We drift from dinner to the theatre, thence to bed, thence to
breakfast, thence to work, and so on. Or, if in hard luck, we
struggle and wail, "cursing our day," or more frequently cursing
society.
We rarely stop to think what it is all about, or what we are here
for. ----
We know the pig's object in life. It has been beautifully and
permanently outlined in Carlyle's "pig catechism." The pig's life
object is to get fat and keep fat--to get his full share of swill
and as much more as he can manage to secure. And his life object
is worthy. By sticking at it he develops fat hams inside his
bristles, and WE know, though he does not, that the production of
fat hams is his destiny. ----
But our human destiny is NOT to produce fat hams. Why do so many
of us live earnestly on the pig basis? Why do we struggle
savagely for money to buy our kind of swill--luxury, food, etc.
--and cease all struggling when that money is obtained?
Is fear of poverty and dependence the only emotion that should
move us?
Are we here merely to STAY here and EAT here?
A great German scientist, very learned and about as imaginative
as a wart hog, declares that the human face is merely an
extension and elaboration of the alimentary canal--that the
beauty of expression, the marvellous qualities of a noble human
face, are merely indirect results of the alimentary canal's
strivings to satisfy its wants.
That is a hideous conception, is it not? But it is no more
unworthy than the average human life, and the average existence
has much to justify the German's speculations.
What SHALL we strive for? MONEY?
Get a thousand millions. Your day will come, and in due course
the graveyard rat will gnaw as calmly at your bump of
acquisitiveness as at the mean coat of the pauper.
Then, shall we strive for POWER?
The names of the first great kings of the world are forgotten,
and the names of all those whose power we envy will drift to
forgetfulness soon. What does the most powerful man in the world
amount to standing at the brink of Niagara, with his solar plexus
trembling? What is his power compared with the force of the wind
or the energy of one small wave sweeping along the shore?
The power which man can build up within himself, for himself, is
nothing. Only the dull reasoning of gratified egotism can make
it seem worth while. ----
Then what IS worth while? Let us look at some of the men who
have come and gone, and whose lives inspire us. Take a few at
random:
Columbus, Michael Angelo, Wilberforce, Shakespeare, Galileo,
Fulton, Watt, Hargreaves--these will do.
Let us ask ourselves this question: "Was there any ONE THING
that distinguished ALL their lives, that united all these men,
active in fields so different?"
Yes. Every man among them, and every man whose life history is
worth the telling, did something for THE GOOD OF OTHER MEN.
Hargreaves, the weaver, invented the spinning-jenny, and his
invention clothes and employs hundreds of millions.
Galileo perfected the telescope, spread out before man's
intellect the grandeur of the universe. Wilberforce helped to
awaken man's conscience. He freed millions of slaves. Columbus
gave a home to great nations. We thrive to-day because of his
noble courage. Michael Angelo and Shakespeare stirred human
genius to new efforts, and fed the human mind--a task more worthy
than the feeding of the human stomach. We ride in Fulton's
steamboats, and Watt's engine pulls us along.
Men who are truly great have DONE GOOD to their fellow-man. And
the greatest Soul ever born on earth came to urge but one thing
upon humanity, "Love one another." ----
Get money if you can. Get power if you can. Then, if you want
to be more than the ten thousand million unknown mingled in the
dust beneath you, see what good you can do with your money and
your power.
If you are one of the many millions who have not and can't get
money or power, see what good you can do without either.
You can help carry a load for an old man. You can encourage and
help a poor devil trying to reform. You can set a good example
to children. You can stick to the men with whom you work,
fighting honestly for their welfare.
Time was when the ablest man would rather kill ten men than feed
a thousand children. That time has gone. We do not care much
about feeding the children, but we care less about killing the
men. To that extent we have improved already.
The day will come when we shall prefer helping our neighbor to
robbing him--legally--of a million dollars.
Do what good you can NOW, while it is unusual, and have the
satisfaction of being a pioneer and an eccentric.