THE SECOND BEST 



within reach, he is so sure of final success ; no amount 

 of disappointment ever discourages him, no amount of 

 misadventure ever dismays him, next time his star will 

 win. As a people, we Americans have that buoyant 

 temperament, that undaunted courage, that love of in 

 itiative, and the idea of being second best is peculiarly 

 distasteful to us. We wish to be first in all matters 

 fortunate or unfortunate, as witness our boast of the 

 biggest telescope in the world or the greatest fire of 

 history. The remark of the old farmer who happened 

 to read some extracts from Plato, is characteristic of 

 our attitude: "Did you ever read Plato, Frank? He 

 was a mighty smart man. Do you know he had a lot 

 of my ideas?" 



Our ideals grow as we climb toward them. They 

 are like the nearest hilltop to the child, for on reaching 

 that he expects to see the end of the world. Instead 

 he finds more hilltops, each one of which proves to be 

 but a stepping-stone to farther heights, until as he as 

 cends, huge mountains loom before him, ending in 

 great snow-peaks glistening in the sun. It is curious 



287 



