"Il mondo va da se," said a
cynical Italian statesman--"the world goes by itself." But it does
not.
If the world were not each year renewed, refreshed, glorified by the
magnificent honor and fine expectancies of its young men, it would
soon become simply fiendish in its sordidness, selfishness, and
baseness. Let the world, then, preserve these fine qualities at which
it too often idly sneers; not for the young man's sake--no, that is
not to be expected--but for its own sake.
Let the world turn to the Master and think of what he said: "Except ye
become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of
heaven." I am pleading for the tolerance of what, by a certain class
of men, are called impracticable business defects in youthful
character, which in reality are the vital blood by which the world is
kept morally alive.
The first attitude that the world ought really to take toward the
young man is charity. How parrot-like one is! Charity! "And now
abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these
is charity." I defy any man who talks about the practical affairs of
this life to get away from the Bible.
Let the world then have charity for the young man.
Pages:
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359