A Man's Value to Society: Studies in Self Culture and CharacterHillis, Newell Dwight
Philosophy
A Man's Value to Society: Studies in Self Culture and Character
Hillis, Newell Dwight
Character; Self-culture
We hear little of individualism, and much of the solidarity of
society. A bloodless and selfish destruction of the rights of the many
has threatened the very foundations of human happiness and compelled
the recognition of the fact that the weakness and injury of one are
the weakness and injury of all. Ours is a world in which the law of
the survival of the fittest not only works, but works very rapidly.
Thus the more wealth a man has the more he can achieve. To-day, it is
said, the various members of the Rothschild family in the different
capitals of Europe control nine billions of dollars. This sum is
accumulating like a rolling snowball, and will soon surpass, and
perhaps absorb the wealth of several of the smaller European nations.
Similarly, in the realm of wisdom, the more a man knows the more he
can know. Sir William Jones tells us that he gave five years to
mastering his first language, while six weeks were sufficient for
acquiring his fortieth dialect. Thus, too, in the realm of inventive
skill, each tool becomes the parent of a score of other tools. The
studies preparatory to Edison's first mechanism covered a long period
of years; but, gaining momentum, his inventive skill increased in
geometric ratio, until to-day the famous electrician holds nearly a
thousand patents; but, as nothing succeeds like success, so nothing is
so ruinous as failure. The weaker a man is, the weaker he must become.
When a man who seeks employment is shabby and gaunt and nerveless, his
poverty lessens his chances, but to-morrow he will be weaker and
shabbier, and day by day the rapidity of his declension will increase.
Startled by these considerations, our generation perceives that
success feeding upon its gains will soon drink up all the energies of
the earth, while failure, growing more ruinous, will sweep multitudes
into the abyss. Therefore, society has come to fully recognize the
importance of a mutual love and mutual service. When a man falls we
are less and less ready to kick him. If the poorly born drops behind
in life's race, society is increasingly ready to set him upon some
beast. If some man's brain is spongy, and his mental processes slow,
the stronger minds are belting his faculties to their swifter
energies. If a man's moral springtime is slow, says one of our social
reformers, society fits up for him a little ethical conservatory, with
steam heat and southern exposure, where the buds are given a little
judicious stimulating and pushing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account