If one does not believe that his countenance adds to or detracts
anything from the lives or expressions of others, let him pause
for a moment before that now celebrated “Billiken.” It is almost
impossible to look at the little imp and not smile. The Japanese
teach their maids in the hotels, and those also in higher walks
of life, the art of smiling. They are compelled to practise
before a mirror. One can not stay long in Japan without being
inoculated with the disposition to “look pleasant.” The “look
pleasant, please,” of the photographer goes deeper than the
photograph plate.
No one wants to associate long with an animated vinegar cruet. A
disposition is easily guessed from the angle of the corners of
the mouth; a disposition is molded by compelling those angles to
turn up or down. If a merry heart maketh a glad countenance, it
is also true that a glad countenance maketh a merry heart--in
the one who has it and in the one who beholds it. “Iron
sharpeneth iron. So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his
friend.”--_Baptist Commonwealth._
(2390)
=Pleasure a Deceiver=--See SLAVES OF PLEASURE.