Armstrong – Table of Contents

Armstrong also wondered what effect hurry, bustle, clangor and the mere physical
noise of the machine were having on the nation’s mental processes, spiritual calm,
efficiency and happiness. The telephone, gramophone, radio, bridge, jig-saw and cross-
word puzzles had invaded the home (television and electronic computer games were still
in the future); sports and commercial entertainments, the crooning of the latest song hits
(Bing Crosby was in his early career then.), and many other distractions were usurping
additional time from thought until an individual should begin to wonder whether, in the
whirl of modern times (even in June 1933), man in a mass sense is not losing his capacity
for meditation – the power of which Armstrong’s Quaker ancestors so well understood.
Armstrong stated these thoughts, he apologized, not withstanding the commonly held
belief that he lived in proximity to the greatest source of deliberative confusion, the
Congress of the United States.
He also decried the uncritical acceptance of new ideas just because they were
unique, superficially attractive and frequently at odds with established customs and
morality that were firmly based on long established moral and religious principles. He
especially warned against the blandishments of political false prophets and being led
astray by movements or ideas that did not stand up to highly critical scrutiny.
Armstrong concluded his address: “Again the concept that everyone has a right to
live his own life without discrimination (life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness) may
lead to such an impulsive way of living as to engender a wave of physical experiences
that may sweep away all but the most sturdy. True, if we would be scientific, we must be
ready to follow truth wherever she leads and to break with the past whenever she so
decrees. However, truth is often elusive and most coy, and, in many instances, we may