Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 37, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 March 1905 — GREAT THOUGHTS. [ARTICLE]

GREAT THOUGHTS.

They Have the Gift of Immortal Youth and Strength. The influence of the law of action ' and reaction can be traced more clearly In those everyday human affairs which come under our individual observation than in the greater movements of mankind which are often imperfectly recorded. We act and are acted unon. The people we meet make an Impression on us; the impression may be for the moment or it may last through life. Bloom, fragrance, grace, harmony, beauty, majesty, affect us agreeably; deformity, Imbecility, distress, cruelty, affect us unpleasantly. The plea of the unfortunate, the thought of our visitor, the opinion in the newspaper, the issues of the time, impress us in accordance with our moods or natures. Certain words, tones, sights, awaken echoes within_us_of ojd happiness or pain. There are words and tones which produce beautiful reactions —the lullabies of the mother, the endearments of the lover, the voice of sympathy, the enchantment of music, the messages of the poets, the trumpet calls to honor and duty. And there are words which produce misunderstanding, confusion, aversion, anger—the words of whining, complaining, fault finding, of envy, jealousy, slander, of malice, Intolerance, brutality. The response to the public speaker is reciprocal to his power. If he be dull, the hearers are wearied; If he be convincing, courageous, forceful, the audience will kindle, and he may rouse them to laughter or tears, to indignation or fury, to generosity or sacrifice. He may change the opinions and convictions of some and the course of the lives of others; he may even save a city from slaughter or make a state. If his thought be really great, it may live through many ages, stirring generation after generation. The reaction of moral effort may be prolonged; it may even gain force with time, Indi-' eating its connection with some stupendous primal energy. The echo of a great physical convulsion dies quickly, but the echo of the words of Confucius and Buddha, of Plato, Seneca and Christ, still lives. The voice of Socrates before his judges kindles men whose ancestors were untamed savages when Socrates spoke. Buildings decay, monuments fall, rivers run dry, races decline, but a great thought suffers from no impairment or decrepitude; it has the gift of immortal youth and strength.—From “Balance: The Fundamental Verity,” by Orlando J. Smith.