The right to play is one of the divine rights of men and women, of boys
and girls, and is just as essential to the peace, happiness and
prosperity of the world as is the right to pray. Never be afraid or
ashamed, my young friends, of honest, vigorous, healthy play. Dominoes,
lawn tennis, baseball, football, ping-pong, golf, foot-racing, leaping
and jumping, boxing and wrestling, pole-vaulting, punching the bag,
swinging dumb-bells or Indian clubs, and a hundred other things are
perfectly sane and wholesome amusements for old or young. To refrain
from all forms of amusements is just as destructive of happiness and
injurious to character as is the other extreme of indulging too freely
in pleasures and pastimes. Puritan austerity and unrestrained excess are
alike to be condemned. But a certain amount of play--play of the right
kind and within proper limits--is a divine right of young people. Young
people must have fun and relaxation, and, if they do not find it in
their own homes, it will be sought in other and perhaps dangerous
places.
For myself, I believe that anybody is an enemy to young people who
desires to repress and crush out the naturally buoyant spirits of
childhood and youth, and he is a benefactor of humanity who makes it a
part of his business to see that proper places of amusement are provided
for the young people. Aside from the physical advantages of play, there
are moral advantages also. A man who helps to keep his body in good
condition by regular exercise is, in that way, beyond a doubt, adding to
the number of his days; that is to say, he will live longer than the man
who doesn’t play. But beyond and above that, he is a happier man while
he lives; he gets more joy and satisfaction out of life than the other
fellow. Sane and healthy play tends to blot out the remembrance of cares
and hardship; it gives our minds something else to think about. But
young people must be careful not to become absorbed in these things. I
believe in play; I believe in pleasure, in fun. But when I see young
people, or old people for that matter, devoting all their time to
wheeling, footballing, card parties, the giddy whirl of the dance, the
bacchanalian hilarity of the dram shop, and so on, I am forced to say
that things which may be right when taken in moderation, and as a relief
from the overtaxing burdens of life, are wrong when they become the
chief object for which one lives.