THERE are souls in this world which have the gift of finding joy everywhere, and of leaving it behind them everywhere they go.
Faber.
THE LAW OF SUCCESS
Lesson Fifteen
TOLERANCE
"You Can Do It if You Believe You Can!”
THERE are two significant features about intolerance, and your attention is directed to these at the beginning of this lesson.
These features are:
First: Intolerance is a form of ignorance which must be mastered before any form of enduring success may be attained. It is the chief cause of all wars. It makes enemies in business and in the professions. It disintegrates the organized forces of society in a thousand forms, and stands, like a mighty giant, as a barrier to the abolition of war. It dethrones reason and substitutes mob psychology in its place.
Second: Intolerance is the chief disintegrating force in the organized religions of the world, where it plays havoc with the greatest power for good there is on this earth; by breaking up that power into small sects and denominations which spend as much effort opposing each other as they do in destroying the evils of the world.
But this indictment against intolerance is general.
Let's see how it affects you, the individual. It is, of course, obvious that anything which impedes the progress of civilization stands, also, as a barrier to each individual; and, stating it conversely, anything that beclouds the mind of the individual and retards his mental, moral and spiritual development, retards, also, the progress of civilization.
All of which is an abstract statement of a great truth; and, inasmuch as abstract statements am neither interesting nor highly informative, let us proceed to illustrate more concretely the damaging effects of intolerance.
I will begin this illustration by describing an incident which I have mentioned quite freely in practically every public address that I have delivered within the past five years; but, inasmuch as the cold printed page has a modifying effect which makes possible the misinterpretation of the incident here described, I believe it necessary to caution you not to read back of the lines a meaning which I had no intention of placing there. You will do yourself an injustice if you either neglect or intentionally refuse to study this illustration in the exact words and with the exact meaning which I have intended those words to convey - a meaning as clear as I know how to make the English language convey it.
As you read of this incident, place yourself in my position and see if you, also, have not had a parallel experience, and, if so, what lesson did it teach you?
One day I was introduced to a young man of unusually fine appearance. His clear eye, his warm handclasp, the tone of his voice and the splendid taste with which he was groomed marked him as a young man of the highest intellectual type. He was of the typical young American college student type, and as I ran my eyes over him, hurriedly studying his personality, as one will naturally do under such circumstances, I observed a Knights of Columbus pin on his vest.
Instantly, I released his hand as if it were a piece of ice!
This was done so quickly that it surprised both him and me. As I excused myself and started to walk away, I glanced down at the Masonic pin that I wore on my own vest, then took another look at his Knights of Columbus pin, and wondered why a couple of trinkets such as these could dig such a deep chasm between men who knew nothing of each other.
All the remainder of that day I kept thinking of the incident, because it bothered me. I had always taken considerable pride in the thought that I was tolerant with all men; but here was a spontaneous outburst of intolerance which proved that down in my sub-conscious mind existed a complex that was influencing me toward narrow-mindedness.
This discovery so shocked me that I began a systematic process of psycho-analysis through which I searched into the very depths of my soul for the cause of my rudeness.
I asked myself over and over again:
“Why did you abruptly release that young man's hand and turn away from him, when you knew nothing about him?”
Of course the answer led me, always, back to that Knights of Columbus pin that he wore. But that was not a real answer and therefore it did not satisfy me.
Then I began to do some research work in the field of religion. I began to study both Catholicism and Protestantism until I had traced both back to their beginning, a line of procedure which I must confess brought me more understanding of the problems of life than I had gathered from all other sources. For one thing it disclosed the fact that Catholicism and Protestantism differ more in form than they do in effect; that both are founded on exactly the same cause, which is Christianity.
But this was by no means all, nor was it the most important of my discoveries, for my research led, of necessity, in many directions, and forced me into the field of biology where I learned much that I needed to know about life in general and the human being in particular. My research led, also, to the study of Darwin's hypothesis of evolution, as outlined in his Origin of Species, and this, in turn, led to a much wider analysis of the subject of psychology than that which I had previously made.
As I began to reach out in this direction and that, for knowledge, my mind began to unfold and broaden with such alarming rapidity that I practically found it necessary to -
Wipe the slate of what I believed to be my previously gathered knowledge, and to unlearn much that I bad previously believed to be truth.
Comprehend the meaning of that which I have just stated!
Imagine yourself suddenly discovering that most of your philosophy of life had been built of bias and prejudice, making it necessary for you to acknowledge that, far from being a finished scholar, you were barely qualified to become an intelligent student!
That was exactly the position in which I found myself, with respect to many of what I believed to be sound fundamentals of life; but of all the discoveries to which this research led, none was more important than that of the relative importance of physical and social heredity, for it was this discovery that disclosed the cause for my action when I turned away from a man whom I did not know, on the occasion that I have described.
It was this discovery that disclosed to me how and where I acquired my views of religion, of politics, of economics and many other equally important subjects, and I both regret and rejoice to state that I found most of my views on these subjects without support by even a reasonable hypothesis, much less sound facts or reason.
I then recalled a conversation between the late Senator Robert L. Taylor and myself, in which we were discussing the subject of politics. It was a friendly discussion, as we were of the same political faith, but the Senator asked me a question for which I never forgave him until I began the research to which I have referred.
“I see that you are a very staunch Democrat,” said he, “and I wonder if you know why you are?”
I thought of the question for a few seconds, then blurted out this reply:
“I am a Democrat because my father was one, of course!”
With a broad grin on his face the Senator then nailed me with this rejoinder:
“Just as I thought! Now wouldn't you be in a bad fix if your father had been a horse-thief?”
Hearts, like doors, can
open with ease,
To very, very little keys;
And don't forget that they
are these:
“I thank you, sir,” and
“If you please.”
It was many years later, after I began the research work herein described, that I understood the real meaning of Senator Taylor's joke. Too often we hold opinions that are based upon no sounder foundation than that of what someone else believes.
· · · · · · · ·
That you may have a detailed illustration of the far-reaching effects of one of the important principles uncovered by the incident to which I have referred, and -
That you may learn how and where you acquired your philosophy of life, in general;
That you may trace your prejudices and your biases to their original source;
That you may discover, as I discovered, how largely you are the result of the training you received before you reached the age of fifteen years-I will now quote the full text of a plan which I submitted to Mr. Edward Bok's Committee, The American Peace Award, for the abolition of war. This plan covers not only the most important of the principles to which I refer, but, as you will observe, it shows how the principle of organized effort, as outlined in Lesson Two of this course, may be applied to one of the most important of the world's problems, and at the same time gives you a more comprehensive idea of how to apply this principle in the attainment of your definite chief aim.
HOW TO ABOLISH WAR The Background
Before offering this plan for the prevention of war, it seems necessary to sketch briefly a background that will clearly describe the principle which constitutes the warp and the woof of the plan.
The causes of war may be properly omitted for the reason that they have but little, if any, relation to the principle through which war may be prevented.
The beginning of this sketch deals with two important factors which constitute the chief controlling forces of civilization. One is physical heredity and the other is social heredity.
The size and form of the body, the texture of the skin, the color of the eyes, and the functioning power of the vital organs are all the result of physical heredity; they are static and fixed and cannot be changed, for they are the result of a million years of evolution; but by far the most important part of what we are is the result of social heredity, and came to us from the effects of our environment and early training.
Our conception of religion, politics, economics, philosophy and other subjects of a similar nature, including war, is entirely the result of those dominating forces of our environment and training.
The Catholic is a Catholic because of his early training, and the Protestant is a Protestant for the same reason; but this is hardly stating the truth with sufficient emphasis, for it might be properly said that the Catholic is a Catholic and the Protestant is a Protestant because he cannot help it! With but few exceptions the religion of the adult is the result of his religious training during the years between four and fourteen when his religion was forced upon him by his parents or those who had control of his schooling.
A prominent clergyman indicated how well he understood the principle of social heredity when he said: “Give me the control of the child until it is twelve years old and you can teach it any religion you may please after that time, for I will have planted my own religion so deeply in its mind that no power on earth could undo my work.”
The outstanding and most prominent of man's beliefs are those which were forced upon him, or which he absorbed of his own volition, under highly emotionalized conditions, when his mind was receptive. Under such conditions the evangelist can plant the idea of religion more deeply and permanently during an hour's revival service than he could through years of training under ordinary conditions, when the mind was not in an emotionalized state.
The people of the United States have immortalized Washington and Lincoln because they were the leaders of the nation during times when the minds of the people were highly emotionalized, as the result of calamities which shook the very foundation of our country and vitally affected the interests of all the people. Through the principle of social heredity, operating through the schools (American history), and through other forms of impressive teaching, the immortality of Washington and Lincoln is planted in the minds of the young and in that way kept alive.
The three great organized forces through which social heredity operates are:
The schools, the churches and the public press.
Any ideal that has the active co-operation of these three forces may, during the brief period of one generation, be forced upon the minds of the young so effectively that they cannot resist it.
In 1914 the world awoke one morning to find itself aflame with warfare on a scale previously unheard of, and the outstanding feature of importance of that world-wide calamity was the highly organized German armies. For more than three years these armies gained ground so rapidly that world domination by Germany seemed certain. The German military machine operated with efficiency such as had never before been demonstrated in warfare. With “kultur” as her avowed ideal, modern Germany swept the opposing armies before her as though they were leaderless, despite the fact that the allied forces outnumbered her own on every front.
The capacity for sacrifice in the German soldiers, in support of the ideal of “kultur,” was the outstanding surprise of the war; and that capacity was largely the result of the work of two men. Through the German educational system, which they controlled, the psychology which carried the world into war in 1914 was created in the definite form of “kultur.” These men were Adalbert Falk, Prussian Minister of Education until 1879, and the German Emperor William II.
The agency through which these men produced this result was social heredity: the imposing of an ideal on the minds of the young, under highly emotionalized conditions.
“Kultur,” as a national ideal, was fixed in the minds of the young of Germany, beginning first in the elementary schools and extending on up through the high schools and universities. The teachers and professors were forced to implant the ideal of “kultur” in the minds of the students, and out of this teaching, in a single generation, grew the capacity for sacrifice of the individual for the interest of the nation which surprised the modern world.
As Benjamin Kidd so well stated the case: “The aim of the state of Germany was everywhere to orientate public opinion through the heads of both its spiritual and temporal departments, through the bureaucracy, through the officers of the army, through the State direction of the press; and, last of all, through the State direction of the entire trade and industry of the nation, so as to bring the idealism of the whole people to a conception of and to a support of the national policy of modem Germany.”
Germany controlled the press, the clergy and the schools; therefore, is it any wonder that she grew an army of soldiers, during one generation, which represented to a man her ideal of “kultur”? Is it any wonder that the German soldiers faced certain death with fearless impunity, when one stops to consider the fact that they had been taught, from early childhood, that this sacrifice was a rare privilege?
Turn, now, from this brief description of the modus operandi through which Germany prepared her people for war, to another strange phenomenon, Japan. No western nation, with the exception of Germany, has so clearly manifested its understanding of the far-reaching influence of social heredity, as has Japan. Within a single generation Japan has advanced from her standing as a fourth-rate nation to the ranks of nations that are the recognized powers of the civilized.................................................
IT takes but a second to administer a rebuke, but it may take a life-time for the one who has been rebuked to forget it.
...........................world. Study Japan and you will find that she forces upon the minds of her young, through exactly the same agencies employed by Germany, the ideal of subordination of individual rights for the sake of accumulation of power by the nation.
In all of her controversies with China, competent observers have seen that back of the apparent causes of the controversies was Japan's stealthy attempt to control the minds of the young by controlling the schools. If Japan could control the minds of the young of China, she could dominate that gigantic nation within one generation.
If you would study the effect of social heredity as it is being used for the development of a national ideal by still another nation of the West, observe what has been going on in Russia since the ascendency to power of the soviet government of Russia which is now patterning the minds of the young to conform with a national ideal, the nature o f which it requires no master analyst to interpret. That ideal, when fully developed during the maturity of the present generation, will represent exactly that which the soviet government wishes it to represent.
Of all the flood of propaganda concerning the soviet government of Russia that has been poured into this country through the tens of thousands of columns of newspaper space devoted to it since the close of the war, the following brief dispatch is by far the most significant:
“RUSS REDS ORDER BOOKS. Contracts being let in Germany for 20,000,000 volumes. Educational propaganda is aimed chiefly at children.
“(By George Witts)
“Special Cable to the Chicago Daily News Foreign Service. Berlin, Germany, November 9th, 1920.
“Contracts for printing 20,000,000 books in the Russian language, chiefly for children, are being placed in Germany on behalf of the soviet government by Grschebin, a well known Petrograd publisher and a friend of Maxim Gorky. Grschebin first went to England, but was received with indifference when he broached the subject to the British government. The Germans, however, not only welcomed him eagerly but submitted prices so low that they could not possibly be underbidden in any other country. The Ullsteins, Berlin newspaper and book publishers, have agreed to print several million of the books at less than cost.”
This shows what is going on over there.
Far from being shocked by this significant press dispatch, the majority of the newspapers of America did not publish it, and those that did give it space placed it in an obscure part of the paper, in small type. Its real significance will become more apparent some twenty-odd years from now, when the soviet government of Russia will have grown an army of soldiers who will support, to the man, whatever national ideal the soviet government sets up.
The possibility of war exists as a stern reality today solely because the principle of social heredity has not only been used as a sanctioning force in support of war, but it has actually been used as a chief agency through which the minds of men have been deliberately prepared for war. For evidence with which to support this statement, examine any national or world history and observe how tactfully and effectively war has been glorified and so described that it not only did not shock the mind of the student, but it actually established a plausible justification of war.
Go into the public squares of our cities and observe the monuments that have been erected to the leaders of war. Observe the posture of these statues as they stand as living symbols to glorify men who did nothing more than lead armies on escapades of destruction. Notice how well these statues of warriors, mounted on charging steeds, serve as agencies through which to stimulate the minds of the young and prepare them for the acceptance of war, not only as a pardonable act, but as a distinctly desirable source of attainment of glory, fame and honor. At the time of this writing some well meaning ladies are having the image of Confederate Soldiers carved in the deathless granite on the face of Stone Mountain, in Georgia, in figures a hundred feet tall, thus seeking to perpetuate the memory of a lost “cause” that never was a “cause” and therefore the sooner forgotten, the better.
If these references to far-away Russia, Japan and Germany seem unimpressive and abstract, then let us study the principle of social heredity as it is now functioning on a highly developed scale here in the United States; for it may be expecting too much of the average of our race to suppose that they will be interested in that which is taking place outside of the spot of ground that is bounded on the north by Canada, on the east by the Atlantic, on the west by the Pacific and on the south by Mexico.
We, too, are setting up in the minds of our young a national ideal, and this ideal is being so effectively developed, through the principle of social heredity, that it has already become the dominating ideal of the nation.
This ideal is the desire for wealth!
The first question we ask about a new acquaintance is not, “Who are you?” but, “What have you?” And the next question we ask is, “How can we get that which you have?”
Our ideal is not measured in terms of warfare, but in terms of finance and industry and business. Our Patrick Henrys and our George Washingtons and our Abraham Lincoln of a few generations ago are now represented by the able leaders who manage our steel mills and our coal mines and our timber lands and our banking institutions and our railroads.
We may deny this indictment if we choose, but the facts do not support the denial.
The outstanding problem of the American people today is the spirit of unrest upon the part of the masses who find the struggle for existence becoming harder and harder because the most competent brains of the country are engaged in the highly competitive attempt to accumulate wealth and to control the wealth-producing machinery of the nation.
It is not necessary to dwell at length upon this description of our dominating ideal, or to offer evidence in support of its existence, for the reason that its existence is obvious and as well understood by the most ignorant as it is by those who make a pretense of thinking accurately.
So deeply seated has this mad desire for money become that we are perfectly willing for the other nations of the world to cut themselves to pieces in warfare so long as they do not interfere with our scramble for wealth; nor is this the saddest part of the indictment that we might render against ourselves, for we are not only willing for other nations to engage in warfare, but there is considerable reason to believe that those of us who profit by the sale of war supplies actually encourage this warfare among other nations.
THE PLAN
War grows out of the desire of the individual to gain advantage at the expense of his fellow men, and the smoldering embers of this desire are fanned into a flame through the grouping of these individuals who place the interests of the group above those of other groups.
War cannot be stopped suddenly!
It can be eliminated only by education, through the aid of the principle of subordination of the individual interests to the broader interests of the human race as a whole.
Man's tendencies and activities, as we have already stated, grow out of two great forces. One is physical heredity, and the other is social heredity. Through physical heredity, man inherits those early tendencies to destroy his fellow man out of self-protection. This Practice is a holdover from the age when the struggle for existence was so great that only the physically strong could survive.
Gradually men began to learn that the individual could survive under more favorable circumstances by allying himself with others, and out of that discovery grew our modern society, through which groups of people have formed states, and these groups, in turn,................
UNFORTUNATE, indeed, is the man who becomes so used to evil that it no longer appears to be horrible.
................have formed nations. There is but little tendency toward warfare between the individuals of a particular group or nation, for they have learned, through the principle of social heredity, that they can best survive by subordinating the interest of the individual to that of the group.
Now, the problem is to extend this principle of grouping so that the nations of the world will subordinate their individual interests to those of the human race as a whole.
This can be brought about only through the principle of social heredity. By forcing upon the minds of the young of all races the fact that war is horrible and does not serve either the interest of the individual engaging in it or the group to which the individual belongs.
The question then arises, “How can this be done?” Before we answer this question, let us again define the term “social heredity” and find out what its possibilities are.
Social heredity is the principle through which the young of the race absorb from their environment, and particularly from their earlier training by parents, teachers and religious leaders, the beliefs and tendencies of the adults who dominate them.
Any plan to abolish war, to be successful, depends upon the successful co-ordination of effort between all the churches and schools of the world for the avowed purpose of so fertilizing the minds of the young with the idea of abolishing war that, the very word “war” will strike terror in their hearts.
THERE IS NO OTHER WAY OF ABOLISHING WAR!
The next question that arises, “How can the churches and schools of the world be organized with this high ideal as an objective?” The answer is that not all of them can be induced to enter into such an alliance, at one time; but a sufficient number of the more influential ones can be induced, and this, in time, will lead or force the remainder into the alliance, as rapidly as public opinion begins to demand it.
Then comes the question, “Who has sufficient influence to call a conference of the most powerful religious and educational leaders?” The answer is:
The President and Congress of the United States.
Such an undertaking would command the support of the press on a scale heretofore unheard of, and through this source alone the propaganda would begin to reach and fertilize the minds of the people in every civilized country in the world, in preparation for the adoption of the plan in the churches and schools throughout the world.
The plan for the abolition of war might be likened to a great dramatic play, with these as the chief factors: STAGE SETTING: At the Capitol of the United
States. STAR ACTORS: The President and members of
Congress. MINOR ACTORS: The leading clergymen of all
denominations, and the leading educators, all on
the stage by invitation and at the expense of the
United States government. PRESS ROOM: Representatives of the news-gathering
agencies of the world. STAGE EQUIPMENT: A radio broadcasting outfit that
would distribute the entire proceedings half way
round the earth. TITLE OF THE PLAY: "Thou shalt not kill!" OBJECT OF THE PLAY: The creation of a World
Court, to be made up of representatives of all
races, whose duty it would be to hear evidence
and adjudicate the cases arising out of
disagreement between nations.
Other factors would enter into this great world drama, but they would be of minor importance. The main issues and the most essential factors are here enumerated.
One other question remains, “Who will start the machinery of the United States government into action to call this conference?” and the answer is:
Public opinion, through the aid of an able organizer and leader, who will organize and direct the efforts of a Golden Rule Society, the object of which will be to move the President and Congress into action.
No League of Nations and no mere agreement between nations can abolish war as long as there is the slightest evidence of sanction of war in the hearts of the people. Universal peace between nations will grow out of a movement that will be begun and carried on, at first, by a comparatively small number of thinkers. Gradually this number will grow until it will be composed of the leading educators, clergymen and publicists of the world, and these, in turn, will so deeply and permanently establish peace as a world ideal that it will become a reality.
This desirable end may be attained in a single generation under the right sort of leadership; but, more likely, it will not be attained for many generations to come, for the reason that those who
have the ability to assume this leadership are too busy in their pursuit of worldly wealth to make the necessary sacrifice for the good of generations yet unborn.
War can be eliminated, not by appeal to reason, but by appeal to the emotional side of humanity. This appeal must be made by organizing and highly emotionalizing the people of the different nations of the world in support of a universal plan for peace, and this plan must be forced upon the minds of the oncoming generations with the same diligent care that we now force upon the minds of our young the ideal of our respective religions.
It is not stating the possibilities too strongly to say that the churches of the world could establish universal peace as an international ideal within one generation if they would but direct toward that end one-half of the effort which they now employ in opposing one another.
We would still be within the bounds of conservatism if we stated that the Christian churches, alone, have sufficient influence to establish universal peace as a world-wide ideal, within three generations, if the various sects would combine their forces for the purpose.
That which the leading churches of all religious, the leading schools and the public press of the world could accomplish in forcing the ideal of universal peace upon both the adult and the child mind of the world within a single generation, staggers the imagination.
If the organized religions of the world, as they now exist, will not subordinate their individual interests and purposes to that of establishing universal peace, then the remedy lies in establishing a
universal church of the world that will function through all races and whose creed will be based entirely upon the one purpose of implanting in the minds of the young the ideal of world-wide peace.
Such a church would gradually attract a following from the rank and file of all other churches.
And if the educational institutions of the world will not co-operate in fostering this high ideal of universal peace, then the remedy lies in the creation of an entirely new educational system that will implant in the minds of the young the ideal of universal peace.
And if the public press of the world will not cooperate in setting up the ideal of universal peace, then the remedy lies in the creation of an independent press that will utilize both the printed page and the forces of the air for the purpose of creating mass support of this high ideal.
In brief, if the present organized forces of the world will not lend their support to establishing universal peace, as an international ideal, then new organizations must be created which will do so.
The majority of the people of the world want peace, wherein lies the possibility of its attainment!
At first thought, it seems too much to expect that the organized churches of the world can be induced to pool their power and subordinate their individual interests to those of civilization as a whole.
But this seemingly insurmountable obstacle is, in reality, no obstacle at all, for the reason that whatever support this plan borrows from the churches it gives back to them, a thousandfold, through the increased Power the church attains.
Let us see just what advantages the church...........
Greatly begin! though
thou have time,
But for a line, be that
sublime -
Not failure, but low aim
is crime.
.....realizes by participation in this plan to establish universal peace as a world ideal. First of all, it will be clearly seen that no individual church loses any of its advantages by allying itself with other denominations in establishing this world ideal. The alliance in no way changes or interferes with the creed of any church. Every church entering the alliance will come out of it with all the power and advantages that it possessed before it went in, plus the additional advantage of greater influence which the church, as a whole, will enjoy by reason of having served as the leading factor in forcing upon civilization the greatest single benefit it has enjoyed in the history of the world.
If the church gained no other advantages from the alliance, this one would be sufficient to compensate it. But the important advantage that the church will have gained by this alliance is the discovery that it has sufficient power to force its ideals upon the world when it places its combined support back of the undertaking.
By this alliance the church will have grasped the far-reaching significance of the principle of organized effort through the aid of which it might easily have dominated the world and imposed its ideals upon civilization.
The church is by far the greatest potential power in the world today, but its power is merely potential and will remain so until it makes use of the principle of allied or organized effort; that is to say, until all denominations formulate a working agreement under which the combined strength of organized religion will be used as a means of forcing a higher ideal upon the minds of the young.
The reason that the church is the greatest potential power in the world is the fact that its power grows out of man's emotions. Emotion rules the world, and the church is the only organization which rests solely upon the power of emotion. The church is the only organized factor of society which has the power to harness and direct the emotional forces of civilization, for the reason that the emotions are controlled by FAITH and not by reason! And the church is the only great organized body in which faith of the world is centered.
The church stands today as so many disconnected units of power, and it is not overstating the possibilities to say that when these units shall have been connected, through allied effort, the combined power of that alliance will rule the world and there is no opposing power on earth that can defeat it!
It is in no discouraging spirit that this statement is followed by another which may seem still more radical; namely:
The task of bringing about this alliance of the churches in support of the world ideal of universal peace must rest upon the female members of the church, for the reason that the abolition of war promises advantages that may be prolonged into the future and that may accrue only to the unborn generations.
In Schopenhauer's bitter arraignment of woman, he unconsciously stated a truth upon which the hope of civilization rests, when he declared that the race is always to her more than the individual. In terms that are uncompromising, Schopenhauer charges woman with being the natural enemy of man because of this inborn trait of placing the interests of the race above those of the individual.
It seems a reasonable prophecy to suggest that civilization passed into a new era, beginning with the world war, in which woman is destined to take into her own hands the raising of the ethical standards of the world. This is a hopeful sign, because it is woman's nature to subordinate the interests of the present to those of the future. It is woman's nature to implant, in the mind of the young, ideals that will accrue to the benefit of generations yet unborn, while man is motivated generally by expediency of the present.
In Schopenhauer's vicious attack upon woman, he has stated a great truth concerning her nature: a truth which might well be utilized by all who engage in the worthy work of establishing universal peace as a world ideal.
The women's clubs of the world are destined to play a part in world affairs other than that of gaining suffrage for women.
LET CIVILIZATION REMEMBER THIS!
Those who do not want peace are the ones who profit by war. In numbers, this class constitutes but a fragment of the power of the world, and could be swept aside as though it did not exist, if the multitude who do not want war were organized with the high ideal of universal peace as their objective.
In closing, it seems appropriate to apologize for the unfinished state of this essay, but it may be pardonable to suggest that the bricks and the mortar, and the foundation stones, and all the other necessary materials for the construction of the temple of universal peace have been here assembled, where they might be re-arranged and transformed into this high ideal as a world reality.
· · · · · · · ·
Let us now proceed to apply the principle of social heredity to the subject of business economy, and ascertain whether or not it can be made of practical benefit in the attainment of material wealth.
If I were a banker I would procure a list of all the births in the families within a given distance of my place of business, and every child would receive an appropriate letter, congratulating it on its arrival in the world at such an opportune time, in such a favorable community; and from that time on it would receive from my bank a birthday reminder of an appropriate nature. When it arrived at the story-book age, it would receive from my bank an interesting story book in which the advantages of saving would be told in story form. If the child were a girl, it would receive doll “cut-out” books, with the name of my bank on the back of each doll, as a birthday gift. If it were a boy, it would receive baseball bats. One of the most important floors (or even a whole, near-by building) of my banking house would be set aside as a children's play-room; and it would be equipped with merry-go-rounds, sliding-boards, seesaws, scooters, games and sand piles, with a competent supervisor in charge to give the kiddies a good time. I would let that play-room become the popular habitat of the children of the community, where mothers might leave their youngsters in safety while shopping or visiting.
I would entertain those youngsters so royally that when they grew up and became bank depositors, whose accounts were worth while, they would be inseparably bound to my bank; and, meanwhile, I would, in no way, be lessening my chances of making depositors of the fathers and mothers of those children.
If I were the owner of a business school, I would begin cultivating the boys and girls of my community from the time they reached the fifth grade, on up through high school, so that by the time they were through high school and ready to choose a vocation, I would have the name of my business school well fixed in their minds.
If I were a grocer, or a department store owner, or a druggist, I would cultivate the children, thereby attracting both them and their parents to my place of business; for it is a well known fact that there is no shorter route to the heart of a parent than that which leads through interest manifested in the offspring. If I were a department store owner, and used whole pages of newspaper space, as most of them do, I would run a comic strip at the bottom of each page, illustrating it with scenes in my play-room, and in this way induce the children to read my advertisements.
If I were a preacher, I would equip the basement of my church with a children's play-room that would attract the children of the community every day in the week; and, if my study were near by, I would go into that play-room and enjoy the fun with the little fellows, thereby gaining the inspiration with which to preach better sermons while at the same time raising parishioners for tomorrow. I can think of no more effective method than this of rendering a service that would be in harmony with Christianity, and which would, at the same time, make my church a popular place of abode for the young folks.
SINGLENESS of purpose is one of the chief essentials for success in life, no matter what may be one’s aim.
-John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
If I were a national advertiser, or the owner of a mail order house, I would find appropriate ways and means of establishing a point of contact with the children of the country; for, let me repeat, there is no better way of influencing the parent than that of “capturing” the child.
If I were a barber, I would have a room equipped exclusively for children, for this would bring me the patronage of both the children and their parents.
In the outskirts of every city there is an opportunity for a flourishing business for someone who will operate a restaurant and serve meals of the better “home-cooked” quality, and cater to families who wish to take the children and dine out occasionally. I would have the place equipped with well stocked fishing ponds, and ponies, and all sorts of animals and birds in which children are interested, if I were operating it, and induce the children to come out regularly and spend the entire day. Why speak of gold mines when opportunities such as this are abundant?
These are but a few of the ways in which the principle of social heredity might be used to advantage in business,
Attract the children and you attract the parents!
If nations can build soldiers of war to order, by bending the minds of their young in the direction of war, business men can build customers to order through the same principle.
· · · · · · · ·
We come, now, to another important feature of this lesson through which we may see, from another angle, how power may be accumulated by cooperative, organized effort.
In the plan for the abolition of war, you observed how co-ordination of effort between three of the great organized powers of the world (the schools, churches and the public press) might serve to force universal peace.
We learned many lessons of value from the world war, outrageous and destructive as it was, but none of greater importance than that of the effect of organized effort. You will recall that the tide of war began to break in favor of the allied armies just after all armed forces were placed under the direction of Foch, which wrought about complete co-ordination of effort in the allied ranks.
Never before, in the history of the world, had so much power been concentrated in one group of men as that which was created through the organized effort of the allied armies. We come, now, to one of the most outstanding and significant facts to we found in the analysis of these allied armies, namely, that they were made up of the most cosmopolitan group of soldiers ever assembled on this earth.
Catholics and Protestants, Jews and Gentiles, blacks and whites, yellows and tans, and every race on earth were represented in those armies. If they had any differences on account of race or creed, they laid them aside and subordinated them to the cause for which they were fighting. Under the stress of war, that great mass of humanity was reduced to a common level where they fought shoulder to shoulder, side by side, without asking any questions as to each other’s racial tendencies or religious beliefs.
If they could lay aside intolerance long enough to fight for their lives over there, why can we not do the same while we fight for a higher standard of ethics in business and finance and industry over here?
Is it only when civilized people are fighting for their lives that they have the foresight to lay aside intolerance and co-operate in the furtherance of a common end?
If it were advantageous to the allied armies to think and act as one thoroughly co-ordinated body, would it we less advantageous for the people of a city or a community or an industry to do so?
If all the churches and schools and newspapers and clubs and civic organizations of your city allied themselves for the furtherance of a common cause, do you not see how such an alliance would create sufficient power to insure the success of that cause?
Bring the illustration still nearer your own individual interests by an imaginary alliance between all of the employers and all of the employees of your city, for the purpose of reducing friction and misunderstandings, thereby enabling them to render better service at a lower cost to the public and greater profit to themselves.
We learned from the world war that we cannot destroy a part without weakening the whole; that when one nation or group of people is reduced to poverty and want, the remainder of the world suffers, also. Stated conversely, we learned from the world war that co-operation and tolerance are the very foundation of enduring success.
Surely the more thoughtful and observant individuals will not fail to profit (as individuals) by these great lessons which we learned from the world war.
I am not unmindful of the fact that you are probably studying this course for the purpose of profiting, in every way possible, from a purely personal viewpoint, by the principles upon which it is founded. For this very reason, I have endeavored to outline the application of these principles to as wide a scope of subjects as possible.
In this lesson, you have had opportunity to observe the application of the principles underlying the subjects of organized effort, tolerance and social heredity to an extent which must have given you much food for thought, and which must have given your imagination much room for profitable exercise.
I have endeavored to show you how these principles may be employed both in the furtherance of your own individual interests, in whatever calling you ma be engaged, and for the benefit of civilization as a whole.
Whether your calling is that of preaching sermons, selling goods or personal services, practicing law, directing the efforts of others, or working as a day laborer, it seems not too much to hope that you will find in this lesson a stimulus to thought which may lead you to higher achievements. If, perchance, you are a writer of advertisements you will surely find in this lesson sufficient food for thought to add more power to your pen. If you have personal services for sale, it is not unreasonable to expect that this lesson will suggest ways and means of marketing those services to greater advantage.
In uncovering for you the source from which intolerance is usually developed, this lesson has led you, also, to the study of other thought-provoking subjects which might easily mark the most profitable
turning-point of your life. Books and lessons, in themselves, are of but little value; their real value, if any, lies not in their printed pages, but in the possible action which they may arouse in the reader.
For example, when my proof-reader had finished reading the manuscript of this lesson, she informed me that it had so impressed her and her husband that they intended to go into the advertising business and supply banks with an advertising service that would reach the parents through the children. She believes the plan is worth $10,000.00 a year to her.
Frankly, her plan so appealed to me that I would estimate its value at a minimum of more than three times the amount she mentioned, and I doubt not that it could be made to yield five times that amount, if it were properly organized and marketed by an able salesman.
Nor is that all that this lesson has accomplished before passing from the manuscript stage. A prominent business college owner, to whom I showed the manuscript, has already begun to put into effect the suggestion which referred to the use of social heredity as a means of “cultivating” students; and he is sanguine enough to believe that a plan, similar to the one he intends using, could be sold to the majority of the 1500 business colleges in the United States and Canada, on a basis that would yield the promoter of the plan a yearly income greater than the salary received by the president of the United States.
And, as this lesson is being completed, I am in recepit of a letter from Dr. Charles F. Crouch, of Atlanta, Georgia, in which he informs me that a group of prominent business men in Atlanta have just organized the Golden Rule Club, the main object of which is to put into operation, on a nation-wide scale, the plan for the abolition of war, as outlined in this lesson. (A copy of that portion of this lesson dealing with the subject of abolition of war was sent to Dr. Crouch several weeks before the completion of the lesson.)
These three events, happening one after the other, within a period of a few weeks, have strengthened my belief that this is the most important lesson of the entire sixteen, but its value to you will depend entirely upon the extent to which it stimulates you to think and to act as you would not have done without its influence.
The chief object of this course and, particularly, of this lesson is to educate, more than it is to inform -meaning by the word "educate" to educe, to draw out! to develop from within; to cause you to use the power that lies sleeping within you, awaiting the awakening hand of some appropriate stimulus to arouse you to action.
In conclusion, may I not leave with you my personal sentiments on tolerance, in the following essay which I wrote, in the hour of my most trying experience, when an enemy was trying to ruin my reputation and destroy the results of a life-time of honest effort to do some good in the world.
A handsome wall hanger of this essay on Intolerance will be sent to each student of this course, along with the report on the Personal Analysis Questionnaire. This hanger is printed in two colors and personally autographed by the author of the Law of Success course.
TOLERANCE!
When the dawn of Intelligence shall have spread its wings over the eastern horizon of progress, and Ignorance and Superstition shall have left their last footprints on the sands of Time, it will be recorded in the book of man’s crimes and mistakes that his most grievous sin was that of Intolerance!
The bitterest Intolerance grows out of racial and religious differences of opinion, as the result of early childhood training. How long, O Master of Human Destinies, until we poor mortals will understand the folly of trying to destroy one another because of dogmas and creeds and other superficial matters over which we do not agree?
Our allotted time on this earth is but a fleeting moment, at most!
Like a candle, we are lighted, shine for a moment and flicker out! Why can we not so live during this short earthly sojourn that when the Great Caravan called Death draws up and announces this visit about finished we will be ready to fold our tents, and, like the Arabs of the Desert, silently follow the Caravan out into the Darkness of the Unknown without fear and trembling?
I am hoping that I will find no Jews or Gentiles, Catholics or Protestants, Germans or Englishmen, Frenchmen or Russians, Blacks or Whites, Reds or Yellows, when I shall have crossed the Bar to the Other Side.
I am hoping I will find there only human Souls, Brothers and Sisters all, unmarked by race, creed or color, far I shall want to be done with Intolerance so I may lie down and rest an æon or two, undisturbed by the strife, ignorance, superstition and petty misunderstandings which mark with chaos and grief this earthly existence.
IF a man has built a sound character it makes but little difference what people say about him, because he will win in the end. - Napoleon Hill, Sr.
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