Laugh and Live — Chapters 11 through 15

SELF-EDUCATION BY GOOD READING

The character of a man expresses itself by the books he reads.

Every well-informed man since the invention of printing has been a close reader of a few books that stand out from among the many.

We read of Lincoln devouring the few books he had, over and over again and studying from cover to cover and word for word the Webster's dictionary of his day.

We know that Grant had his favorite volumes from which he drew inspiration and solace.

These men made eternal friends of certain great thinkers and drank in their learning with all the fervor of their natures.

"A few good books, digested well, do feed The mind."

"Feed the mind!"

That's the idea--_but how shall we feed it_?

The answer is easy--with something _worth while_--something that will inform and inspire.

We can cram our minds to the point of indigestion with useless, frivolous information just as easily as we may cram our stomachs with certain foods that tear down rather than build up.

The habit of reading the right sort of books should begin early in life and continue throughout our days.

Good books are real ...

and as we read we feel, hear, see and understand in the way the author did.

If what is said appeals to our way of thinking _a new world_ is unfolded to our vision filled to the brim with things we can think about and add to our stock of knowledge.

While we are buried in its leaves we may live over the thoughts that the writer lived.

For the time being he becomes as real and vital to us as the dearest friend we possess.

Gradually, as the time passes by, he creeps into our affections until our lives would not be complete without the comradeship of his cherished book.

Books that become our "pals" are not necessarily books of the so-called classical type.

Little known volumes may prove to have enough thought stored away between their covers to keep us interested all our days.

The great books will prove their worth in a short time no matter how poor the binding, how bad the type or how cheap the paper.

These things are after all only the outward manifestations and though we like to see our friends dressed well yet we know that the clothes do not make character unless there is character there in the first place.

And so it is with books.

These little ungainly volumes which we purchase on the stands may be the classics of tomorrow ...

who knows?

We select our library carefully.

No matter if we live in a tiny hall bedroom on the top floor of a boarding house we have a shelf somewhere with a few good books on it.

Emerson's "Essays" can be had in one volume and are well worth having.

No other American writer has been so inspiring, so invigorating as this thinker of Concord.

One cannot read his essays without having a desire to _get up and do_.

It is like a breath of fresh air ...

a tonic ...

a stiff morning walk.

It stirs the mind to action and inspires us to lift ourselves out of the rut into which we have fallen.

One returns to them time after time, each reading opening up new vistas of thought, new lines of mental development.

[Illustration: _A Scene from "His Picture in the Papers"_] _As a man's stomach is what he eats, a man's mind is what he reads.

_ It goes without saying that no healthy, active mind could exist without the companionship of Shakespeare.

Nowadays it is possible to secure the entire works of the immortal poet in one volume.

There is a special Oxford University edition which can be had for a small sum.

The type is large, the paper good and there are many notes to help one over the rocky places.

There is no doubt of the truth of the saying that a man who reads Shakespeare consistently and with understanding needs no other education.

Like the philosopher Emerson he boiled down the world's thoughts into terse sentences and one goes into a new universe when reading any of the plays.

It is a good thing to learn parts of them by heart so that we can apply them to our own lives.

They strengthen the mind ...

their beauty lifts us into a great realism of splendid thought and they fill the heart with a longing to do something great.

Such books should become steady companions through life.

No matter where our duties call us we should see to it that we do not leave behind the thoughts of this master mind of Shakespeare.

The very fact that we have them near us lifts us out of the monotony of nothing to do.

Among the books about America for Americans perhaps Roosevelt's "Winning of the West" is among the best.

Not only has he thrown the whole vigor of his interesting personality into the writing of it, but he has given us a vivid picture of the conquest of the States by the settlers.

No man could read it without being thrilled at the dangers our forefathers faced ...

at the great courage they possessed ...

at their hardihood ...

their bulldog tenacity.

The reading of such a book is like going back over the years and living with them, sharing their troubles and their enthusiasms.

The man who contemplates gathering a small library could not afford to do without the inspiration of what his countrymen have done for him.

In choosing our books we must bear in mind one thing--_let them be inspiring_.

Let them be of such a nature that when we read them we will feel like going out into the world to accomplish something _big_!

That is probably the mission of great books--to inspire and uplift.

The world's greatest men have been readers--would they have cared for books unless they were inspiring?

It is said that when Napoleon was being taken to St. Helena he advised one of the officers never to stop reading.

Most of the things worth while are at some time or other stored away in books by the thinkers.

Every phase of history, every movement to better mankind and lift it above the drudgery of mere toil, every beautiful thought is to be found in them and the better the book the more will be found in it of these very things.

When we have finished the day's work we can pull down a volume from the shelf and in a moment be lost in an entirely different world.

The man who neglects to read surely misses the one best means of broadening his mind.

All books of the better class furnish food for thought and are excellent tools for the man of initiative.

To read means keeping in touch with the big visions.

We cherish these dreams and make them real in plans of our own.

Aspiration is behind the pages of every worth-while volume.

It was the motive power which drove the author to produce it and it should become a part of the forces which drive us on to victory.

Without such inspiration we grope as children in the dark.

We are without a light to guide us on our way.

Books by such men as Marden and Hubbard are great generators of the electricity of doing things.

They have put into words those innermost emotions which are the instruments of success.

They point out a way we may safely follow.

They loan us inspiration which causes us to act for ourselves.

They give us thoughts that are useful and practical which we never would have gained by virtue of our own reasoning power.

They made it a life work to coin into phrases words that inspire.

Out of their large experience came the logical sequences of cause and effect.

Not to profit by their teachings is a crime against our own prospects--without them we lag behind.

Instead of progressing we look on in wonder at what is going on in the world.

Somehow we cannot connect ourselves with the big enterprises.

And all because we failed to feed our minds properly.

There is much to be gained both in pleasure and knowledge by reading historical novels, and the lives of great men.

The books of Sir Walter Scott and James Fenimore Cooper are rated among the best in the world.

Grant's autobiography and the personal stories of other famous Americans provide fascinating material with which to establish and fortify our test for good literature.

The tales of modern American financiers is another field of absorbing interest.

The man with small means can provide himself with a working library for a very little money.

Books are cheap.

The public library is always nearby and there is hardly a town of any size but what has one.

When we purchase a book we should be sure to obtain the best edition and be careful that it is printed from good type and on clear paper.

Books are likely to become warm friends.

We should never purchase an abridged edition.

Binding is not such an important factor, although we like to have _our favorite books_ put up in a handsome fashion.

With Shakespeare, Emerson, Roosevelt, Scott, Cooper, Marden and Hubbard one would have quite a representative collection for a start.

It would be easy to expand the list into many more.

Of course, those collecting a small library who have a specialty, will want books dealing with the subjects in which they are interested.

However, every practical library includes books of inspirational character, and if one makes a study of the books written by great authors it will be found that all of them profited by the reading of books which caused them to think.

_The Bible causes us to think!

--and no library is complete without it.

_ CHAPTER XII PHYSICAL AND MENTAL PREPAREDNESS

It is not the object of this chapter to deal with a set course of physical culture, but rather to emphasize the necessity of keeping our physical house in order.

There are plenty of books on physical culture which can be relied upon and also any number of physical instructors who are able to advise and help along a set program.

There are hundreds of places, institutions, clubs, Y. M. C. A.'

s, and the like, which provide gymnasiums and every other facility for those who determine to build themselves up through consistent physical exercise.

That is all very well to begin with, but afterward we must have some simple methods of our own which will not make it a hardship or a chore to keep ourselves in trim--_a state of physical preparedness_.

It should become a part of our daily scheme to obey certain, simple rules which tend toward an _automatic effort_ instead of a discipline, and we should persevere in these until they become _fixed habits_.

It is no trouble at all to take exercise unconsciously, and we only arrive at this by turning into an exercise any of our ordinary physical actions during the day as we go along.

For instance, we can sit down in a chair and in so doing can add a certain amount of exercise to the action itself--also in rising.

With very little effort we can come into the habit of sitting correctly--posing the body as it should be--holding the shoulders in proper position--also the chin so that it becomes a hardship to sit improperly.

All of this has to do with _general physique_.

In walking we can go along with a spring, elasticity, and vigor of motion which forces a fine blood circulation throughout the entire system.

We can stoop over in the act of picking up some object from the floor and at the same time make it a matter of physical exercise, and we may take a hat from the rack while standing away from it, thus stretching ourselves, as it were, into a little needful action.

Putting on an overcoat, or any part of our clothing, may be done in such a way as to set the blood to racing through the body.

Morning and night--upon getting up and upon retiring--there is every reason to make it a rule to exercise freely.

The morning exercise wakes us up and sits us down finally at the breakfast table with a zest for the food set before us.

The morning bath is an agency for good in this direction after we have given ourselves a good shake-up from head to foot.

By the same token, exercises at night before retiring induces sound sleep and takes away the strain of the preceding day.

A very successful system is that of exercising in bed.

Instead of immediately jumping to the floor in the morning it is very inviting to go through some simple form of gymnastics in which the physical structure is brought into play.

Physical exercise is something which can be carried to extremes.

We can go at the work so intensely that we become muscle-bound and develop some structural enlargements that we do not need.

This happens very often among athletes.

The ordinary man should fight shy of such plans.

Superfluous strength is only for those who have need of it.

What we really want is strength enough to carry us through our daily rounds with comfort and _a feeling of efficiency_.

In a sense we all live by our wits and these decline when not properly fed by our general physical organization.

Prize fighters are not the longest lived people, nor are the professional athletes.

Their calling requires extra building up which would be a positive handicap to the average man whose manner of life doesn't require this super-development.

In other words, there are intemperate methods of exercising just as there are of eating and drinking.

We may easily go too far.

Again, we can sin just as greatly by not going far enough.

There was a time when men of forty were as worn and old as men of sixty-five and seventy are today.

As a matter of fact, nowadays a half-century mark is no longer a badge of senility when a man has kept himself fit and treated himself right.

We all have friends who are pretty well along in years by virtue of their carefully planned physical training, plus their _cheerful dispositions_.

They are as sprightly and companionable as though they were many years younger.

We should come to know early in life what a large part _good humor_ plays in _physical fitness_.

In previous chapters hearty laughter was extolled as one of the very best of exercises.

It is an organizer in itself and opens up the heart and lungs as nothing else will do.

It makes the blood go galloping all through the system.

It is one of the best automatic _blood circulators_ in the business.

Laughter takes the stress off of the mind, and whatever is ahead of us for the day that seems likely to become a burden is soon turned into an ordinary circumstance.

We smile as we go about doing it.

A friend once said to a banker: "How do you know when to lend money?"

The banker replied: "I look a man in the eye and then _I do or I don't_."

The friend said: "I would like to borrow ten thousand dollars--now!"

"You shall have it, Sir," the banker replied.

This meant that the man who asked for the loan was in a state of physical and mental preparedness.

If he had gone into the banker's office looking like an animated tombstone he wouldn't have had much of a chance to borrow the ten thousand.

It goes without saying that the open-faced, hearty fellow inspires confidence.

There is nothing coming to the dried-up, sour chap, and that's what he usually gets.

And what we get is largely a matter of our physical well being.

A modern philosopher observed that "the blues are the product of bad livers"--and there is no doubt but that he was right.

The problem of life is to fill our days with sunshine.

In so doing we shall find that the "little graces" are those which will lend us the most help.

Tiny favors extended, words of encouragement, courtesies of all sorts, unselfish work carried out in an open manner, true friendships and love, a hearty laugh, a sincere appreciation of the other fellow's struggle to keep his head above water, the conscientious carrying out of all tasks assigned us--these are our helpmates and they are the products of our physical and mental equipment.

Through these we come into our knack of detecting friends among those who are _the salt of the earth_.

It is impossible for the person who desires good health to obtain it, or having it, to retain it, without consistent effort.

A watch will not run without the proper regulation of the mainspring.

We must keep up our activities.

We have taken the earth and are turning it into something to serve us--therefore the need of fine bodily preparedness.

Nothing can take the place of achievement and it comes through physical and mental efficiency.

The one must not be neglected for the other; both must be cultivated and developed alike in order that each may help the other.

Happiness comes only to those who take care of themselves.

It is the natural product of _clean-mindedness_.

No pleasure can surpass that of a conscious feeling of our strength of character.

It is an all important element in men who aspire to succeed.

The man who rises in the morning from a healthy slumber and plunges into the bath after some vigorous exercise is prepared to undertake anything.

His world seems fair, and though the sun may not be shining literally, it is to all intents and purposes.

Thus, we go swinging along with a cheery smile, carrying the message of hope and joy to all those with whom we come in contact.

Oh!

it's fine to be physically and mentally fit!

CHAPTER XIII SELF-INDULGENCE AND FAILURE

The correct definition of self-indulgence is _failure_--because self-indulgence is comprised of an aggregation of vices, large and small, and failure is the logical sequence thereof.

Even the habit of eating may be cultivated into a vice.

Indeed, there are those who gorge without restraint, which in itself is unchaste and immoral.

We've often seen them as, with napkin under foot or tucked under the collar, they eat their way through mountains of food and wash it down as they reach for more.

No use to say how and what we feel when we attend such performances.

It is all right to say "Look the Other Way," _but it can't be done_.

It is human nature to gaze upon horror--sometimes in sympathy, but more often in amazement.

Sometimes a well staged scene of gormandizing viewed from a seat in the second or third row center of a softly lighted, thick carpeted food emporium _saves us the price of our own meal_.

We no longer hunger on our own account.

Our appetite is appeased by proxy, so to speak, and we calmly fix our eyes on the "big show" and _sigh for a baseball bat_.

No wonder a noted bachelor of medicine declares "People are what they eat!"

The exclamation point is our own.

We quite agree with our medical brother for we have seen people eat until we thought _we_ would never be hungry again.

But there is more to self-indulgence than the food specialist has to answer for, so we will be on our way.

For instance, there is _the spendthrift_; surely he is entitled to a short stanza.

We all know him.

He goes on the theory that he has all the spending money in the world, and that long after he is dead those on whom he spent it will remember his generosity.

Vain hope!

--Whatever memory of him remains will be of a different kind.

Those who have been bored by his gratuitous attentions will take up the threads of their existence where they left off when he drove them away from their usual haunts.

No longer will they have to dodge down alleys and run up strange stairways in an effort to avoid his overtures.

[Illustration: _Douglas Fairbanks in "The Good Bad-Man"_] When alive and in full operation he knew more about what was best for us than we could possibly think of knowing.

Left to his own devices he would have us smoke his particular brands, drink his labels, eat his selections, wear his kind of a cravat, overcoat, cap, hat, shoes, and underwear.

And to make his proposition sound business like he would willingly pay the bills!

In this little amusement we are supposed to play the part of receiver and _praise his generosity_.

Whatever may be our verdict on this chap we must keep in mind that his inordinate desire to waste his substance was no less than a vice if for no other reason than its example upon others; it is just as bad to be _a "receiver"_ as it is to be _a spendthrift_.

If we cannot build up a reputation for generosity without becoming ostentatious we might better take lessons in refinement from someone "to the manor born."

There is no desire to single out and set down by name and number every sort of self-indulgence.

_Excesses of any kind are indulgences_, and it is easy to fall into them if we have not built up our stamina to resist.

Our failures are usually traceable to ourselves.

No matter what excuses may be offered in our behalf we know in our own minds that we are to blame.

Somewhere along the line of our endeavors we faltered--_then we fell_.

Our conservatism reinforced by our strength of character finally gave way at a given point and put the whole plant out of business.

Our system of inspection had become cursory instead of painstaking.

Everything had been running along so smoothly we forgot that everything _must_ wear out in time if it isn't looked after properly.

A previous chapter entitled, "Taking Stock of Ourselves," has a specific bearing upon the subject in hand.

It emphasizes the necessity of taking stock of ourselves early in life in order that we may know our weak spots and take immediate steps to dig them out by the roots and replace them with "_hardy perennials_" which thrive on and on unto the last day.

And that reminds us that it is well to take stock of ourselves every little while.

Even "hardy perennials" have to be looked after--the ground kept fertile and watered against the draughts of forgetfulness and neglect.

And so it must be with our mental and physical processes in order that each day of our lives we may go forth with renewed forcefulness--with every atom of character in full working order.

Having started off on the right foot, we are less likely to have trouble with our higher resolves during the lean and hungry years of our youth when we go plunging headlong toward the goal of our ambitions.

Usually it is not until we come into "Easy Street" that we find that we dropped something somewhere along the line which we must replace at once or we will be laid up for repairs.

But lo and behold!

"Easy Street" is fair to look upon.

It dazzles the eye--it takes hold of the sensibilities.

Everybody wears "Sunday clothes" on this street and seems to be superlatively happy.

Surely it wouldn't hurt to linger awhile and see what is going on.

Why, this is the most talked about street in the world!

Some of the people we have dealt with have told us about it.

They said it was _the only street_ for a man of means, for there could be found the very things for which we strive in life.

They told us that the people we would meet represented the higher order of intelligence, brainy, alert, accomplished--a grand thoroughfare for those who would know life in the fullness thereof.

Now it is a fact that "Easy Street" may be crossed and recrossed in safety every day of our lives if we do not tarry.

Financial competence might permit of it, but competent efficiency demands that we trot along--_keep moving_--get away before we settle down into its ways.

The action we need is not along this brilliant lane.

But suppose we do take a chance just to test the serene confidence which we think is so safely nailed down within us.

The very thought of it makes the "caution bell" tinkle in our ears--but caution is a species of cowardice, after all, we say--a man of _courage_ may dare anything _once_.

And just at the moment we waver who comes along but our old friend _Self-indulgence_!

--the well dressed, carefree fellow who once told us all about "Easy Street" and invited us to look in on him sometime.

Nothing would please him more than to show us the whole works--and here he is shaking us by the hand and pulling us along--for he is an affable fellow and will not take "no" for an answer.

Our struggle is feeble--a huge chunk of our strength of character falls off into space then and there.

Even at the gilded entrance we try again to beg off--to slip away--but Self-indulgence will not hear.

So together we go through the portals leading into a grandeur we had never known--beyond our experience and power to believe.

_This is likely to become the turning point in our career.

_ Bill Nye once said "When we start down hill we usually find everything greased for the occasion."

We might add--"_except the bumps_!"

CHAPTER XIV LIVING BEYOND OUR MEANS

Living beyond our means is a big subject that must be treated broadly, for circumstances alter cases.

There is a sane way to look at every problem, and the matter of living beyond our means is one of the major problems we have to face.

If every man was alike and every avocation in life was on a parity, it would be possible to dispose of this subject in a paragraph.

But men are not alike.

What one could do successfully might easily baffle another.

Therefore, it seems advisable to consider the subject by looking into its depths.

To most people debt is terrifying.

To some it means nothing--and thus we have individual temperament as an angle from which to consider.

Living beyond our ability to pay means going into debt via the shortest route.

Getting out of debt means a revision of our code to the extent of ceasing to live beyond our means and saving something with which to pay off what we owe.

Some men can do this successfully--others fail while seemingly trying their best to succeed--and still others do nothing to stem the tide.

With these it is a matter of how the tide serves.

If favoring winds should drive them to opulence they would more than likely pay up, particularly those imbued with _sufficient personal honor_ to "make good."

Such are the exigencies of life, we may as well concede that a vast majority at some time or other find it necessary to owe more than they can readily pay.

Emergencies arise which force us into expenses that require credit, and if we have so ordered our lives that when the pinch comes _we have no credit established_ the fact that we pay out our last dollar and go hungry to bed does not bring us much sympathy.

Thus it would seem that to be able to say: "I pay as I go," or, "I owe no man a dollar," or, "I never live beyond my means" is not much of a boast, when, after a death in the family, or other unforeseen circumstances, we find ourselves broke and nowhere to turn for accommodation.

It has been aptly said that "_People can save themselves to death.

_" In other words, one may develop the saving habit to such an extent that "Laugh and Live" can find no room beside us on the perch of our existence.

We must admit that the systematic saver of pennies misses a lot as he goes along, and, with time, degenerates into a sort of "Kill Joy."

In the matter of regulating his family to his way of thinking he usually has an uphill job.

Sons leave home as soon as they can;

daughters marry and breathe a sigh of relief, leaving mother behind to slave on _in order that the hoard may grow_.

While all of this is true it only represents extreme cases, therefore it should not be construed that this chapter is launched against _the habit of saving_.

Rather, its purpose is to suggest the thought of not "_over-saving_" at the expense of _personal welfare_.

Our best plan would be to save in reason, not forgetting that life is here to enjoy as we go along.

Then, too, we must have a _credit rating_ among our fellow mortals, just the same as a business person must have credit rating among financial institutions.

[Illustration: _Squaring Things With Sister--From "The Habit of Happiness"_] Credit in business is worth more than money because it allows for expansion whereas money in the bank is only good _as far as it goes_.

Many a merchant who bought and sold for cash all his life found when he came to enlarge his business that one thing was lacking--_credit_.

The fact that he had always paid cash threw a doubt upon his financial condition when he proposed to borrow.

He had neglected to build up a credit as he went along.

The business world only knew him as a man who paid cash and exacted cash.

Taken at his fullest inventory he had "scalped" a living out of the world for which he had done but little to make happier or better.

One calamity might easily scuttle his prospects forever--for instance, a fire, or a bank failure.

And without credit it would be difficult to start over again.

By all means we must save something for the "rainy day" as we go along--and our savings can be made up of other things than actual cash in bank.

One item of our savings is the habit of _keeping up our appearances_.

Living beyond our means does not incorporate the thought that, in order to save every possible cent, we should become slipshod and shabby.

Carelessness in dress takes away from our rating as nothing else will for it has to do with first impressions of those with whom we come in contact.

Gentility pays dividends of the highest order, being, as it is, a badge of character.

Neatness _bespeaks character_, and it is just as cheap in dollars and cents to keep ourselves respectably clothed as to indulge in shoddy apparel under the delusion that we have saved money on the purchase price.

Good clothing, costing more at the start, lasts long _and looks well as long as it lasts_.

Shoddy apparel never is anything else but shoddy, and well might it proclaim the shoddy man.

When we throw away our opportunity to present a genteel appearance, just for the sake of the bank roll, we doom ourselves to defeat in the pursuit of knowledge.

We cannot get all we want to know by the mere reading of books.

We must mingle with people; we must interchange thought that we may crystallize what we know into practical knowledge so it can be made into tools to work with.

While a man of brains is welcome everywhere the matter of his appearance has a lot to do with how he is received and with whom he may fraternize.

"Isn't it a pity," we hear people say, "that, with all his brains, he hasn't sense enough to make himself presentable?"

But the worst phase of the situation is that the unkempt man sooner or later loses faith in himself and either ceases to hoard at the expense of his gentility or he gives up his opportunity to mingle with others and lapses into habits consistent with miserly thoughts.

The phrase "_a happy medium_" is well known and decidedly applicable to the subject of saving as we go along so that we may avert the sorrows which follow in the wake of _living beyond our means_.

It suggests a desirable middle course which permits us to adopt a sane policy, rather than flying to an extreme.

It cannot be said that we are living beyond our means when by reason of our association with men of affairs we need to spend more money and thereby save less in preparing ourselves for the larger opportunities which will naturally follow.

Young men often go through college on their "uppers," so to speak.

There is not a cent which they could honestly save as they went along without cheating themselves.

The point is that their situations in life force them to spend rather than to save money.

But in so doing the real saving was in the spending thereof.

_They enlarged their knowledge and decreased their bank accounts for the time being.

_ What man parts with in an emergency is no license, however, for him to fall back into profligacy.

Never should a man entirely lose the idea of putting something by.

The college boy in this case has simply invested his money in an education instead of a bank account.

Once on the highroad of life with a plan of action well defined and a regular income _the habit of putting money away should become a fixed procedure_.

In no other way do we accumulate except by investment, and investment means putting away money at interest or in some project which promises better returns.