I am reminded by our Chairman of the time when he was still a student
at Harvard, in the earliest days of the Menorah movement, when I
addressed the Menorah Society there. It was in the room of the
Chancellor, unless I am mistaken, and there were a number of students.
They were grouped about, some in chairs, some sitting on the floor,
some perched on window sills, while others improvised seats on the
furniture. I felt myself patriarchal in the midst of these young men.
It was a remarkable scene and it was a remarkably helpful evening,
helpful and refreshing to me. The pulses of youth always beat high and
I caught the elation of it. Who would not have been touched by it?
Some of these young men have since become leaders in thought and
action, and I am not surprised.
Let me make a confession as to that evening. I not only felt a thrill
but made also some observations. These young men had their ideals, but
they had also their difficulties. And they spoke of them. We had an
exchange of thought and of candor such as comes to a man in the
ministry and to a teacher of students but rarely. They told me of
their doubts. Young men, serious young minds, always will have their
doubts. They want to earn their convictions. I hope the day will never
come when young men will not insist on seeing things. These young men
were quick-witted and ready with repartee and counter-argument, and I
saw in each eye a glint of an ideal. The debate was strong, but the
ideals were stronger.
_The Power of Ideals_
Ideals are pulses that beat in their own way. An ideal is a fact of
the soul; it is more than a definition or an argument. An ideal is
always very certain and nobody wants to disprove it, nor can.
I notice the Menorah Association has for its aim the cultivation of
ideals. It is natural that young men, with red blood in them, should
hold dear the precious dreams of what might and should be. As I look
upon ideals now, through the perspective of years, I see they have
both strength as well as limitations. But I know that, however much
life and experience challenges them, they are the best force in us. I
respect and value them so much that I deplore the waste of the least
of them. An ideal is a moral ambition, a great wish of a true, even if
a bit naive, soul. And it should have the right of way.
Every work in life implies stern necessity and a fine wish. I am
reminded of a bridge in Berlin which the Germans have built with
inimitable art and truth. There are four groups, each at a corner. On
one an elderly man stands erect and writing. It is History, stern and
real. At his side stands a boy, lithe and graceful. There are ideals
just as much as Law in the affairs of men. On the other side of the
bridge stands another symbol of the two forces in Life: a man carrying
a bundle, a bent man, who has borne the brunt of the pioneer days, and
next to him also a youth. Commerce, however sordid, still implies
morality and the generous side of man. On the third side stands the
solemn figure of Religion, sober and haggard, the symbol of Faith and
martyrdom. And the young man, next to it, seems sprightly and strong.
Why must Religion be interpreted as dispensing comfort alone? Should
it not also give strength and joy? In the last corner stands
Pestalozzi, the teacher, and a boy looks up into his kind face. We
crave for action and capability more than for knowledge and facts. And
we crave for love more than for truth, and the real truth brings
affections and enthusiasm.
In the meetings of your Association you speak often of ideals, you
speak of them fervently. But ideals are not merely academic. They are
personal. An ideal becomes yourself, if it is yours at all. It is a
dynamic force within you. It pervades your whole being. It is an
unseen but a very telling strength. It directs you, and it sends you
on your errand of life. You cannot rest satisfied merely to know your
ideal and to speculate about it. It is the engine of warfare in your
career. Study ideals, not to contemplate and analyze, but to emulate
them and to fill yourself with them. You have work to do. And work is
more insistent than philosophy. You have work to do which no one else
can do for you, or may do for you. An ideal is your Self at the
highest power.
You with fresh energies, you with the clear eye of healthy youth, you
with unoppressed hearts, you at the beginning of life, you should go
at your work splendidly, directly, forcefully. The real idealist is a
man of action, of untiring activity. Do things and you verify what you
plan. You have the privilege of youth. Have also the pride of youth.
Keep it sweet, but keep it also strong.