MAN AND ENVIRONMENr 105 



were just what they were twenty-four hours earlier. But one 

 new relation had been formed. He would not have been so 

 gay, or the sky so bright, if she had promised and honestly 

 tried to be a sister to him. We trust the new relation re- 

 sulted in permanent mutual encouragement and uplift. 



The content of the book is insignificant to the page in a 

 library. Another has few books, and little time for reading, 

 yet lives in and by them. One man is lifted, thrilled, and 

 strengthened by music, painting, the beauty of smiling valley, 

 of clouds and sunsets or the grandeur of the mountains; an- 

 other, hving in their midst, is practically unaffected by them. 

 They form the surroundings of both, the environment of one. 



Two men read a page of poetry or science. One is inspired 

 by the '' splendor of truth," which was Plato's definition of 

 beauty; the other remains cold and dead. The passage is 

 really as foreign to him as if written in an unknown tongue. 

 No man can be a hero to his valet, or anybody else, if hero- 

 ism is foreign to the spectator's environment. The environ- 

 ment of a reversed cripple can hardly be other than hell or a 

 '^ fool's paradise." 



Improvement of surroundings seems to mean removal of 

 barriers to progress and increase of opportunity. But these 

 do not reach the root of the difficulty; this lies in the individual 

 will and purpose. To treat only surroundings or even the in- 

 tellect for weakness or perversity of will is much like pre- 

 scribing external applications for deep-seated disease. 



This fact has been emphasized by many or all great think- 

 ers. Plato said that many men must be improved before 

 they can be educated. Another great thinker has said, '' The 

 law is weak." Possibly the best any of us can do is to see 

 to it that we encourage and call out the best that is in our 

 neighbors, not the worst; and contribute to the common 

 stock only the best that is in us, keeping the rest for home 

 consumption. Most of us can still improve our minds. If 

 you would know how, ask the psychologist. If we could co- 

 operate in this effort, we might find that even society is much 

 better and less blame-worthy than we have thought. 



