Life, 1910-08-25 · page 7 of 40
Life — August 25, 1910 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page discusses how "awe" has declined in modern times. The article notes that awe was once achieved through religious and natural phenomena—thunder, lightning, floods, divine authority in papal proclamations and church ceremony. The author (credited as Elias O. Jones) observes that even contemporary wonders like Halley's Comet or long-distance flight fail to inspire genuine awe in modern audiences. The piece is a cultural critique suggesting that industrialization and scientific advancement have diminished humanity's capacity for reverence and wonder. The accompanying illustration labeled "Ornamental" depicts a figure in a landscape with a cross, visually supporting the theme of traditional religious awe versus modern skepticism.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
is not so popular as it once below par and, if goes much lower, a receiver will have was when the stock is now to be appointed was ruled by unadorned awe Everything was awe-inspiring. thunder. lightning, floods and droughts, The high gods sat in the sublime seclusion of Olympus, and we winced when the winked or wept. It was only by a i eral use of awe that we found books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, infallibility in a papal bull, divinity in a ukase, dignity in ermine, excellence in tinsel, wi in sounding brass, vi in long faces, purity in austerity sense in a political platform But now, even Halley man-birds flying through the air, offer us no omens, and it greatest difficulty that a aire can impress us to the point of genu- flection. Ellis O. Jon Comet or is only with the multi-million- ORNAMENTAL comicbooks.com