Judge — May 8, 1915 — page 4: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Versatility HIS is an age gf specialization, of spe- cialties and of specialists. Every ill the human flesh is heir to, yes, every branch of knowledge embraced by the human un- derstanding has its specialist. One might almost asseverate that every word in the dictionary has its specialist. It therefore may be apropos to point to a specialty which is gradually falling into decay—the spe- cialty of versatility. Be versatile; have varied interests; know more than one thing; be able to talk in- telligently with all classes. Be cultured enough to interest those who are cultured, and be intelligent enough to be interested by those who are not. It frequently takes more human knowledge to interest and be interested in the commonplace, humdrum person than it takes culture to be in sym- pathy with the dilettante. This is the age of specialties. But do not allow this humdrum aphorism to destroy your perspective. He who starts to spe- cialize before acquiring any diverse learn- UNDERMINED Peaceful citizen (as bis house begins to totter) —Esrth- quake or war? ing picks his specialty by chance, and the chance that he is specially adapted to the specialty he picks is as small as his general ignorance is large. He who starts to dig deep without first plowing a few surface furrows knows not what kind of soil he will encounter, Perfect knowledge consists of knowing how much one knows. Specialization never gives this insight. Versatility is the back- bone of wisdom. Let no specialization throttle your versatility. Gratitude RATITUDE is the return which the weak make to the strong for services ren- dered. It is usually saturated with hope, in that it is a link connecting something which has already happened with something similar which might be induced to happen in the future. If some one does you a good turn, you have found it good policy to make an agree- able fuss over that favor, in the hope that it might be repeated. Gratitude is fiat. It is never worth as much as the thing for which it is paid. If it were, it would no longer be gratitude, but payment in kind. It passes as legal tender, however, because it appeals to vanity, and vanity does not object to counterfeit coin. Moral Man ORALITY, like water, seeks its level. What looks moral in one community or country is often counted immoral in another community or country. The history of the human race, therefore, shows that any habit or custom whatsoever can acquire the reputation of being moral if there are enough people in the community to approve it. In the same way every man is moral if he can only find the right crowd. The best proof of man’s essential morality is the fact that he is always hunting for his proper crowd. If moralists did the same, the world would be happier; but moralists are different, in that they try to make over the crowds to suit themselves. Ss Repartee EPARTEE is the promiscuous ricochet- ting of verbal fireworks. It isa rocket which has been touched off by an igneous remark; and this rocket is very apt to touch off another, which, in turn, may touch off still another, and so on until all bolts have been shot. Scintillating repartee is a source of keen enjoyment to all, but no one enjoys it quite as much as does its own manufacturer. This one fact insures the sempiternal sur- vival: of repartee, even though at times it seems smothering under the blanket of dullness. The man who is utterly imper- vious to the distending effects of flattery usually puffs up visibly with the self- infatuation wl caused by his own glow: ing repartee. The repartee handed out by another isa brain massage in its effect. The very best examples of repartee are the thoughts which come to us a few hours or perhap ew days after we have listened to remarks which seemed to plead like an- gels, trumpet-tongued, for us to rise to the occasion. comichooks.com