Life — September 27, 1923 — page 3: what you’re looking at

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

Are You a Babbitt? Do Intelligent and Sophisticated People Laugh at You When You Leave? Do they Repeat Your Crudities and Smile Knowingly? Are You Barred from the Company of the Cultured Because Intellectually You Are a Main Streeter? BY E. HALDEMAN-JULIUS Editor of World Famous Pocket Series self-criticism is the beginning of a al awakening. You should take in- y, even though it hurts. Is your ation limited to sport, shop talk, weather and the latest divorce scandal? you embarrassed in the presence of veloped and mature minds? Ask your- { why you are suspicious of serious ideas, why you dismiss new viewpoints with the nvious sneer of “highbrow.”’ Ask your- i why you cannot talk interestingly in company of alert men and women. \nalyze your mind and you will find ou cannot command a respectful caring among the better elements be- ise mentally you are lazy. You haven't en reading good books. You haven’t »wn genuine knowledge of the best fiction of masters like De Maupassant and Bal- zac. You know little or nothing about great men like Napoleon, Lincoln, Nietzsche, Darwin, Voltaire, Ibsen, Shaw, Wells Here Are the 45 Books FICTION—It is important to be in touch with only the very best. Therefore I have included the following volumes: 1. Made- moiselle |. 2. The Tallow Ball. 3. Six Short Stories. (All three volumes by De Maupassant.) 4. Balzac’s Short Stories. 5. The Man Who Was, etc., Kipling. 6. One of Cleopatra’s Nights. Gautier. 7. Tolstoi’s Short Stories. Ss. The Country of the Blind. H. G. Wells. I also include one volume of DRAMA. (9) entitled ‘‘Ghosts,” by Henrik Ibsen. HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY—Here is 1 inost vital subject. You must not neglect tlis field. It represents the best to be had. The volumes are as follows: 10. Life of Napoleon. 11. ic Story of Oscar Wilde’s Life. 12. Life of Lin- colin, Bowers. 13. Voltaire. Victor Hugo. 14. Lost Civilizations. Finger. 1 Life of Shakespeare and an Analysis of His Plays. Finger. 45 Books---3,412 Pages---Only $2.48 3y bringing these books to the people (and g the price ridiculously low) I am doing} thing constructive. There has been too ch destructive criticism, Here is a be- ing that can do nothing but good, if »se who want to leave the mental rut will do their share. If these 45 books were issued in the ordi- nary way they might.cost you as much as a hundred dollars. We have decided to issue them so you can get all of them for the price of one ordinary book. Here are 45 books, 3}ox5 inches in size, bound securely in cover stock. You can take these 45 books with you when you go to and from work. You can and Wilde. You have no sound opinion to express about evolution, philosophy, history, the drama. And yet, intelli- gent and interesting people are superior to you merely because they read great books —read in their spare moments—the mo- ments you waste—the moments lost in waiting for trains, in riding on cars, in waiting in offices—hours and hours wasted each week which would make you the equal of magnetic and compelling men and women. If you are not reading good books you are shutting the door in your own fac Such a person is called a Babbitt. A Bab- bitt is an uninteresting person with a small, uninteresting mind, who is attracted to small, uninteresting things and who indulges in small, uninteresting chatter. You should ask yourself, “Am I a Bab- bitt, and if I am how can I escape the so- cial stigma of Babbittry?”’ There is an escape, and it is a simple and inexpensive one. You must read books, and you must begin NOW, before your mind becomes hopelessly petrified. I have dedicated my life to the work of bringing culture to the people. That I have been succe 1 is shown by the ex- pressions from the press, pulpit and uni- ity. In the words of the Baltimore Sun: “That individual, E. Haldeman- Julius, is doing more to educate the cour try than any ten universities put together.”’ This refers to the amazing distribution I have given good literature through the world famous Pocket Series—the little blue books that are seen everywhere. I have edited hundreds and hundreds of books, and I have sold 40,000,000 of them in the past four years. So I feel I have earned the right to serve the public as a guide to better things. I have gone through hundreds of books and chosen 45 volumes which will open the door to com- radeship with keen and distinguished per- sonalities. I call this collection “The Self-Development Library,” and the price is so amazingly low as to put it within the reach of everyone. Which Will Send You on the Road to Culture HUMOR —As we must avoid pedantry we must not be dry-as-dust, let us alway develop our sense of humor. Humor is the possession of the brilliant and the civilized. Therefore the following volumes: 16. The Jumping Frog and Other Humorous Tales. ark Twain. 17. Eight Hu- morous Sketches. Mark Twain. 18. Epigrams of Oscar Wilde. 19. Epi- grams of Wit, Wisdom and Wickedness. 20. Epigrams of Bernard Shaw. 21. Maxims of Napoleon. 22. What Great Men Have Said About Women. LITERATURE—The need for good books under this heading is self-evident. There- fore I have included the following volumes: 23. Thoughts on Nature. Thoreau. 24. Love Letters of Men and Women of Genius. 25. An Essay on Love. Mon- taigne. 26. Tolstoi’s Essays. 27. On Reading. Brandes. 28. A Liberal Ed- ucation. Huxley. 29. Gems from Emerson. read them in your spare moments. You can slip four or five of them into a pocket and they will not bulge. You can investigate the best and the soundest ideas of the world’s eatest_ masters—and the price will be so low as to astonish you. The price is only $2.48 for the entire library. Here is the ver; best at the very least. Never were suc great works offered at so low a price. All you have to do is to sign your name and ad- dress on the blank below. You don't have to send any money. Just mail us the blank and we will send you the 45 volumes de- scribed on this Page you will pay the post- man $2.48. And the ks are yours. If you want to send cash with your order remit $2.48. PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION—This is of tremendous significance. The follow- ing volumes are absolutely essential: 30. A Guide to Plato. 31. Plato’s Repub- lic. 32. Discovery of the Future. H. G. Wells. 33. The Wisdom of Inger- soll. 34. The Idea of God in Nature. John Stuart Mill. 35. Life and Char- acter. Goethe. 36. Nietzsche: Who He Was and What He Stood For. 37. The Chinese Philosophy of Life. 38. Thoughts of Pascal. SCIENCE—This needs no argument. The modern man must know science. _Therefore: 39. Auto-Suggestion, How It Works. William J. Fielding. 40. Introduction to Einstein. 41. A History of Evolu- tion. 42. The Building of the Earth. 43. The Origin of the Human Race. 44. Reflections on Modern Selence. Huxley. 45. Psycho-Analysis—the Key to Hu- man Understanding. Fielding. ---Send No Money SEND NO MONEY BLANK. Haldeman-Julius Company, Dept. A-107, Girard, Kans. I want the 45 books listed on this page. I want you to send me these 45 books by parcel ost. On delivery I will pay the postman $2.48, and the books are to be my property without further payments of any kind. Name Address City State Persons in Canada or foreign country must send $2.48 with order. comicbooks.com