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THE NORMAL RECORD told of the Marshal Cativat, who, upou submitting a report of the battle of Marsaglia at which he had distinguished himself in no slight degree, completely forgot to mention his own pait in the affair; whereupon someone ingenuously remarked: "Was the Marshall himself not present?" A common fallacy, I think, is the statemeut that the world takes a man at his own estimation. The world is not so credulous or so blind to defects iu one person and to true vir tue iu another. Whatever Carlyle may say of the "gullibility" of society, the world is a criterion of all and he who shines simply by reflected lustre will not. always be successful in offering it as a substitute for the real effulgence. Lowell has humorously lemarked, in this connection, that "many a light hailed by too careless observers as a fixed star, has proved to be only a short lived lantern at the tail of a newspaper kite." How careful we should be, therefore, never to parade our virtues and our accomplishments, or, through an excess of self confidence, to allow ourselves to become too self-appreciative. "However good you may be, " says Ruskin, "you have faults; however dull yon may be you can find out what they are: and however slight they may be, you had better make some—not too painful but patient — effort to overcome them.'' Modesty is a most attractive quality. It is, indeed, a natural accomplishment but it is also a duty which wo owe to ourselves aud to others as well. It is not by appearing satis- fled with our own acts and characters but in having others satisfied with them that we shall attain distinction and develop morally aud intellectually. No one "wears" so well as the person who can lose himself in the iuterests of others, and, we are told, "to make others satisfied with themselves, is the true means of having them satisfied with us." There is a fable of Aesop's which, though so old that it must be familiar to all students of literature, illustrates very graphically the idea which I have endeavored to present. I shall, therefore, take the liberty of repeating it here without apology. A Fox who was over-wise in his own conceit and who never lost an opportunity to triumph if possible, over other- animals inferior to him in strength, cuuning or agility, once challenged a Crab to a race. The Crab had a just appreciation of the inequality of such a competition hut, though modest, indeed, in the estimate of his own capabilities, he possessed a large share of natural wit and therefore, raised no objection to the suggestion, accepting it apparently with alacrity. "You," said the Fox, magnanimously, "are so much slower than 1 that I shall give you a head statt." "Indeed," answered tbeJjCrab with dignity, "I shall agree to uo such terms. We shall start at the same time." "Very well," said the Fox with a contemptuous flick of his tail, "it really makes no difference for I shall win. On the mark — set—go!" and off be went. Gut the Crab, who had his wits about him had no sooner heard the signal than he grasped tbe thick, bushy tail of his rival and, holding on firmly, traveled with the Fox, reaching the goal at the same instant. The Fox, all unconscious of the circumstance, waited for the Crab to appearand was about to stroll leisurely back in search of him when a disgusted voice behiud called out: "Well, here you are at last!" And, turning around much to his chagrin, he beheld the Crab. "You were long enough in getting here," said the latter, unsparingly, and the Fox, too greatly humiliated to reply, skulked away in acknowledgement of his defeat. In dilating upon modesty versus egotism, I have touched upon only one phase of the subject, for in all its parts it is a comprehensive one. Next to a moderate estimate of one's capabilities, there is nothing more refreshing than modest behavior- Few of us, perhaps, have the right to elect ourselves to the office of criterions but we all have our ideals aud, while we may uot be conscious of our own failings, we are able to detect, with some degree of accuracy, those of our neighbors. There are always, of course, two sides to a question and we have a profound contempt for false modesty but few of us admire absence of modesty. There will ever be people in the world to typify the exaggerated form of must undesirable qualities aud, while lack of modesty in some, may pass for piquancy or vivacity, in others it is a less desirable quality — boldness. Modesty in behavior and modesty in dress are inseparable. They are the unmrstakable emblems of refinement and natural culture. Let us, then, like Lincoln, strive to be distinguished not by outer veneering but by a grace higher than that of outer person and infinitely deeper than mere breeding.
Object Description
Title | The Normal Record. December 1903 |
Original Date | 1903-12 |
Description | The Record. Published by the Associated Students of Chico State College. |
Creator | Chico State College |
Location of Original | Archives |
Call Number | LD723 C57 |
Digital Collection | The Record: Chico State Yearbook Collection |
Digital Repository | Meriam Library, California State University, Chico. |
Description-Abstract | The Record served as both a student magazine and a commencement program for Chico Normal School. In the year 1903 it was published every month - except the Summer months of August and September. |
Date Digital | 2013 |
Language | eng |
Rights | For information on the use of the images in this collection contact the Special Collections Department at 530.898-6342 or email: specialcollections@csuchico.edu |
Format | image/tiff |
Filename | index.cpd |
Description
Title | 1903_12_NormalRecord.013 |
Original Date | 1903-12 |
OCR- Transcript | THE NORMAL RECORD told of the Marshal Cativat, who, upou submitting a report of the battle of Marsaglia at which he had distinguished himself in no slight degree, completely forgot to mention his own pait in the affair; whereupon someone ingenuously remarked: "Was the Marshall himself not present?" A common fallacy, I think, is the statemeut that the world takes a man at his own estimation. The world is not so credulous or so blind to defects iu one person and to true vir tue iu another. Whatever Carlyle may say of the "gullibility" of society, the world is a criterion of all and he who shines simply by reflected lustre will not. always be successful in offering it as a substitute for the real effulgence. Lowell has humorously lemarked, in this connection, that "many a light hailed by too careless observers as a fixed star, has proved to be only a short lived lantern at the tail of a newspaper kite." How careful we should be, therefore, never to parade our virtues and our accomplishments, or, through an excess of self confidence, to allow ourselves to become too self-appreciative. "However good you may be, " says Ruskin, "you have faults; however dull yon may be you can find out what they are: and however slight they may be, you had better make some—not too painful but patient — effort to overcome them.'' Modesty is a most attractive quality. It is, indeed, a natural accomplishment but it is also a duty which wo owe to ourselves aud to others as well. It is not by appearing satis- fled with our own acts and characters but in having others satisfied with them that we shall attain distinction and develop morally aud intellectually. No one "wears" so well as the person who can lose himself in the iuterests of others, and, we are told, "to make others satisfied with themselves, is the true means of having them satisfied with us." There is a fable of Aesop's which, though so old that it must be familiar to all students of literature, illustrates very graphically the idea which I have endeavored to present. I shall, therefore, take the liberty of repeating it here without apology. A Fox who was over-wise in his own conceit and who never lost an opportunity to triumph if possible, over other- animals inferior to him in strength, cuuning or agility, once challenged a Crab to a race. The Crab had a just appreciation of the inequality of such a competition hut, though modest, indeed, in the estimate of his own capabilities, he possessed a large share of natural wit and therefore, raised no objection to the suggestion, accepting it apparently with alacrity. "You," said the Fox, magnanimously, "are so much slower than 1 that I shall give you a head statt." "Indeed," answered tbeJjCrab with dignity, "I shall agree to uo such terms. We shall start at the same time." "Very well," said the Fox with a contemptuous flick of his tail, "it really makes no difference for I shall win. On the mark — set—go!" and off be went. Gut the Crab, who had his wits about him had no sooner heard the signal than he grasped tbe thick, bushy tail of his rival and, holding on firmly, traveled with the Fox, reaching the goal at the same instant. The Fox, all unconscious of the circumstance, waited for the Crab to appearand was about to stroll leisurely back in search of him when a disgusted voice behiud called out: "Well, here you are at last!" And, turning around much to his chagrin, he beheld the Crab. "You were long enough in getting here," said the latter, unsparingly, and the Fox, too greatly humiliated to reply, skulked away in acknowledgement of his defeat. In dilating upon modesty versus egotism, I have touched upon only one phase of the subject, for in all its parts it is a comprehensive one. Next to a moderate estimate of one's capabilities, there is nothing more refreshing than modest behavior- Few of us, perhaps, have the right to elect ourselves to the office of criterions but we all have our ideals aud, while we may uot be conscious of our own failings, we are able to detect, with some degree of accuracy, those of our neighbors. There are always, of course, two sides to a question and we have a profound contempt for false modesty but few of us admire absence of modesty. There will ever be people in the world to typify the exaggerated form of must undesirable qualities aud, while lack of modesty in some, may pass for piquancy or vivacity, in others it is a less desirable quality — boldness. Modesty in behavior and modesty in dress are inseparable. They are the unmrstakable emblems of refinement and natural culture. Let us, then, like Lincoln, strive to be distinguished not by outer veneering but by a grace higher than that of outer person and infinitely deeper than mere breeding. |