEDGE                     57\n\n      VII  HARNESSING THE BRAIN                     65\n\n     VIII  EXALTING THE EGO                         73\n\n       IX  GENIUS PLUS INITIATIVE                   81\n\n        X  THE BIG FOUR                             87\n\n       XI  APPLYING THE RULE OF REASON              95\n\n      XII  THROUGH DIFFICULTIES TO THE STARS       109\n\n     XIII  IN ANSWER TO MANY FRIENDS               115\n\n      XIV  THINGS THAT MONEY WON\u2019T BUY             127\n\n       XV  THE BOY ACROSS THE SEA                  133\n\n      XVI  SUPERIOR--SUPERIORITY--SUPER            139\n\n     XVII  WHEN THE BOYS COME HOME                 147\n\n    XVIII  REGENERATION                            153\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n    A Modern Musketeer--(_Frontis_)\n    ----and his brother John\n    Teaching his dog to smile\n    \u201cAnd her name is Maud\u201d\n    A pointed argument\n    \u201cSmile when you say it\u201d\n    Companions\n    \u201cWhat ho!\u201d says the King. \u201cHo, hum!\u201d replied his guest\n    Tweedle-dee--Tweedle-dum\n    Where once one equals two\n    A quick getaway\n    A rattling good story\n    A one-minute reverie\n    A studio confab\n    Alone with the Grand Canyon\n    \u201cIn tune with the Infinite\u201d\n\n\n_Decorations by Harold A. Van Buren_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nAUTHOR\u2019S FOREWORD\n\n\nIn _Laugh and Live_, my sole purpose was to emphasize our first duty\ntoward ourselves, which consists of doing our level best at everything\nwe undertake, and making the best of every situation that arises to\nconfront us.\n\nAll through my early life I read inspirational books and liked them\nbest of all. They seemed to beckon me on. I could feel myself being\npulled along by an unseen hand.\n\nLet there be no mistake about _Making Life Worth While_. It has no\nparticular plan or sequence whereby to back up its title. Nearly\neverything has to do with such a subject and that is what the book\ncontains--everything in general--and nothing in particular--just such\nthings as came to mind that seemed worth while.\n\nAs a follow up to _Laugh and Live_ here\u2019s hoping that it will _fill the\nbill_.\n\n            D. F.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nLITTLE GRAINS OF SAND\n\n\nHolding down a seat in the _rocking chair fleet_ out on the shady\npiazza is most certainly not making the most out of life.\n\nWe all remember the line--\u201cIf wishes were fishes we\u2019d have some fried.\u201d\nThat is the answer to those who rock and dream, and hope for something\nto _turn up_ instead of _turning up_ something on their own account.\n\nOf course, there is a time for everything, even the stealthy, creeping\nrocking chair--and that\u2019s about bedtime. In the estimation of an\neminent neurologist there is no crime against nature in the home\nthat cannot be traced to this monstrous thief of time, which, while\napparently screeching and groaning under its load, is, in reality,\nshouting with joy at the job it is putting up on its occupant.\n\n_Taking the most out of life_ is the proper label for this old\nsqueaker--breeder of idle contentment, day-dreams, inertia. Like\neverything else that saps the energy from mind and body, it counts its\nvictims by the score, and throws them up on the sands of time.\n\n[Illustration: ----and his brother John]\n\nSpeaking of sand may serve to remind the reader of a well-known poem\nhanded down from Grandmother days, which holds a lot of precious\nwisdom--probably more than any poem of its length--its breadth and\ndepth being equal to the world in which we live. In childhood days this\npoem took my fancy, being short, to the point, and easy to remember.\nI was ready to recite it immediately and _automatically_ upon request.\nI had no thought then as to its meaning, but as the years rolled by it\ntagged along in memory until now I find in it a sort of statement of\nfact upon which to build my theory of making life worth while. Here it\nis:\n\n    _Little drops of water,\n    Little grains of sand,\n    Maketh the mighty ocean\n    And a pleasant land._\n\nTo those who adopt the idea of finding out just _why_ little drops\nof water and little grains of sand accomplish so much, will come the\ngreatest reward in the way of mental satisfaction--and, meanwhile,\nthey\u2019ll keep busy.\n\nThere is unbounded happiness in the pursuit of knowledge; a wonderful\nsatisfaction in building up one\u2019s treasure house of information. It\u2019s\nall so easy, requiring nothing more than a healthy, enquiring mind--and\n_a zest for the sport_.\n\nZest is a big word. It has to do with _get up and git_, which has\nbeen most appropriately boiled down into the word _pep_. Lazy people,\nmentally or bodily, seldom get anywhere. What they do get is either\naccidental or by _absorption_--if by the latter process, more likely\nthrough the pores than the brain. No use to talk to them about making\nlife worth while.\n\n[Illustration: Teaching his dog to smile]\n\nThe greatest of human possessions are a well-trained _mind_, a _body_\nto match, and a love of achievement, without which a man is old\nbefore his time. After that comes _energy_--the great propeller! What\nthe brain directs the body will carry out--if the _propeller_ is\nworking. No hesitation--when the _will_ commands the _body_ acts. They\nsynchronize--they are attuned, harmonious, fraternal, so to speak.\nAnd to hitch them together is just as easy as getting wet by standing\nbareheaded in the rain.\n\nThere is no intention of littering up this chapter with ways and means\nof putting one\u2019s upper story in fine working order--or the physical\nstructure below. That is first-reader information. If we treat\nourselves right, the brain will behave and the body will follow suit.\n_Activity_, mental and physical, is _the meat in the cocoanut_. Seeking\nknowledge leads along the sunlit paths of life where happiness abounds.\nThe alternative is _mental shiftlessness_, leading from nowhere to\nnothing at all.\n\nCain killed Abel because, undoubtedly, of the shiftless life he led.\nIndolence and ignorance being the order of his day, he lacked the\nstamina with which to control his mind. His physical forces merely\nacted in consonance with his rage at Abel\u2019s popularity. Cupidity led\nhim on, but if Cain hadn\u2019t lost his head through lack of _will to\ncontrol himself_ the example of murder might never have been set before\nmankind.\n\nCenturies have come and gone and still the passion to kill continues\nupon the face of the earth. To stop it is but a matter of correcting\nhuman thought through physical and mental training so that those\nnotions which interfere with a normal, healthy brain tendency, will\ncease to exist. This done, the degenerate born of indolence somewhere\nalong the line, will disappear from the face of the earth in jig time.\n\nNew intellectual forces will do the trick; forces built up from\nhealthy, right thinking, energetic investigation, and consequent\nacquisition of knowledge.\n\nHow the world will wag a few years hence depends upon Mothers and\nFathers of today. As great trials are _strengthening to character_, the\nprospect seems bright.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nAS THE TWIG IS BENT\n\n\nTemperament looms large in the game of life, and, like all other human\nbrain tendencies, is subject to regulation through the exercise of\nordinary horse sense. We often hear one person speak of another\u2019s\ntemperamental qualities in the light of an _incurable disease_, and\nmore than likely in an apologetic way. A faulty tendency is usually\nlaid at the door of a doughty grandsire on one or both sides of the\nhouse and left there as a piece of ordinary table gossip to be resumed\nany old time without notice.\n\nWe\u2019ve all heard someone dispose of another with quick dispatch by\nthe casual remark, \u201c_He\u2019s temperamental_.\u201d It all depends upon the\ninflection of the speaker\u2019s voice whether his words are intended as a\nknockout blow or an apology in behalf of the culprit. But any time you\nwant to pursue the subject you\u2019ll hear about some obdurate old ancestor\nwho passed the buck on to his posterity.\n\nWhile we most assuredly do inherit various _mental attitudes_ from our\nancestors, there\u2019s nothing we cannot get rid of if we resolve to do so.\nThere is nothing fatal about preconceived notions handed down to us.\nMental culture through education and association is the royal road. If,\nthrough ignorance, or narrow-mindedness, one should prefer to hang on\nto certain personal or mental crudities just for the sake of posing as\na \u201cchip off of the old block,\u201d then let the punishment fit the crime.\n\nTemperament plays a big part in _making life worth while_ and is more\nlargely due to the time in which we live and with whom we associate\nthan to inheritance. It is the physical department that is really\nhanded down to us--the _blood in our veins_ rather than the dents on\nour brains. To be subject to scrofula from infancy is no fault of our\nown, but to continue an eccentricity under the claim of _inherited\ntemperament_ is excusable only upon the score of ignorance.\n\nPeople do inherit brain tendencies, but they are all subject to control\nthrough the will to _do or don\u2019t_, as the case may be. Supposing\ngrandfather used to swear like a trooper--and he probably did--the\nhabit was temperamental to the extent of being in tune with the times\nin which he lived. But what grandson of to-day would think of claiming\nexemption by reason of inherited temperament if addicted to the same\nvulgar habit? On the other hand, if we are born with _rheumatic_\ntendencies we may expect to fight with them all our lives. One is a\nbrain tendency, _subject to control_; the other is a blood-inheritance\nthat _we may never correct_.\n\nPersonal habits of thought or action are temperamental according to the\navidity with which we cling to them. George Ade has said that a man\nmight be born with a hair lip or a club foot, but _whiskers_ were his\nown fault. Thus we were handed the best possible line of demarcation\nbetween the _inherited tendency_ and the _personal temperament_.\nSo, if we were of the temperament to wear a beard because our great\ngrandfather wore one we could, if the notion struck us, take it to the\nbarber and have it cut away. Just so we may get out from any other\n_temperamental habit_, or thought, or action, through the very simple\nprocess of becoming masters of our own minds. Grandfather may hand us a\nline of tainted blood that we can\u2019t manage, but temperament is our own\nto manage as we will.\n\nControl over one\u2019s temperament is positively necessary in making life\nworth while. If we are bent on securing full happiness for having\nlived, we are bound to contribute our share toward an ultimate _world\nsanity_ in which the word temperament may not serve to cloak _mental\ndeficiency_. College life takes the kink out of the untrained mind and\nmakes it behave normally. It makes no allowance for the accentuated\ntemperament. Fool notions brought along from the dear old home town are\nsoon sifted into the chaff barrel and _common sense_ comes into its\nown.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nTHE NEW ORDER OF LIVING\n\n\nWe\u2019re never old until we think we are--this I say, not as a _sop_ to\nthose beyond the half-way station, but as a conclusion after some years\nof observation and association with men.\n\nI know some _young men of sixty_ who are putting over a sample of golf\nthat annexes my goat. One forgets their age when he finds them up and\ncoming on every proposition of legitimate sport and pleasure. They\u2019ve\n_learned how to live_ and _are_ living.\n\nThere is a big change in the habits of men. The day in which we live is\nreplete with simple enjoyments and facilities whereby to make the most\nof them. _Achievement_ keeps them young, and achievement is a matter of\nmanagement rather than working hours. _Organization_ cuts the hours off\nof the business day which leaves ample time for the recreation needed\nto insure a good appetite, a healthy body, and the right kind of sleep.\nIf there is any secret in this simple process then consider that the\ncat is \u201cout of the bag.\u201d _It\u2019s yours._\n\n[Illustration: \u201cAnd her name was Maud\u201d]\n\nIf we see a lean, hungry, decrepit mule wearily dragging his load along\nwe know at a glance that he is underfed, overworked, and _doesn\u2019t\nreceive proper care_. He works too many hours a day, stands abuse\nfrom his driver, becomes morose, just the same as a human being, and\nfinally, indifferent to what happens. Thus reduced to the depth of\ndespair, he actually awaits the crack of the whip across his loins\nbefore answering the call to move along.\n\nBut times are changing for both men and mules. Neither will stand the\nabuse and neglect of years gone by. Men are no longer the slaves of the\n_big boss_. They have certain hours for work, after which their time is\ntheir own.\n\nFortunately the era of treating one\u2019s self decently is on. The barroom\nhas ceased to be the national indoor sport. Every self-respecting\ntown or city has joined in the _community of interests_ theory that\nout-of-door life is good for its citizens. The result is _play-grounds_\nfor children, _public parks_ for all of the family, and _golf courses_\nnearby for the men. It beats the old front porch rocking chair\nproposition forty ways.\n\nIt isn\u2019t more than twenty-five years since the real out-of-door era\nbegan to dawn. I remember distinctly as a boy of ten how hard it was\nto raise a companion after the evening meal. My parents held liberal\nviews on the subject. They trusted me in the matter of keeping out of\nmischief and about the only warning I received was, \u201cDon\u2019t go far, and\n_don\u2019t stay out too late_.\u201d With such elastic instructions I had very\nlittle trouble in keeping the record straight, for my parents never\nheld me to strict account.\n\nIn my meanderings, however, I found the boys of my acquaintance pretty\nwell hemmed in during the evening hours. The scene is easily recalled.\nThe front stoop is plastered with rugs; the mother, father, sisters,\naunts, and grandmother are seated about on the steps, hammock or porch\nchairs. Bob, Bill, Dick or Jim, as the case might be, was first to\nbe noticed leaning against the front gate, or looking dreamily over\nthe side fence. But as soon as the porch arguments began to warm up he\ncould be seen edging along slowly, inch by inch, toward the rear--just\nnonchalantly, two pickets at a time, without any special semblance of\nhurrying. If his mother _had the floor_ in the argument he got away\nspeedily and he generally waited for that.\n\nBut success was not always the case. Many times have I stood\nimpatiently out of view giving the _hurry-up_ signal, when suddenly\nthere came a loud call from the front that caused Robert to fall back\ninto his own yard and walk quickly around to the whenceness of the\nclamor.\n\n\u201cWhat do you want, Ma?\u201d he would enquire--as if he didn\u2019t thoroughly\nwell know.\n\n\u201cI want you to stay around here where I can keep an eye on you. _Then\nI\u2019ll know where you are._\u201d\n\nSometimes this kind of a backset would require nearly a half hour of\nskilful jockeying to repair. After that only the boldest of plans stood\na chance to succeed, such as walking into the house from the front as\nif in deep disgust, or after a drink of water in the rear of the house.\nThen out through the kitchen door and over the back fence in a jiffy.\n\n[Illustration: A pointed argument]\n\nA nudge from _sister_ often nullified this subterfuge when the mother\nseemed about to fall for the project, and that meant the loss of\nanother fifteen minutes during which Bobby would actually go and take a\nswallow of water and come back to the porch, there to stretch and yawn\nuntil told that he\u2019d better go in and go to bed. _Victory at last_\nfor Bob, showing that there was more than one way to win a battle even\nin those days. The slamming of an upstairs bed-room door, meant for his\nmother\u2019s ears, a slide down the \u201crain pipe\u201d--and over the fence for\nBobby.\n\nBut what a wonderful change has come into the parental mind since then.\nNow all Bob does is to announce where he is going--to the \u201cgym,\u201d over\nto Bill\u2019s, motor-boating, canoeing, bicycling, a hike in the park, or a\nlook in on the movies. Home and to bed by ten o\u2019clock.\n\nAnd what is the result? Boys of twelve now days become officers\nin Boy Scout companies. They go in for everything likely to make\nthem _athletic, manly and alert_. At sixteen they have more general\nknowledge than boys of twenty had twenty-five years ago. And their\nminds are cleaner, likewise their bodies. Schooling comes easier to\nthem, although the courses are far more advanced. It takes knowledge to\nget started off right now days.\n\nThis is an age of _pep_, and the competition of today means _pep\nvs. pep_. With equal mental preparedness the man with the brawn\nwill stand the gaff that would kill his soft competitor. _Lest we\nforget_--recreation, a good appetite, a healthy body, and the proper\namount of sleep--are positive requirements in _making life worth\nwhile_.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nFEEDING THE INTELLECT\n\n\nFeeding the intellect is naturally the most fascinating pursuit in this\nlife and probably will be in the life to come. There is nothing like\nstocking up the mind, tickling the brain cells, making dents in the\ncerebellum, for thereby is induced the most _perfect sanity_ and the\npower to think with precision.\n\nIt is bully to be able to think straight to the point, and to quickly\nanalyze right down to the bone. Such ability loans us proper respect\nfor ourselves and compels the respect of all with whom we may brush\nagainst.\n\nPower to think begins with _first realizations_, and thereafter we have\nonly to add fuel to the intellectual fires day by day, month by month,\nand year by year, until we arrive at that state of mental sufficiency\nwhich may happily be termed \u201cthe fullness thereof.\u201d\n\nNot until we cross this bridge are we safe--not until then will we have\ncome into a state of _sane thinking_--nor will we be _fully alive_!\nOn our march we will have learned to delve with patience, listen\nwith understanding, and communicate with intelligence. Then we may\ngive and take with common understanding with the best of them. What\nwe get we store away for use when needed. Then may we commune with\nour intellectual equals on the basis of _quid pro quo_--_horse and\nhorse_--\u201c_even Stephen_.\u201d\n\nBut what a heartache when we cannot give! What a sensation of regret\nwhen we find ourselves standing still intellectually while we\nwatch the procession go by. Not capable of giving, likewise we are\nhandicapped in our ability to receive--_we\u2019re hitched to a post_, so to\nspeak, along with other species of lesser understanding.\n\nAlongside of us in our journey through life are sure to be men of\nmore than ordinary achievement, who by dint of _special genius_ have\naccomplished worthy objects most passing well--something that brought\nthem wealth or fame and likely both--but left them dumb and speechless\nin the presence of intellectual persons, who, in self-defense, must\npass them up for want of _mental fellowship_.\n\nTo speak of the \u201c_Dark Ages_\u201d is but a polite reference to that period\nof time when mankind generally was known to be \u201caddle-pated.\u201d The light\nrefused to shine upon his _thimbleful of brains_, although the sun of\ncenturies had blazed down upon a world of half-baked intellects--and\neven yet has work ahead. But coming through the ages, in the due course\nof events, a few master minds coincided in the belief that a little\nexercise was good for the \u201cnoddle\u201d and set about it to experiment.\n\nThe first hard work indulged in by our early ancestry, after receiving\na slight smattering of instruction, was to _kill off their teachers_.\nMany centuries were allowed to skip by before education was again\nutilized in stimulating the understanding.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cSmile when you say it\u201d]\n\nPending the dawn of the new era, man was taught only the use of his\nhands and feet for the sake of his stomach--his upper story becoming a\nwarehouse for dark superstitions, and fearful forebodings. It is not\nunlikely that from this period descended the later day reference\nto certain persons as _numskulls_--a species of mankind known to have\n_bats in the belfry_.\n\nNotwithstanding the seeming uselessness of many hundreds of centuries\nin their relation to human intelligence, there is no discounting the\nfact that we have finally come into an age when brain power is not\ncounted a misdemeanor and made subject to fine and imprisonment. From\nthe end of our Civil War to the breaking out of the great world-wide\nstrife, the intellect of man had expanded tremendously. More important\nstill, intellect had been discovered to be a _world-asset_, and of such\nmighty consequence that _human knowledge_ progressed amazingly.\n\nPity it is that the world\u2019s brain power could not have forestalled the\ngreat slaughter--impossible, however, at this stage of our mental\ndevelopment. But the time is coming--our grandchildren will see the\nday--when _intellectuality_ will rule the universe. Brains and bodies\nof individuals are to be developed for other _uses than war_. Until\nthat day arrives we are bound to continue as before, and will, with\ntrue patriotism, _follow the flag of our cause_.\n\nSome day when our intellects have been fed up into a higher state\nof efficiency and humanity is more nearly matched in brain power,\nsettlements between nations will be made beside the lamp of reason\nrather than under the flare of the cannon\u2019s mouth.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nBACKING UP THE FLAG\n\n\nLoyalty is one of those three-syllable words with a big meaning all\nits own. Out of the letters composing it can be spelled two other\nwords--the preposition _to_; and the adverb _all_. _Loyalty to\nall_--everything worth while; our country, our homes, our government,\nand the friends we have \u201cand their adoption tried.\u201d It seems a shame\nto hear this fine word used in any other connection, such as \u201cloyal to\nthe gang\u201d--\u201cloyal to his confederates\u201d--\u201cloyal to the enemy.\u201d It is too\nfine a word to be employed in a manner possessing the significance of\nthe word \u201ctraitor.\u201d\n\nNow that the word _loyalty_ has come back into such vast everyday\nusage, the time is ripe to nail it down hard and fast to the principles\nfor which it stands. Why not say \u201che was in cahoots with the\ngang\u201d--\u201cfalse to his constituency\u201d--\u201cdishonest with his confederates?\u201d\nThen, in our mind\u2019s eye, let us hang the word _loyalty_ alongside of\nthe _flag_ and keep it there for all time.\n\nAs I write this chapter, keeping in mind the subject of _Making Life\nWorth While_, a feeling of serenity pervades my inner consciousness. I\nbelieve that loyalty practically reigns supreme in America. I believe\nthat the fifty-fifty variety has become scarcer than hen\u2019s teeth when\nmeasured by the whole citizenship. Only among the unenlightened, the\nprofligates, the misanthropes and _enemy aliens_, are they bound to be\nfound at all.\n\nThanks to governmental efficiency during times most trying, the\nsearchlight has been turned upon the meaning of the word loyalty in\nthis country. The flag symbolizes it and it hangs everywhere. We take\noff our hats to it when we pass it on the street, and when we hear the\nsongs that match it we join our voices with the rest.\n\nTo love the flag is a _soul_ quality and when the souls of a hundred\nmillion strong go out in support of the _Stars and Stripes_ there is\nmighty little standing room for _the mere onlooker_.\n\n_He is either with us or against us_--that\u2019s the slogan that thins the\nranks of the unbelievers in our country. It makes them sit up and stare\nat the truth. It makes them blink their eyes in wonder, which is first\naid in thinking things over. It causes them to look around and compare\ntheir standpoint with that represented by the _Star Spangled Banner._\n\nIn taking stock of the situation here is what they found to be\ntrue--that this great country stands for peace--not only for itself,\nbut its neighbors all over the world. That peace is so desirable, and\nso essential that it is worth fighting for to the _last man_ and the\n_last dollar_. That without peace nothing counts as of value in the\nentire inventory of things worth while and, therefore, nothing remains\nbut to fight--_and to a finish_.\n\n[Illustration: Companions]\n\nWhen your Uncle Sam rolls up his sleeves preparatory to a scrap he\nbegins to take on size that distinguishes him from the ordinary\nfighter. He goes about it methodically, and allows himself the proper\ntime in which to get in readiness. Then he takes a running jump into\nthe middle of the ring. After this the disinterested onlooker isn\u2019t\nlong in catching the fact that, as a mere matter of discretion, it is\nfar better to be _with_ Uncle Sam than to be _against_ him. Also it\nmust creep into his mind that if he doesn\u2019t want to be _smashed_ into a\nproper state of mind, the best thing to do is to _join in and help_.\n\nIf a hundred million people want peace bad enough to fight for it, both\nfor themselves and their neighbors, it isn\u2019t for _slackers_ either in\nthought or in spirit to stand on the side lines and watch the scrap.\nPeople of that mould do not belong in America.\n\nEverybody must do his part and do it right. There are thousands of ways\nof helping on toward victory. There is more than one way of fighting.\nThe most potent of all is to _back up the man who does_--except, of\ncourse, when his time comes, every man capable of pulling a trigger\nmust pick up his pack and take his place _on the firing line_.\nMeanwhile it behooves _all of us_ to be ready for the call.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nHALF-BAKED KNOWLEDGE\n\n\nIt will take more than a _star shell_ to light up the pathway of a\nman who clutters his brain with half-baked knowledge. Pitfalls galore\nare ahead of him no matter which way he may turn. Such people are, by\nnature, of the cocksure variety, going in where angels fear to tread,\nand gaining nothing for certain by reason of their experiences. In time\nthey earn the reputation of being _bull-headed_ and sooner or later are\non their way downstream without a rudder.\n\nSometimes the strong-willed fellow of fragmentary knowledge isn\u2019t to\nblame for his affliction. Every little circumstance has something to\ndo with his future course and if he happens to be born \u201con the wrong\nside of the moon,\u201d his course is more or less _predestined_. He views\nthings through a film--hazy-like, and inaccurate. To him investigation\nmeans nothing. His mind is like a sieve that will not retain the fine\nparticles which must accumulate until a firm foundation forms upon\nwhich to bear _a permanent housing for his reasoning powers_.\n\nThe worst phase of the ever-ready reckoner of uncertain statistics is\nthat he usually circulates among the credulous. Who of us is there that\nhasn\u2019t at some time in our variegated careers sat across from him at an\nold-fashioned boarding house _table d\u2019hote_? Even now we can hear him\nsaying, \u201c_My notion of that is this!_\u201d And wasn\u2019t it fun to watch those\nwho drank it all in and gulped it down with their coffee? The green\ncheese story about the moon would have been swallowed by some of them\nif our _half-baked know-it-all_ persisted in its truth.\n\nFor such as him, no doubt, was composed Kipling\u2019s wonderfully cynical\nline, \u201calas, we know he never could know and never could understand.\u201d\nAnd also for such as him it was ordained that he should never stay\nin one place long. Something tells him to keep moving--perhaps the\ngiggling that breaks out in the midst of a lofty peroration; a snort\nof derision at some observation intended to be philosophical but which\nfell far short of the mark.\n\nWhile it doesn\u2019t take long to pack up and locate elsewhere, it must\nbe tedious work to have continually the task on hand of making new\nfriends--_only to lose them_. But that is the penalty of becoming the\nbutt of the jokester, who will not be denied. Once he finds a victim\nit\u2019s time for that victim to move. The jokester has no pity, and in\nlofty speech he tells his victim so--accompanied by shouts of approval\nfrom those who hear and understand.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cWhat ho!\u201d says the King. \u201cHo hum!\u201d replied his guest.]\n\nThe ego of ignorance which stands by its false assumptions from sheer\nlack of correct understanding invites pity that it seldom receives. In\ndue course of human events the distributor of half-baked wisdom will be\ngrafted with a twig from the tree of learning and thus the species will\nbecome extinct. This, as Shakespeare says, \u201cis devoutly to be wished,\u201d\nand while wishing it seems perfectly all right to express the hope that\nthose who read this short chapter will make a point of sowing a few\nseeds in certain gardens where tall weeds now grow, \u201cjust for the\nlack of the rake and the hoe.\u201d A little sarcasm will turn the trick.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nHARNESSING THE BRAIN\n\n\nTo make life truly worth while one would, if possible, follow his\nnatural bent, having trained himself accordingly, otherwise no\nmatter how successful he might become in _a material sense_, regrets\nwould be inevitable and likely to lead to a _surly old age_. It is a\nvast mistake to believe that the possession of great wealth insures\nhappiness--and _without happiness_ whose life is worth while?\n\nThe makings of many a good butcher, baker, or candlestick-maker have\ngone to waste when a youngster walked through the _wrong doorway_\nin search of his _first job_. That is the initial lottery ticket we\nbuy--and sometimes pay for most dearly.\n\nThe situation is better now than heretofore, particularly if the\nyoungster has, on starting out, the advantage of at least a high school\neducation. To that extent he has a _trained mind_. If he could have\ngone on through _college or technical school_ his success would be\npractically assured. To get through would mean that he had acquired\nproper _mental balance_.\n\nNevertheless, the great majority still go forth into the world of\naffairs with small educational equipment, just when their minds are\nleast prepared, which accounts for the old saying--\u201c_a little knowledge\nis a dangerous thing_.\u201d\n\nSo, when John Henry Jones, the hat-maker\u2019s son, shows a disinclination\nto go to school his father is pretty sure to take a shot at him\nsomething like this:\n\n\u201cEither go to school, or go to work. _You can\u2019t lay around and loaf._\u201d\n\nNow there was where John\u2019s father got off on the wrong foot. There\nand then he missed his chance for a real heart to heart talk and at a\ntime when his boy, from pure lack of reasoning ability, had worked his\nmind into a bad state. Then was the time to have dropped his tools and\nstraightened out the kinks in the youngster\u2019s noggin. A little friendly\ncounsel might easily have shown the folly of going out into the world\nwithout _brain tools_ to work with.\n\nAs for the boy, his whole future most likely hung upon the result of\nan interview inside _the first doorway he entered_. Not possessing a\nproper amount of mental training his natural tendency became his sole\nguardian at the supreme moment of his career--_the start_. Surely it\nwould be a matter of luck how he came through. His future, in a sense,\nwas in the hands of strangers and a strange environment.\n\nIn these days people are employed to fill a certain niche. If they\nfill it, they are allowed to _keep on filling it_. There\u2019s little\nchance to look up from the job--and when the day\u2019s work ends there\u2019s\nlittle chance to look around for another. Thus if John Henry was set to\nwork in a menial position at the beginning he might never be regarded\nas eligible for a position leading toward real advancement. He came\nwithout knowledge and for lack of opportunity he gained none. Being a\nperfectly good _sweeper_ and _duster_ he remained to sweep and dust\nuntil, in despair, he tries for a job at another place.\n\n[Illustration: Tweedle-dee--Tweedle-dum]\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d you say, \u201cthe example is not trustworthy. Look at the great\nmen who started out in a small way. They are now the bulwark of the\nnation.\u201d\n\nPerhaps true, but times have changed radically. It is the _boy\ngraduate_ that is being sought after now. \u201cBig Business\u201d is bidding for\nthe annual graduating classes long in advance. It wants _trained minds_\nto fill _brain positions_--and that\u2019s why the college man and the\ngraduates of technical schools forge ahead so quickly. They literally\nrun over the half-educated, untrained workers who sit and wonder at\ntheir own lack of advancement.\n\nIt\u2019s not a matter to pout about. There\u2019s only one thing to do--_work\nout of it_. A special course in the thing the mind and talent is best\nfitted for is the way out. Why wait for \u201clightning\u201d to strike us? Night\nschools abound in all branches of learning. Many a man has turned\nhimself into a brilliant lawyer, expert accountant, or famous editor,\nthrough _night school work_. Diligence and perseverance is the price of\nsuccess, and only through success do we find life entirely worth while.\n\nI have received many letters from boys and young men who had read\n_Laugh and Live_, asking me to name the requisites for success. I have\nmade but one answer to all such inquiries:--_A healthy, clean body and\na trained, clean mind._ There is no other answer.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\nEXALTING THE EGO\n\n\nSome day I propose to write a novel!\n\nThe main reason for this determination is the fact that I have never\nwritten one. I don\u2019t know that it will become a \u201cbest goer\u201d--and the\nchances are against it--but I\u2019ll do my best just the same. _And I hope\nto win._\n\nMy reason for writing a fictional story is that by so doing I will\nexercise my imaginative faculties and thus _prolong their usefulness_.\nThe power to imagine is an asset that must not be dulled by neglect. It\nresponds to exercise just as readily as do the arms and legs.\n\nMental gymnastics are helpful, in fact they are absolutely necessary\nin keeping alert the upper story of the general structure. They make\nof the brain a _spectacular trapeze performer_ toward which all eyes\nupturn when it takes its place upon the swinging bar.\n\nThe ability to write a successful novel would be a crowning achievement\nsince it draws upon experience and vision in order to assemble\ninteresting characters around an agreeable plot. Love, of course, must\nfurnish the motif because love is the highest and most noble form of\npassion--and _passion rules the universe_.\n\nWhen we contemplate the writing of a novel we indulge in aspiration of\nthe highest order. The fact that not one novel in a thousand is likely\nto measure up to a masterpiece should not halt one\u2019s determination to\nput over a winner if possible. But novel writing is _big game hunting_,\nrequiring ammunition of considerable power--and the _aim must be\nperfect_.\n\nOne should try for small game first, being careful to make a bonfire\nout of every effort that will not stand the test of several months in\ncold storage. Real fiction can wait. It needn\u2019t be served to order.\nAny novel that is going to live through one generation of applauding\nreaders will keep a few months while its author uses the pruning hook.\nHis judgment will be all the keener each time he goes over it.\n\nWhen I write my novel I shall allow no close friend to read it in\nadvance of its legitimate publication, after having been duly passed\nupon by a calm and candid professional critic _with a beady eye_. When\none of these zest-worn individuals wades through my effort from first\nto last page and comes up smiling it will be time enough to indulge in\na faint hope. It is always best for success to _ooze in_ rather than\nto come as a deluge. It gives us time to consider ways and means of\ntaking care of the output. Also it serves to ward off an aggravated\ncase of disappointment if it doesn\u2019t turn out to be a _genuine gusher_.\nWe never know the real verdict until we hear from the multitude. No\nmultitude, no verdict necessary--_the book is dead_.\n\n[Illustration: Where once one equals two]\n\nIt isn\u2019t for the reason that I lack for things to do that I propose to\ntry to write a successful novel, nor is my reason mercenary. There is\nno secret about the matter either. Some years ago I determined _not_ to\ngo through life with a _single track mind_. To obviate this calamity it\ndawned upon me that I must take an interest in every little and big\nthing that came my way. Once the resolution took the form of habit, it\nbecame a great pleasure to persist in the pursuit of information, but\nthe main benefit derived has been the development of a determination to\n_do things myself_.\n\nDetermination stands in constant need of repair else it deteriorates\ninto mere obsession and falls of its own weight. _The habit of\ninvestigation_ builds up self-confidence, without which, determination\nhas no prop with which to sustain itself.\n\nInvestigation is a two-sided activity of the mental processes--it\ncomes in loaded and can go out loaded if there\u2019s anything inside to\nfacilitate the movement. To prove this theory is my reason for taking\na fling at novel writing, and by succeeding my case is made. At least\nit will have been proved that one\u2019s mind is a reconverter--that what it\nimbibes in one form it may exude in another. Also it proves that if one\ndoes not exalt his own ego no one else can do it for him.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: A quick getaway]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX\n\nGENIUS PLUS INITIATIVE\n\n\nGenius is twenty per cent idea, thirty per cent talent, and fifty per\ncent _initiative_. Ideas are small in themselves when reduced to _brass\ntacks_, but when we put the steam behind they often turn into something\ntremendous.\n\nEven a fool may have an idea, but it takes _brains and pep_ to put one\nover.\n\nMost every one has had a notion worth while, but in most cases they\nhold it cheap on the theory that if it really amounted to anything some\n_genius_ would have thought of it long ago and put it into practical\nuse. There is where _initiative_ was lacking--perhaps talent as\nwell--but initiative would have brought in talent _from the outside_.\n\nThe word genius has been largely misapplied. Many men who were merely\nastute in one way or another have been placarded with the label of\ngenius. But the _real genius_ is one whose idea has saved something for\nhis fellow man in _time_, _labor_, and _money_. Who would have thought\nforty years ago that the whispering cups which children talked into,\nand by means of which they could hear each other\u2019s voices a distance\nof fifty or a hundred feet, would turn into the greatest labor-saving\ndevice in all the world! Such has been the fact ever since the\ntelephone became an everyday utility.\n\nThe principle was discovered in a toy--the practical, every-day\napplication as a labor-saving device was to come--but it came soon.\nA genius brought it about by inventing a transmitter which enlarged\nthe sound waves when vibrated over electrically charged wires. Just as\nsimple as water boiling in a tea kettle--which, by the way, led to the\n_steam engine_.\n\n_Steam, steel, and electricity!_--the playground of the world\u2019s\ngreatest inventors--_where genius abounds_. Here were born our captains\nof industry, our fabulous fortunes, our _empire building resources_.\nIntertwined with these three great principles the _super-genius_ has\nromped and played with nature\u2019s secrets until the age in which we live\nis one of _touch the button_--and some labor-saving device does the\nrest.\n\nWe think it wonderful to live in the present age of genius. Nothing\nseems lacking. But what snails we\u2019ll seem to those who come along _a\nhundred years from now_. Do we think that Arizona will lack for rain\nwhen she needs it--even fifty years hence? Surely the _drudgery of the\nhorse_ will have passed into oblivion. Mr. Ford to the rescue! Having\ntaken him out of the roadway, he most certainly will not allow the\nhorse to go on slaving in the plough field. That blessing is already in\nprocess of solution.\n\nThe real period for the genius is in the foreground. The hardships of\nthe past are over. Capital is ready and waiting eagerly for the new\nidea no matter how small, _or how big_. Genius has but to shake off\ninertia, _build up initiative_ and make full use of its talents. There\nisn\u2019t a stumbling block in sight. _The road is clear_--and every added\nfacility helps that much toward making everybody\u2019s life worth while.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X\n\nTHE BIG FOUR\n\n\nI\u2019m for that hard-hitting type of manhood which stands adamant for the\n_square deal and no surrender_ under all circumstances. It is one thing\nto wish for justice--quite another to stand up and _fight for it_.\n\nProbably not one man in a thousand is geared with sufficient heart\naction to run counter to _a false public opinion_. It takes moral\ncourage to do this, even on a small scale, whereas to ride a bucking\nbroncho one needs physical prowess which is quite another kind of\nbravery. We\u2019ve all known men who would fight their weight in wild cats\nbut would run like a frightened rabbit at the sight of a pretty woman.\nTo get up and _make a speech_ would have been out of the question for\nthem.\n\nI heard of a case where a fine, quiet fellow who had been elected as\na delegate to a small county convention, was instructed to arise to\nhis feet at the moment of a certain nomination and shout \u201cI second the\nnomination!\u201d Instead of following instructions _he fainted_. This so\nexcited the delegate who was to \u201cmove that the nominations be closed\u201d\nthat he forgot his part, with the result that an opposition candidate\nwas quickly proposed, carried the convention, and, in due course, _was\nelected_ by the vote of the people.\n\nMen of the type of President Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt, each\ndistinctly different in personality, are about as scarce as hen\u2019s\nteeth. There are just two such men in our hundred and odd millions\ntoday. They stand unique in the courage of their convictions, and their\nability to reach _the boundary lines of public opinion over the world_.\nLloyd George belongs in the same corral.\n\nSpeaking of President Wilson, one is amazed at his perspicuity. In\nprocedure directly opposite from Roosevelt or Lloyd George, he has no\ncounterpart either in pattern or turn of mind. Everything yields before\nhim--he appears to be _indomitable._\n\nThe need of such a man at this hour is apparent. He asserts the rights\nof the nation as a whole in such a way that the individual trails in\nbehind him without a quaver of fear or a compunction of conscience.\nThe President seems to know the road and results bear testimony to\nthe fact. In the shortest possible time he has mobilized the greatest\nnation in the world to a war basis of such magnitude that its martial\ntread _extends around the world_. This being the first globe-girdling\nwar in all history, who can say that any other man would have done\nbetter--_or even so well_?\n\nFortunately, this country has another man who, in the absence of our\npresent leader, could have stirred the American nation into action in\nbehalf of its own security. Hardly need it be said that this man is\n_Theodore Roosevelt_. His distinguished services in the past would have\nproclaimed him the leader in such a vast enterprise _had the emergency\nexisted_. Taking things as they are, his influence has been of\ntremendous importance in effecting _a united effort_. His willingness\nto go to the front himself at the head of a Volunteer Division had\nits own weight in determining the whole nation that _the battle was\nours_ as well as for those more adjacent to the fighting zone. But, to\nstart with at least, this is a young man\u2019s war, and the four sons of\nRoosevelt that went to the front constitute an ample offering from this\ngreat man at this stage of affairs.\n\nIf Lloyd George were a citizen of these United States, I\u2019d give him\na seat beside the President on the score of _bull-dog tenacity_. And\nI\u2019d give him a look in on Roosevelt for _brain activity_ and _physical\ncourage_. And a seat between both of them for his ability to _scorch\nthe hides of the recalcitrants_.\n\nThree big men these--_Wilson_, _Roosevelt_, _Lloyd George_. They sit\ntight for what\u2019s right. They stand exalted in the estimation of all\nright-thinking citizens of the world, and at this period of their lives\nare peerless in the beneficence of their influence upon mankind.\n\nAnd now for the fourth man on my slate--stand forth _General Joffre_!\nYour initiative at the first battle of the Marne saved the world from\ndisaster. You had _one chance in a hundred_ and--you saw and you took\nit. Your victory saved civilization a colossal setback. Had your\nbeloved France been forced to surrender, the dream of the enemy would\nhave been transformed into fact with Mad Moloch in the saddle for many\na weary year.\n\n_Here\u2019s to the Big Four_--long may they live to witness the gratitude\nof all mankind!\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI\n\nAPPLYING THE RULE OF REASON\n\n\nDuring one of my four-day jumps from coast to coast recently, I made\nthe acquaintance of a very affable gentleman in his early fifties. He\nhad the advantage of me in age, having passed through my period some\ntwenty years back, while my advantage lay before me, yet to be disposed\nof. He was a man of brains, his eyes were alert, his years rested\neasily upon him. I marveled at his physical activity, also his _mental\npep_. One thing he said to me that will hang in my memory the rest of\nmy days.\n\n\u201cI am guided by my _hindsight_--you at your age, by your _foresight_,\u201d\nsaid he. Then he went on to explain.\n\nAt my age he had ambitions and crowded on the steam. At _forty_ his\nsuccess in all ways seemed assured, so he rushed forward with all his\nmight. At _forty-five_ he experienced a period of physical reaction,\nwhich, in the light of his present knowledge, was a warning, but he did\nnot heed it. At _forty-seven_ he was a _physical_ and _mental wreck_.\n\n\u201cI had failed to adjust myself to my failing powers,\u201d said he. \u201cI took\non greater responsibilities than ever, bent, as I was, on rounding out\na huge success. I almost wound up in my grave.\u201d\n\nNow here was a chance for a real pointer from a man of intellectual\nforce, so I urged him to go on through the sequence of events that had\nbrought him back to such superb health and spirits.\n\n[Illustration: A rattling good story]\n\n\u201cIt took me three years to get by that ugly period of mental and\nphysical depression, the early part of which I spent in floundering\naround from one expert to another, traveling here and there and gaining\nnothing in the way of respite, to say nothing of cure. Then suddenly,\nI stumbled into an acquaintance with a new adviser--_a life insurance\nagent_!\u201d\n\nI broke out laughing at this point and he joined good-naturedly.\n\n\u201cI knew you\u2019d be amused,\u201d said he. \u201cEvery friend I have jokes on the\nsubject. Nevertheless,\u201d he continued, \u201cthis life insurance agent cured\nme and I haven\u2019t taken a spoonful of medicine since I met him. Are you\ninterested as to details?\u201d he asked, his eyes twinkling, his cheeks\nglowing with health. (Courage, friend reader. This isn\u2019t the beginning\nof the novel I intend to write.)\n\n\u201cUp to my ears,\u201d I replied. \u201cI am interested in every little thing that\nhappens.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, it\u2019s worth your while,\u201d he continued dryly, \u201cand the \u2018cure\u2019 may\nserve you well some day. I met this man at Long Beach. I was sitting\nunder a large umbrella-tent watching the bathers and feeling like \u201c_Sam\nHill_,\u201d when a fine, strapping young man came dripping out of the waves\nand sauntered up near me. It was a hot day and noting my ample shade\nhe came over and looked down at me good-naturedly. I would have given\nall I possessed for his robust health and grand physique. I motioned to\nsome unoccupied space under my tent, which he accepted.\n\n\u201c\u2018Not sick, I hope?\u2019 said he enquiringly.\n\n\u201c\u2018Oh-no!\u2019 I blurted back at him. \u2018I\u2019m feeling like a young kitten.\u2019\nThen I glowered at him ferociously. That made him laugh, and he was a\ngood hand at it. I turned away from him in disgust, and let him do his\nworst. Finally he calmed down and quite soberly remarked:\n\n\u201c\u2018_You\u2019re not sick_--nothing the matter with you! I\u2019ll write a policy\non you in a week\u2019s time if you\u2019ll do as I direct. I am a life insurance\nagent and I mean what I say.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018I\u2019ll take you up,\u2019 I bellowed in reply, \u2018and I\u2019ll bet you five\nhundred you lose!\u2019 I was pretty much exasperated at the fellow.\n\n\u201c\u2018You\u2019re on,\u2019 said he, \u2018but I won\u2019t take your five hundred if I win.\nLet\u2019s put it this way--if you are well enough to pass a rigid physical\nexamination one week from today will you let me write you up for a\nfifty-thousand dollar policy?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018I will, young man, and you can start your _shell game_ at your\npleasure. But I won\u2019t stand for any _science work or nonsense_. If you\nbore me I shall tell you so and that means all bets are off and you go\nyour way.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018We\u2019ll begin now,\u2019 said he quietly, but there was a certain air of\nconfidence in his voice that made me wonder.\n\n\u201c\u2018First, I\u2019m going to tell you about yourself,\u2019 he went on to say.\n\u2018You\u2019re pretty much like an engineer who went along forty years without\nan accident and then his engine broke down and both went to the ditch\nin a heap. You\u2019ve been successful in business, anyone would know that\nat a glance, but you\u2019ve made a mess of your physical resources.\u2019 I\nnodded. He was right thus far.\n\n[Illustration: A one-minute reverie]\n\n\u201c\u2018You started in early at the game, your affairs grew, your\nresponsibilities enlarged, and you worked your gray matter overtime\nwithout stopping to oil up your machinery. In other words, you have\nnever played, you haven\u2019t laughed, you haven\u2019t mingled with people in a\nsocial way. So now you are pretty near ready for the scrap heap. Am I\nright?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Uhuh--go on,\u2019 said I.\n\n\u201c\u2018You once came pretty near asking a fine woman to marry you, but\nsomething came up and you forgot it.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Yep--you\u2019re right, Mr. Mind-Reader. Proceed,\u2019 I said, \u2018and whatever\nyou do or say _don\u2019t mind my feelings_.\u2019 He noted the resentment in my\nvoice I presume, for he waited some time before going on.\n\n\u201c\u2018The rest is easy--any life insurance agent who knows his business\ncould take up the story at this point and go ahead with it.\u2019 He\nlaughed good-naturedly as I shrugged my shoulders.\n\n\u201c\u2018You\u2019re an agent, go on with the case. What\u2019s the answer? Let\u2019s hear\nall of the horrible details.\u2019 I was getting peevish, although the\nfellow had my interest aroused.\n\n\u201c\u2018Very well. Yours is the old, old story. At forty big things loomed\nahead--_your circle enlarged_. You gave yourself up to big plans. They\nprogressed famously and at _forty-five_ you were a rich and influential\nman. But there were a lot of multi-millionaires that had you skinned on\n_size of pile_ so you took the plunge and went after them. You never\ngave your waning physical powers a thought for the next two years, and\nthen you went all to pieces--_mentally_.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Mentally! what do you mean when you say _mentally_? Am I crazy?\u2019 The\nthought made me laugh.\n\n\u201c\u2018Mentally,\u2019 he repeated with a good-natured smile. \u2018You didn\u2019t go\ncrazy--_your brain fagged_. It wore out just like a typewriter ribbon\nwears out--_from constant usage_. You\u2019ve been thinking ever since that\nyour physical department was to blame for your condition. Nothing of\nthe sort. You are in fine physical trim, or will be when you take your\nmind off of your ailments and forget about the old deals. Come on,\nlet\u2019s take a dip,\u2019 he urged, and the first thing I knew he was dragging\nme along into the brine.\n\n\u201cTo make a long story short, that fellow _got me to laughing_ and\nplaying like a boy. We violated every rule of health that had been laid\ndown by doctors and in five days were playing golf together.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo he won his bet after all,\u201d said I enthusiastically, for I had been\npulling for the agent all through the recital.\n\n\u201cYou bet he did, and I let him write me up for _a half million_ instead\nof the sum he named.\u201d\n\n\u201cBully for you!\u201d I replied. \u201cAnd I\u2019m going to remember what you have\ntold me.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s right--at _forty_ begin to adjust yourself to the next\nperiod--_forty-five_. Arriving there safely, begin to adjust for\n_fifty_. If you are alive then you should go on for years, always\nkeeping in mind that you must readjust every _fifth_ year after you\ncross the forty line.\u201d\n\nThere is an old saying that you can\u2019t fool a percentage table, and\nthat was what the agent went by. So, if our lives are to be made worth\nwhile we must surely observe the simple rules governing health and\nlongevity. The candle won\u2019t burn at both ends and stand up in the\nbargain. At forty I\u2019m going to begin to adjust--_I believe what the\nagent said_.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: A studio confab]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII\n\nTHROUGH DIFFICULTIES TO THE STARS\n\n\nA college man not only wants his _sheepskin_ when the great day comes,\nbut his _letters_ as well. To win his degree he must contribute to\nthe _sum of human knowledge_--a man-sized job--considering the large\nstorehouse already filled to overflowing. But the wreath somehow rests\neasier upon the brow of learning when Ph.D. or Ph.B. are safely tucked\naway among the laurel leaves.\n\nOnly the trained mind that delves its way successfully through college\nor university is likely to add to existing facts. The vast majority\nonly succeed in developing a severe headache. Their intentions were\ngood, but----\n\nIt isn\u2019t so much the doing of the thing as the _satisfaction of having\ndone it_.\n\nMy college career was cut short before my aspiration to excel took\nroot. If I missed anything it didn\u2019t occur to me then, but looking\nbackward it has been only natural to regret that I didn\u2019t stick it out\nand try for the honors.\n\nBut there are many other ways of making life worth while. _Versatility_\nwins more \u201cheats\u201d these days than _originality_. Ideas are worth little\nto the man who can\u2019t put them over and are usually to be bought at\nbargain prices. _Versatility_ and _personality_ hitched tandem are\ncertified winners before they start as against mere originality.\n\nIt is not given to all men to make a success in college. But there\u2019s\none thing certain, whatever the gain coming out of an attempt _is that\nmuch to the good_.\n\nCollege life in itself, with all its joys and stunts, is a fierce\ncompetitor of the curriculum. Those who would win a degree must\nnecessarily _bone for it_, never for an instant straying from the\nnarrow path leading to the goal. Likewise it behooves them to keep both\neyes glued upon a lucky star--_for every little helps_.\n\nSomewhere in the \u201cmilky way\u201d of admonition he is almost sure to come\nupon that famous old signboard, which reads like this:\n\n  \u201c_\u2019Tis naught for sun to shine! Contribute thy share to the oceans\n  of human knowledge--you can if you will._\u201d\n\nI must confess that this bit of poetic advice made a deep impression\nupon me. It seemed to urge me on but not to the same extent that\nother matters _urged me off_. It is a good little verse just the same\nand worthy of a hook in anyone\u2019s memory. Aspiration, perseverance,\nnever-give-up-the-ship-stick-to-itiveness is the way the prescription\nreads for those who would plant so much as a mustard seed of original\ninformation in the garden of wisdom.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII\n\nIN ANSWER TO MANY FRIENDS\n\n\nAs I have stated in my foreword, this book is not intended to adhere\nto any fixed plan. I am writing on subjects covering a wide latitude,\nmany of which have been suggested by questions out of letters written\nto me by friendly spirits who like my picture plays. Although the facts\nrelating to my theatrical career have been published over and over\nagain, hardly a day goes by without receipt of letters on that subject.\n\nThe prevailing notion is that I come from a theatrical family and\nthat I was educated for the stage. Nothing is further from the truth.\nMy father was a lawyer with a knowledge of the drama such as few\nprofessionals have had. From the time I was able to eat I was fed on\nShakespeare. When I was twelve years old I could recite the principal\nspeeches in most of that gentleman\u2019s plays.\n\nMy article in _Photoplay_ some months ago gave the whole story in\nfewest words and the same is herewith appended.\n\n\nMy dramatic education was augmented by frequent contact with great\nactors. My father was a friend of Mansfield, Edwin Booth, Stuart\nRobson, John Drew, Frederick Warde and other famous actors who were his\nguests whenever they visited Denver.\n\nI once asked Mr. Mansfield about the best way to prepare for the stage\nand he told me that there was no such thing as preparation for the\nstage; but that there were certain accomplishments that were essential\nto _great success_. These included a knowledge of fencing, painting and\nthe French language. Modesty precludes a discussion of the result of\nfollowing that advice. Suffice to say, I can defend myself fairly well\nwith rapier or broadsword, I can tell a Corot from a Raphael without\nthe aid of artificial devices, and I have made my way through France\nwithout being arrested or going hungry.\n\nWriters who give advice to the ambitious usually cite experiences from\ntheir own book of life, but if any young man were to follow in my\nfootsteps, he\u2019d take a rather devious path to the stage and he\u2019d have\nto travel _some_.\n\nMy parents were far from convinced that I was cut out for the stage,\nso I was sent to the Colorado School of Mines to become a mining\nengineer. But there didn\u2019t seem to be any room in my head for calculus,\ntrigonometry and such things. I could never master higher mathematics;\ntherefore I could never be a mining engineer, so I quit.\n\nNow I\u2019m not desirous of inflicting a recital of my deficiencies on\na magnanimous public; just trying to show that one may fail in many\nthings before finding one\u2019s niche in life. Certainly I failed in many\nventures, even in my first attack on the American stage. The first\nonslaught didn\u2019t even make a dent on that historic institution.\n\nImportant results have often hinged on trivial things. Tiny causes have\nhad _titanic effects_. If a certain actor hadn\u2019t been sent to jail in\nMinnesota a dozen and a half years ago, I wouldn\u2019t now be writing this.\n\nIf you are familiar with baseball--and the chances are nine in ten\nthat you are--you know the meaning of the expression, \u201cthe breaks of\nthe game.\u201d Given two baseball teams of equal strength, victory will\ninvariably perch on the banner of the side which \u201cgets the breaks.\u201d\n\nIt\u2019s much the same on the stage or in business. Many a good player\nhas been sedulously avoided by whatever fate it is that deals out\nfame, because the \u201cbreaks\u201d have been against him. Conversely, many a\nmediocre--or even worse player, has tasted all the fruits of victory\nbecause he \u201cgot the breaks,\u201d as they say on the diamond. But don\u2019t\nthink I\u2019m going to classify myself, because I\u2019m not. Give it any name\nyou like--_even modesty_.\n\nJust where I would have wound up had it not been for a strange quirk\nof fate, of course no one can tell, but it was the misfortune of a\nfellow player that gave me the big chance I was looking for. Perhaps\nit was an indiscretion rather than a misfortune. But whatever it was,\nthe victim of the circumstance found himself in jail on the day we were\nscheduled to treat the natives of Duluth, Minn., to a rendition of\n\u201cHamlet.\u201d\n\nNow I\u2019m not going to tell you how the star couldn\u2019t show up and I\nstepped into the breach and soliloquoyed all over the stage to the\nthunderous applause of the Northmen; that would be too conventional.\nStrangely enough I hadn\u2019t set my sights that high. But I _did_ want to\nplay Laertes and my colleague having run afoul of some offense which\nwas the subject of a chapter of the Minnesota Penal Code, I played it\nthat night.\n\nWell, to make a long story short, I played the part so well (?) that\nit only took about ten years more to become a star on Broadway, the\nultimate goal of all who choose the way of the footlights. Seriously,\nhowever, that was my chance and I took full advantage of it.\n\nPerhaps the greatest pleasure I get out of my work for the screen is\ncontained in the daily mail bag. Letters come from everywhere, not only\nthis country, but from such far-off places as Australia. By the way,\nI believe they are more enthusiastic over the screen in the Antipodes\nthan they are in this country, proportionately speaking.\n\nOne of the most frequent questions I am asked to answer is that\nrelating to success in athletics.\n\nIt may sound strange to some of those who have been following my work\non the screen, but I was a failure as an athlete. In college at the\nColorado School of Mines I did not excel in any particular branch of\nsports. I went in for nearly everything, but the student body never\nwrote or sang any songs about me. I never came up in the ninth with the\nscore three to nothing against us, with three men on base, and put the\nball over the fence. I never even ran the length of the field with the\npigskin and scored the winning touchdown with only fifteen seconds of\nplay left.\n\nWhen I went to Harvard later I still was active in athletics, but\nwhile just about able to get by in most of the games, I never got _the\nspotlight_ in any specific instances. It might have been different had\nI remained, but the call of the footlights was too insistent.\n\nThere is one rule which every athlete must follow to be successful.\n_Be clean in mind and body._ For a starter, I know of no better advice.\n\nI am not much given to preaching, but if I ever took it up as a\nvocation, I would preach cleanliness first and most.\n\nThe boy who wishes to get to the front in athletics must adopt a\nprogram of mental and bodily cleanliness.\n\nPerhaps the greatest foe to athletic success, among young college men\nis _strong drink_. Personally I have never tasted liquor of any sort.\n\nIt was my mother\u2019s influence that was responsible for that, as I\npromised her when I was eight years old that I would never drink. I\nmight state, parenthetically and without violating a confidence, that\nmy family tree had several decorations consisting of ambitious men\nwho had sought valiantly, if futilely, to decrease the visible supply\nof liquor. I do not wish to take a great amount of credit for my\nabstention. Really, more credit is due to a person who has fallen under\nits influence and fought his way out; but I know that the keeping of\nmy promise to my mother has had a powerful effect on my life and my\ncareer.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV\n\nTHINGS THAT MONEY WON\u2019T BUY\n\n\nEverything depends on something else. There is no such thing as\nabsolute independence, and those who think differently are simply\nasleep at the switch. Of all things sought for in this world happiness\nstands first, and to be sure of this estatic state of being the common\nmistake is made in selecting the path supposed to lead most directly\nthereto.\n\nWealth--choice No. 1. _The common error_ of the human family.\n\nWealth is the great destroyer of happiness, for it breeds _discontent\nand worry_. In the first place comes the worry of accumulating wealth\nand once possessed of it comes the worry of hanging on to it. It is but\na step from worry to discontent.\n\nBut take away the doubt, for the sake of argument, and analyze wealth\nfrom the standpoint of possession. Now that we have wealth let\u2019s go\nahead and enjoy it. Let us make of our lives an elysian dream. All\nright, here goes.\n\nBut first, just what is an _elysian dream_? Answer--an elysian dream\nis most quickly defined by the word _naught_. It is a figure of speech\nand only useful in poetic flights--no transfers issued. The iridescent\ndream is the nearest high-sounding vagary that can be bought for cash\nand that has a rainbow finish. It soon fades and is lost from view.\n\n[Illustration: Alone with the Grand Canyon]\n\nSo we come quickly back to the proposition that wealth, while useful\nto the stomach and the back, has no purchasing power with the soul.\nHappiness is a _soul quality_--how to reach it is a quandary.\n\nOf things earthly we only require a certain amount; an overplus takes\naway zest. The sport of the hunt is no more, when the quarry is tied\nup by the heels. Anticipations are happier far than realizations. When\nwe aspired we looked forward, and up. When we indulged to the full our\neyes fell to the ground.\n\n\u201c_The fun of gettin\u2019 money is the gettin\u2019 of it, son._\u201d This line is\nthe wind-up of a wild Western solo one of the boys in camp used to sing\nwith banjo accompaniment. That is all I remember of the song. It struck\nme as funny and also as being gospel truth. After having satiated one\u2019s\nutmost desires, every luxury seems trivial and vain. Anticipation,\nwhich is a species of joy, no longer dwells in the heart. Thereafter\nwe hunger for the unattainable--_contentment_. Very seldom do we\nchange our ways when we have waxed fat and soft--and money won\u2019t buy\neverything. Note the \u201cif\u201d in old Aunt Dinah\u2019s Camp Meeting ditty:--\n\n    \u201cIf Heaven was a place that money could buy\n     The rich would live and the po\u2019r would die----\u201d\n\nAnd there we are, blockaded with a measley \u201cif.\u201d There are things\nthat money won\u2019t buy--for instance, a _good night\u2019s sleep_. Our \u201copen\nsesame\u201d to the higher level is via the _Self-Denial line_. Money won\u2019t\nbuy a ticket--only the good and faithful servant may pass through the\nturnstile.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV\n\nTHE BOY ACROSS THE SEA\n\n\nParaphrasing a well-known song to fit a new emergency one of my good\nfriends, on learning the title of my new book, sends the following\nlines which he hopes may find a place in _Making Life Worth While_. And\nso they shall, with many, many thanks to the contributor.\n\n    Keep the home fires burning,\n    For our boy across the sea,\n    Then he\u2019ll know, when he comes home\n    Things are as he hoped they\u2019d be.\n\n    Loving hearts are yearning,\n    Eager eyes grow dim,\n    Many are there bowed down in prayer--\n    Hoping--longing--calling for him.\n\nThere is a wonderful pathos in this lyric. Al Jolson, in a serious\nmoment, could put enough soul stirring melody in the last line to bring\nan audience to its feet. And wouldn\u2019t \u201cRodey\u201d make a Billy Sunday\nmeeting fairly ring with it?\n\nThere is more than sentiment in the verse quoted--there is _duty_,\n_loyalty_, _fidelity_. Our boys have a right to expect that nothing\nuntoward shall be allowed to disturb their dear ones while they are\nabsent, and that whatever the misfortune to themselves over there, the\nwelcome home will be whole-hearted and genuine.\n\nIf ever there was need of cheerful sympathy, the genuine article, it\nshould come forth now for distribution among the homes from which\nhusband, son, or brother has gone forward in defense of civilization.\nOne need not fear to show an interest, which is heartfelt, to any\nwife, mother, father, or other relatives of an American soldier. It\nis a relief to them to share their hopes and fears with friendly\nneighbors. They are brave as they never were before. They are\n_fortified_ by the spirit of the manly fellow who went forth to war\nthrough the very gate you lean upon as they tell what they know.\n\nOne very dear mother, much too young in appearance to suggest the idea\nof having sent a son to the front, told me as she smiled through tears\nthat he had _brought down two_ in a single action, but unfortunately\nwas forced to land on enemy soil and was made a prisoner.\n\n\u201cI hope they don\u2019t starve him,\u201d said she sweetly, \u201cnor treat him\ncruelly. He is so gentle and kindly himself. I believe they will be\ngood to him.\u201d\n\n\u201cOf course they will,\u201d said I, joining my hope with her own and\nwishing with all my might that I could really share in her belief. Then\nher wistful look changed into one of confident expectancy. I had added\nto her _store of hopefulness_ and left her laughing heartily at my\nprophecy that her boy would probably \u201c_kidnap his guard some night and\nride him back to camp_.\u201d\n\nNo doubt about her keeping the home fires burning, nor of the\nstrong heart within her--\u201c_hoping, longing, calling for him_.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI\n\nSUPERIOR--SUPERIORITY--SUPER\n\n\nThis word _super_ is getting its name in the papers every day in the\nweek. The _super-human_ effort required to keep things moving along\ntoward the _final triumph_ has needed just such expressive terms. It\nis a last word in inspiration--big, effective--_over and beyond_--and\nit fits the job we\u2019re engaged in exactly from super-dreadnaught to\nsuper-abundance of will-power, mainstrength, and _get there_.\n\nWhen our boys went over and lined up alongside their war-worn Allies,\nthe whole situation changed. The _pep_ and _snap_ they brought along\ncompletely banished the waning spirit which, nevertheless, still\nheld in check a relentless and overpowering foe. No tonic is there so\nproductive of renewed energy as the _entrance of a friend_ who quietly\ntakes his place by one\u2019s side.\n\nTo merely say that the boys in khaki have won the hearts of their\ncomrades over there is inadequate. They have _sealed a compact_ that is\ndestined to shape the orderly course of the whole world for a century\nto come. Their induction was not of the \u201cmake way for the conquering\nheroes\u201d kind. Nothing like that--more of the fashion of _those who are\ntardy_ and quietly take the places reserved for them.\n\nOnce in the ranks, comradeship was a matter of course. No one could\nhold out against American good nature. No chance that these new\nsoldiers ranging themselves alongside of veterans would resort\nto grandstand play. There would be no chasing after the medal. If\nit came, well and good, but the job in hand would be the first\nconsideration--and in that respect the men of the Allied armies and\nnavies _are well met_.\n\nTo my way of thinking the every-day athletic sports of the\nEnglish-speaking races make for _a gallant hardihood_. No braver\nare they, but hardier perhaps, and more agile than their Latin\nbrother-in-arms because of their all-of-the-year-round season of\nout-of-door recreation. Baseball, golf, hockey, polo, motor-boating,\nrowing, skiing, football, riding to hounds and what not, even down to\nthe game of marbles, which, after all, is out-of-door exercise for the\nsmall boy.\n\nTake football, for instance. If medals of honor were given out for\n_daring physical action and bravery_ that occurs on the \u201cgrid-irons\u201d\nof America, England, Canada and Australia each year even the Kaiser\u2019s\n_Iron Cross factory_ would be unable to supply the demand. In other\nwords, out-of-door sports make for _alertness_ of mind and body. In\nthis respect they differ from the labor of the soil which, while\nhardening and muscle-making, is inspiriting from lack of competitive\nprowess with _a goal in sight_ to work for.\n\nIt is fine to read about our boys over there. They have taken hold\nof their end of the big job without splurge or pompous bearing. They\nhave aroused no jealousies, no heart-burnings through competitive\nambitions--_they go where sent_. Their inborn initiative spurs them\non to deeds that terminate to victories they least expect. It is not\na part of their dispositions to \u201cgrab all\u201d for honors. They will\ngive rather than take from the credit of their comrades in arms. The\nold charge of _American brag_ will fall of its own weight on the\nbattlefields of France. To excel is an American trait no less and no\nmore than their brothers in the field of action. One of the blessings\nthat must surely follow in the wake of the great slaughter will be the\ncommon understanding that every Allied soldier _did his duty like a\nman_.\n\nSince writing this chapter, I came across an editorial in the New York\n_Evening Telegram_, which backs up my theory exactly. It reads as\nfollows:\n\n\u201cAmerican soldiers and sailors have won the hearts of England and\nFrance. \u2018I like their keenness,\u2019 said a pain-racked British sergeant\nthrough his bandages. \u2018It\u2019s good to be fresh and alive to every little\nhappening for you and your boys who can plunge into hades for the\nfirst time and keep their heads. You may be sure they will go a long\nway.\u2019\u201d\n\nAt Hamel, where the Americans went in with the Australians, Lucien and\n\u2019Arry and Paul and Tony and Pat and Izzy stood shoulder to shoulder,\none loyally helping the other. The commander-in-chief of the Anzacs,\nLieutenant-General Sir John Monash, is a Jew. Hovering over our\nfighters were an aviator from Fort Wayne, Ind.; one from New York and\nanother from Nogales, Ariz.\n\nOf a surety, as Kipling sang:--\n\n    \u201cFor there is neither East nor West,\n      Border nor breed nor birth,\n    When two strong men stand face to face.\n      Though they came from the ends of the earth.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201cIn tune with the Infinite\u201d]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII\n\nWHEN THE BOYS COME HOME\n\n\nMighty powers are at work in the world today. Mighty changes are taking\nplace within the depths of our natures. We are not satisfied with the\nold order of things that have trailed along with our _opulent years_.\nThe great holocaust of war has sobered our senses and we find ourselves\ntaking stock of the past with particular reference to the future--the\nnear future we hope.\n\nWe are thinking of the day when the boys will _come back home_ and\nwe have it in mind to tidy up considerably by the time they begin to\narrive. We believe they will approve of our work, and unless they do we\nmay as well look the situation squarely in the face--they\u2019ll do some\ncleaning up on their own account. _They\u2019ll finish the job._\n\nThe order of the day is _change_. There are old, worn-out labels that\nmust give place to new ones, particularly one which has outlived its\nusefulness, entitled--_the inherent rights of man_. It needs revising.\nIts by-laws must be revamped, recast along modern lines in order\nthat _liberty_ shall not be mistaken for _license_ nor any man claim\nimmunity on the assumption that because this is a free country _he may\ndo as he may please_.\n\nWhen the boys come home they are going to ask for an accounting. They\nwill want to take more than just a peep at our stewardship. Where are\nthe _loafers_ hanging out? They\u2019ll ask us that. And they\u2019ll ask about\nthe dives and dens and _thief-making sports_ that boldly flaunted\nthemselves in the days before _the great change_.\n\nA lot of the boys won\u2019t come home. They\u2019ll be asleep, over there, but\nthe big majority will return and they will be men of brawn--_resolute\nand brave_. They will begin at once to ask questions that will make\nsome of us wince, and they are going to insist upon truthful answers.\n\u201c_What about the profiteers?_\u201d They\u2019re going to insist on knowing\nall about these fellows. They will seek them out and compel them to\ndisgorge their ill-gotten gains--profits taken from the families\nof these men who crossed the seas to rid the world of _just such a\npiratical crew_.\n\nAnd what about _booze_--have we given that traffic the final punch? If\nit wasn\u2019t good for soldiers to _fight on_ how could it be useful in\n_civil life_? These are questions we\u2019ve got to answer when the boys\ncome home and it looks as though we were going to be able to give a\ngood account of ourselves--_thanks to the government_.\n\nThings are changing--many things have already changed. The big crucial\ntests upon our national conscience are coming to a head. Our government\nis _far-seeing_ and alert. Abuses still exist, but the eyes of able men\nare upon them. A government that is capable of sending millions of men\nunder prime conditions to foreign lands in behalf of our _most precious\nrights_ need not be expected to fall down on the task of cleaning\nthings up at home while they are away. The whole world is to be made\nsafe and clean, _including the U.\u00a0S.\u00a0A._\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII\n\nREGENERATION\n\n\nWhen the great war broke upon an unsuspecting brotherhood of fellow\nhumans, we were, as a nation, from prosperity and self-indulgence,\nperilously near the brink of disaster. It is only in the light of\nevents and a backward glance toward the precipice which had yawned for\nus that we may now indulge in a certain sort of solemn consolation. At\nleast, we have been saved from a worse fate, one that has bells on its\ntoes--our _national intellect_ was on the wane; likewise our _national\nconscience_. But we were not alone--all nations were afflicted, ours no\nmore than the rest, but we were the younger and more opulent.\n\n_Regeneration or degeneracy?_ That was the uppermost question in\nthe public mind when the king of Berlin turned loose his hosts of\ndegeneracy, thereby bringing back to its sober senses the brain power\nof civilized mankind. And with it came the brawn.\n\nNow when _brain and brawn_ hook up together the danger of getting stuck\nin the mire is well nigh impossible. Men who had gone sordid while\namassing great fortunes and looked on passively while their families\ncut the swath to which wealth and position seemed to entitle them,\njumped to their feet with a _new light_ in their eyes, while men just\nentering upon the threshold of success stood in awe of consequences\nbeyond their control. But the main thing to happen was that the world\nturned its face toward the great intruder and, thereby, its heels\ntoward the fatal abyss into which millions would have fallen _from\nsheer crowding from behind_.\n\nWe had been following the modern tendency and had gone the limit in\nquest of that will-o\u2019-the-wisp called _pleasure_--which we never quite\nfound. We nearly did, or thought we surely would, but in our hot\npursuit we heard the blast of a _war trumpet_ and we stopped in our\ntracks!\n\nThe weakest link in the chain of _self-gratification_ had broken--the\nWar Lord and his hosts had gone stark mad! Now was the time for\nthe cohorts of insanity to wreak vengeance upon the joy-seeking,\npeace-loving people of the world. We who were on the brink of another\nkind of pitfall--_too much opulence_--paused in awe and horror to gaze\nupon the oncoming hords. And right here began _the regeneration of\nmankind_.\n\nNo one, taking the larger view of the world\u2019s greatest catastrophe\nsince the flood, will hesitate to believe that, even unto its most\nhorrible detail, it represents the working out of _some great plan_.\nThe world was far better off after the flood, for when the waters\nreceded it was found that the valleys had been enriched by the washings\nfrom the mountain-sides and the hills. A new virginity had entered into\nthe soil, the future value of which, to mankind, being wholly beyond\ncomputation.\n\nAnd so in the final reckoning this tremendous letting of blood will\nhave long since shed light upon its true significance. To-day we\nestimate it upon the basis of its horrors, its seeming uselessness,\n_the blight of its trail_ across our own dooryards. But we\u2019ve all heard\nof the _fungus growth_ which blights the progress of plants and trees;\nand _parasites_ which destroy the grains of the field, bringing famine\nupon the population. In the present case the tentacles of the great\nOctopus of Degeneracy took such strangling hold upon the body politic\nthat half a world seems doomed to die that the other half may live in\naid of the great plan of the universe. In the meantime, _no life is\nworth while_ that takes no part in the titanic struggle, which must go\non and on until, in the words of our leader, \u201c_the world is made safe\nfor democracy_.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nA Series of Six Inspirational Books\n\nBY DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS\n\n\n--containing especially chosen chapters from his famous book \u201c_Laugh\nand Live_.\u201d Each booklet contains 32 pages, printed on paper of extra\nfine quality; also a special picture of the author never before\nproduced.\n\n\nLIST OF TITLES\n\n    1. _Whistle and Hoe--Sing as We Go_\n    2. _Taking Stock of Ourselves_\n    3. _Initiation and Self-Reliance_\n    4. _Assuming Responsibilities_\n    5. _Profiting by Experience_\n    6. _Wedlock in Time_\n\n    Boards, Illuminated (boxed)      $0.50 net\n    Leather (boxed)                   1.00 net\n\n\nBRITTON PUBLISHING CO. NEW YORK\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber\u2019s Notes\n\n\nPunctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a\npredominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not\nchanged.\n\nSimple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced\nquotation marks retained.\n\nAmbiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.\n\nRedundant chapter titles have been deleted from this eBook.\n\nThe first uncaptioned illustration represents the cover; the other\nuncaptioned illustrations are semi-decorative line drawings of the\nauthor.","title":"Making Life Worth While","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":13923}