SELF-CONFIDENCEMyself when young did eagerly frequent
Doctor and Saint and heard great argument
About it and about; but evermore
Came out by the same door where in I went.247Always seeking but never finding-this might describe the human
struggle for happiness and contentment. We try one religion after
another, finally joining the "Big Church" that the world has named
the "damned:' Our minds become eternal question marks, searching
hither and yon for an answer to the questions "Whence and Whither?"
The worldly hope men set their Hearts upon
Turns Ashes-or it prospers; and anon,
Like Snow upon the Desert's Dusty Face
Lighting a little Hour or two-is gone.
Life is an everlasting question mark.
That which we want most is always in the embryonic distance of
the future. Our power to acquire is always a decade or so behind our
power to desire.
And if we catch up with the thing we want, we no longer want it!
Our favorite author is a hero and a genius until we meet him or her
and learn the sad truth that this author is only human. As Emerson
wrote, "How often must we learn this lesson? People cease to interest
us when we find their limitations. The only sin is limitation. As soon as
you once come up with a man's limitations, it is all over with him:'
How beautiful the mountain yonder in the distance. But the
moment we draw near it we find it to be nothing but a wretched col-
lection of rocks and dirt and trees.
Out of this truth grew the oft-repeated adage "Familiarity breeds
contempt:'
Beauty and happiness and contentment are states of mind. They can
never be enjoyed except through vision of the afar. The most beautiful