KEEPING OURSELVES DEMOCRATIC
Big words and pomposity never were designed for the highest types of
men. Our great national figures have almost without exception had one
quality which was a keynote to their ultimate success--this was their
_simplicity_. Next was their _accessibility_. There are numberless
big-hearted and big-brained individuals in the world whose duties are so
manifold that in order to accomplish what has been placed in their hands
they must be saved from interruption, but the truly great individual is
never hidden away entirely from his fellow man. He never becomes such a
slave to detail that he does not find time to fraternize with ordinary
mortals. We do not find him concealed behind impenetrable barriers,
guarded and pampered by courtiers like unto a king on his throne--or
tucked away in some dark office. He wants to know _everybody worth
while_ and everybody worth while is welcomed by him. He doesn't affect
to know so much that he cannot be told something new. He is not the sort
to refuse to see us at any reasonable time.
We should not confound _greatness_, however, with _notoriety_. A man who
by virtue of large publicity has compelled public notice isn't
necessarily a great man no matter how hard he may strive to make himself
appear so. Especially is this true of the man who does not make a
personal success corresponding to his advertised fame. In time he may
have the "ear-marks" of notability but, as Lincoln said: "_You can't
fool all of the people all of the time._"
It is to be noted with satisfaction that the big captains of industry
keep themselves free from petty details. "I surrounded myself with
clever men," said Andrew Carnegie in accounting for his success and by
the same token the men who took over his great affairs and gave them
larger scope and power surrounded themselves with still other clever
men, thus reserving their judgment and thought _for the higher policies
of their institutions_. They keep themselves in readiness for
consultation, and having men of _initiative_ and _self-reliance_
underneath them, they find time to take in hand other affairs than those
of the tremendous businesses they manage. Men of this type often become
prominent in public affairs and develop into highly important citizens.
The bigger the man, the less he encumbers himself with matters which can
be delegated to others. His desk is clear of all litter and
minutia--_likewise his mind_. Such men keep their physiques and
mentalities in fine working order and are not to be goaded into _ill
temper_. A refinement of mind is supremely essential to the man who
desires to climb to the very top of the ladder. He cannot afford to
close his brain to outside information. He is forced to keep it open in
order to let in continuous currents of new thought. He doesn't want his
visage to "_cream and mantle as a standing pond_" as Shakespeare aptly
puts it--therefore the windows of his thinking department are kept open
for refreshing draughts from the outside. He reasons that always there
are new guests, new faces, new things to talk about at the banquet board
of life.
[Illustration: _Taking on Local Color_]
And here is the point--if men who carry on the great industries of the
world find a way to keep themselves democratic surely men of less
importance should be able to do the same? The snob is about as offensive
a person as could be described. He is usually a hypocrite or an
ignoramus--sometimes both. His pomposity is naturally repellent. We
easily become accustomed to dodging such characters. The detriment is
theirs--not ours. They are left by the wayside and sooner or later wake
up to the fact that they stand alone in the world.
The world loves the man with _an open mind_. This is the usual spirit of
the progressive citizen. _He wants to know_--and by reason of his
accessibility knowledge is brought to him. No one cares to take up the
task of informing the egotist who already knows it all. Such is his
inherent cussedness that we would rather let him warp in the oven of
his own half-baked knowledge. Life is too short to waste our time in
educating him.
"How can I see Mr. So-and-so?" says one man to another.
"Don't try," is the answer. "He's not worth seeing. You can't tell _him_
anything."
And this sort of a chap misses the big opportunities just because he
chooses to build up a reputation for being exclusive. He digs himself a
hole and crawls into it _and pulls the hole in after him_. We can safely
imagine him treating the members of his family as though they were
servants, and his employees as though they were slaves. He may succeed
in small things but in the big game of life we may write him down as a
failure.
If we have a big idea we take it to a big man--_the man of vision_.
Anything less is to putter around aimlessly. The bigger he is, the more
democratic. He will not look for imperfections in our personal make-up
when we show him the _new process_ we have discovered.
To be democratic is a triumph of the soul--tending to bring us in close
touch with the throbbing heart of humanity. There is no isolation for
those of unaffected charm and manner--no barrier in the way of
friendship worth having. It is our lack of judgment if we hide ourselves
so that we cannot be approached. No matter how high we rise, for the
sake of our own brains we must allow _men of ideas_ to get to us. We
must not allow our minds to become stagnant. If we fail to get into
daily contact with other people, we soon grow dull and uninteresting
even to ourselves. Great men may have no time to fritter away but they
have plenty of leisure for men worth while--_the pushers and the
thinkers_.
A democratic spirit does not come to the selfish man. He is absorbed in
himself and is quite a hopeless case. He is a natural born faultfinder
and grouchy by nature. For him life holds no joy save the one in sight.
Taking the big look at the man of this type we can only be sorry for him
because of his lack of early training. He started off on the wrong foot
and thereafter drifted along. Seldom do we overcome the habits with
which we arrive at man's estate. Those who do are entitled to a right
hand seat among the chosen.
Being democratic is another phrase for being _human and kind_. It means
that we ought to be able to see behind every face and find the truth of
that individual's existence. It means that life is largely a matter of
how we look at it and being human is one way to get the proper slant at
things.
The human mind has _great adaptive power_ and can be molded into a
thousand ways of thinking. The intelligent man, the man who has taken
stock of himself, is able to smile and extend a hearty handclasp whether
he feels tip-top or not. He doesn't have to look glum simply because the
world hasn't thrown itself at his feet. He has only to persevere and
success will come eventually.
We must correct our failings as we go along or we will slip down into
the rut and stay there. It is a simple matter to be good natured and
full of the zest of life if we poise ourselves right--_keep ourselves
democratic_. It is this great soul quality which brings us true friends
and boosts us into the fulfillment of our ambitions. Then we may truly
_laugh and live_.