Searchlights on Health: The Science of EugenicsJefferis, B. G. (Benjamin Grant)
Philosophy
Searchlights on Health: The Science of Eugenics
Jefferis, B. G. (Benjamin Grant)
Eugenics; Hygiene; Marriage; Medicine, Popular; Sexual ethics
9. SHY PEOPLE.--Again many persons are thought to be stiff, reserved,
and proud, when they are only shy. Shyness is characteristic of
most people of the Teutonic race. From all that can be learned of
Shakespeare, it is to be inferred that he was an exceedingly shy man.
The manner in which his plays were sent into the world--for it is not
known that he edited or authorized the publication of a single one
of them,--and the dates at which they respectively appeared, are mere
matters of conjecture.
10. SELF-FORGETFULNESS.--True politeness is best evinced by
self-forgetfulness, or self-denial in the interest of others. Mr.
Garfield, our martyred president, was a gentleman of royal type. His
friend, Col. Rockwell, says of him: "In, the midst of his suffering he
never forgets others. For instance, to-day he said to me, 'Rockwell,
there is a poor soldier's widow who came to me before this thing
occurred, and I promised her, she should be provided for. I want you
to see that the matter is attended to at once.' He is the most docile
patient I ever saw."
11. ITS BRIGHT SIDE.--We have thus far spoken of shyness as a defect.
But there is another way of looking at it; for even shyness has its
bright side, and contains an element of good. Shy men and shy races
are ungraceful and undemonstrative, because, as regards society at
large, they are comparatively unsociable. They do not possess those
elegancies of manner acquired by free intercourse, which distinguish
the social races, because their tendency is to shun society rather
than to seek it. They are shy in the presence of strangers, and shy
even in their own families. They hide their affections under a robe
of reserve, and when they do give way to their feelings, it is only in
some very hidden inner chamber. And yet, the feelings are there, and
not the less healthy and genuine, though they are not made the subject
of exhibition to others.
12. WORTHY OF CULTIVATION.--While, therefore, grace of manner,
politeness of behavior, elegance of demeanor, and all the arts
that contribute to make life pleasant and beautiful, are worthy of
cultivation, it must not be at the expense of the more solid and
enduring qualities of honesty, sincerity, and truthfulness. The
fountain of beauty must be in the heart more than in the eye, and if
it does not tend to produce beautiful life and noble practice, it will
prove of comparatively little avail. Politeness of manner is not worth
much, unless it is accompanied by polite actions.
* * * * *
INFLUENCE OF GOOD CHARACTER.
"Unless above himself he can
Erect himself, how poor a thing is man!
--DANIEL.
"Character is moral order seen through the medium of an individual
nature--Men of character are the conscience of the society to
which they belong."
--EMERSON.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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