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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS. SATURDAY. JUNE 8, 1907.
WHAT IS
HAPPINESS
T 1IIH conundrum ha* lieen propounded
to us: “What la happiness? How
can it be attained? Where cnn it
be found? What are the beat means
of capturing it? And how can it be kept
after It is once found?**
Thin fa I he riddle of the universe. Every
human being from Adam down has spent
his time trying to find the nuswer to It. No
one ban solved the enigma. Some make
better guesses Ilian others at it, but after
all the searching and the striving the mys
tery Is still a mystery, the unattainable Is
still imattalned.
So far ns my observation goes, the near
est solution to the problem Is to be fouud in
aelf-eoncHt.
Happiness Is not n condition of affairs,
but a state of mind. There is no man in
the world so fortunate who can not, if he
searches for it, find the crumpled rose leaf
under his forty mattresses of east*. There
is hardly a man on earth no unfortunate
who has not. If he will only look for It,
something in his life that has In It the ele
ments of happiness.
The two things, for Instance, that are the
very foundation stone of happluesif—health
and the affections of one's fellow creatures
—are of toner the possession of the poor
man than the millionaire. It matters not
liow downy the couch If one tosses sleepless
upon it; It mstters not how luxurious the
feast if one carries to it neither appetite
nor digestion. Hmall Is the pleasure that
the gouty rich man finds in riding In nnto-
mohilcs. and little the Joy he gets even from
love, whose every tender word and fond
caress lie suspects of being Inspired by de
signs on his |»ockcthook.
The poor man who has health and strength
nud keen appetite and the kiss of the
woman he loves on his lips, and n friend
nt Ills side, has his compenHatbins for pov
erty, and yet be pines for the Indulgences
the other one has, and yet It Is practically
impossible for any one to have both.
The Happy Ogotist.
Between these two stands the one happy
man, the self-com piaceut, self satisfied ego
tist He may lx; poor or rich or moder*
ntely well off. He may be clever or stupid,
handsome or ugly, successful or a failure,
married or single. It does not matter. He
Is himself, and that Is enough.
If such a man makes money, even more
than the material comforts that his wealth
gives, does be enjoy expatiating to every
one he can bold up 011 bis wonderful sa
gacity and iinmu-iul acumen nud the mar
velous thrift and energy he displayed In
piling up bis fortune. If be Is poor be
makes a virtue of bis poverty, and spends
bis days in telling bow be could have made
millions If only he bad resorted to the ne
farious iicuiis practiced by others, nnd, as
be sits down In his humble cottage to Ills
dinner of herbs, be descants on Ills refine
ment, in eschewing the vulgarity of palace
and Istasts of the delights of vegetarianism;
If such a man writes a book or Is a pop
ular actor, be blows bis own horn as* loud
its tbibrlel's trumpet, and Is perfectly bliss
ful in posing around in an attitude of unap
proachable greatness. If be Is an ••also-
ran" actor or author, and still believes him
self a second lioolb or Shakespeare, be Is
quite as happy explaining that the only rea-
sou that he does not occupy the spot light
on the stage and head the list of six best
selling Issiks Is because there is a cabal
against new authors In the inngu7.lncs, nud
theatrical managers are handed together to
keep down transcendent talent.
It does not matter In the least what
sort of a woman tbo man with the exag
gerated ego marries. The minute a wom
an becomes Ills wife the mantle of bln
|H>rfcctlou is thrown over her, and she be
comes at once a compendium of nil femi
nine charms and virtues. The complacent
man's children never cause him a pang of
anxiety or regret. They are always phe
nomena possessing beauties snd girts that
the whole world Is unable to see or appre
ciate.
Thus It Is that the conceited man Is
the only man who really gets happiness out
of life. The unxIcHf millionaire is not
luinpy for a thousand reasons. For one
thing, others have plnytal a bigger game
more hrtlllnntly than he, or, for another,
with nil bis money be may shrink from
being pointed out us one of the new riel*.
The humble poor Ilian Is miserable because
be has a sens** of failure, it is only the
egotist who, with full pockets, or empty
pockets, mil enjoy equally well exploit
ing bis wealth or lilt poverty.
Concait Brinqs Happiness.
No really great writer Is ever happy or
contented, because be sees beyond him a
glory of Imagination, a delicacy of style.
, • of expression that, like the mirage of
the desert, recede* farther nnd farther
front him ns lie tolls toward It, nnd mocks
him with the vision of the unattainable.
Yet, how often are we called upon to lis
ten to the fatuous production of the con
ceited amateur, who reads to every liuninn
lielng who will listen the letter that he
wrote to the papers nlsuit cleaning off the
snow and signed Vox I'opuli?
While as for actors, the most complacent
one that I have ever met was a young
fellow, who, after telling me how much
superior lie was to Mansfield and I’avid
... ... ., — ... — him In n <*er-
PH._ Tm the third
.... left In the back row of
spear carriers. I thought I*d better tell
you. for fear you might miss me. There
is so much Jealousy in the profession that
when the stars find out that anybody has
genius that will put them out of business
If they got a eh nee they always put them
In the back row.**
The coiiceiiiti man glories In love. lie
Is never one of those who suffer from
blighted affection. He believes that every
woman Is Infatuated with him nt sight,
nud when one has the 111 taste to refuse
him he merely sets it down to her lack of
good taste, nnd Is so -revolted thereby
that his affection for her perishes on the
B, Other people tali of happiness become*
they are tormented by longings they can
never gratify: by regrets nud remorse, by
the sense of their own mi worthiness ami
failures. Not so with the complacent ego
tist. lie Is shiv tlmt he la last right In
every way, nnd when you think well of
yourself It inattera uot what others think
° Many gages have sought IfttpplMtg, but
tnly conceited fools ever find it. •
WE RENOVATE—Work called for and delivered same day—SATIS
FACTION GUARANTEED— Bell phone 5338- J—Atlanta 1948.
Mr*. Douglas Robinson, sister of the president, has recently returned from her European trip. This
picture is from a snapshot as she and her party left the steamer Caronia. The ladies from left to right aro Miss
Connie Douglas Robinson, daughter of the president's sister; Mrs. Cole and a .friend and Mrs. Robinson.
Acme Mattress Co. L A d C iTwin Y s.rictt k,on
AGGRAVATIONS OF MARRIED LIFE
By DOROTHY DIX.
Whnt la the most aggravating thing In
married life?
Is It hysteria?
A legion of patient, worn, hump-shoulder-
<sl gentlemen will whisper behind their
hands that the man who has never had to
deni with a wife with temperament doesn't
know what real, woven In-the-wnrp nnd
dyed-lu-the-wool trc-tlo Is.
••Hit—nil—.eh—ell! Don't let Marlu hear us.
for heaven’s sake!" says one of these do
mestic martyrs, "hut there Isn’t anything
In this world—not anything at all—that Is
as trvlug to llv with as a woman with
id.
thing of which every man
nllve stands in deadly terror—hysterics.
There Is one thing that will take the snap
anti ginger out of every mother's sen of us—
hysterics. It’s the one thing ngnlnst which
we can not protect ourselves. You can't
argue with a woman in aysterles. because
she's got no reason left. You can't beat
her. as lunch as you'd like to and as much
as sh • needs it. Yott can't do anything.
Gat a Hang-Dog Look.
"All that yon cnn do Is to try to pacify
her, nnd placate her, nnd stand from tin
der, uml prevent anything from happening
that will precipitate smother twnrit In
the tea [Mil. In time you get so used to
shuffling nnd sidestepping nnd watching the
domestic barometer for sudden squalls that
you acquire a hang-dog look and a gum
shoe gait.
"That's me, am] yet I was once a hob!,
courageous man with a glad, bright eye.
Hut that was before I bad the pleasure of
going up good and hard against the peculiar-
I ties or uiy Marla's disposition. Yet my
Marla Is among the noblest of her sex. She
Is true nnd loyal, generous and kind, thrifty
and economical, and no man iu the commu
nity lias a better kept house or Is letter
taken ••are of than I.
"Itut Marla offsets these desirable qualities
by always keeping her nerves on tap, and
being ready to go off into hysterics at u
moment's notice. I never know how she's
going to take anything, nud I shake In fear
every tInis* I mention the most casual fact
to her, for I don't know whether she's go
ing to explode Into a shower of tears aud
reprom hes or not.
"If she says that she would like to go off
on a little trip somewhere 1 ain at a loss to
know whether 1 should heartily acquiesce
or •sternly object
"If I sny. *\Vliy, sure; go by all means.
You need a little change, nud It will do
you good,' she's liable to burst out Into
loud wails, aud say that It Is Jnat ns she
expected. Hhe wns only trying mo.
A Wail of Hysteria.
“I may think she'* a fool nod blind, but
she's not. Hhe suspected all along—some
thing told her—that I was tired of her, and
that I wnnted to got rid of her; now I nir
trying to drive her away from, her ot%,
home nnd her children. Just like that horria
Mr. Corey that was In the papers, bat she*a
not going to do it. She's got some spirit,
thank Hod, nnd she’s not going to be forced
away from her precious, darllug babies, and
the house that she picked ont all the furni
ture for herself, nnd if I’m so snxloua to
get rid of her I might at least have the de
cency to wait until she's dead, because it
won t be long. She feels that she can't Inst.
People with broken hearts never do, nnd she
hopes I'll he satisfied when I see her liorne
to her grave and know that my cruelty
killed her.
"If. ou the other band. I put fitly obstacle
In the way of her going, nnd nsk her If
she hadn't better wait for u few weeks or
suggest that some other time would Im
more convenient, she will also burst into
tears nnd any it's Just what she expected.
I have no feeling for her. I'm never willing
for hor to have any pleasure. All I married
her foe wns to make a domestic slave of
her, snd goodness known If she'd known
how she had to stick at home and look
after servants, and darn uml mend she
never would have married.
**Anybody can see that I'm trying to kill
her. and she believe* It's that tall Miss
Jones vvlfli the yellow hair, that's per-
oxided If I only had the sense to see It, nnd
the tall, slim figure—Isuiy she calls It—that
I was talking to at the HmKh reception.
She supposes that I Uiiuk that she's going
to stay at home and klU herself so that
I can tnarry again.
Judgment for 8ins.
"If one of the children has a headache;
when I come home my wife meets me at
the front door wringing her hands, and
with a set. white face, declaring that Sally
or Bob has got congestion of the brain, nnd
that U's n Judgment set on us for oar sins.
"Karoo way about me. If I'm five min
utes late coining home she's ready to call
up the police and have 'em search for ray
dead body, or else I have to stand a storm
of reproaches and simpletons about havliig
done things I nevsr dreamed of doing, and
been to place* I conldn’t he dragged to
with wild horse*, Ueault—I am a trembling
slave, and a champion liar who has gotten
Ananias beaten the lettgh of a city block.
Self-preservation has «ot morality skinned
to a finish, and a man Is Justified fn protect
ing himself against his wife’s hysterica In
any way he can.
"But not to ho able to deal rationally with
yoor a*ife nnd talk to her. as If she were a
sensible human being. Instead of a Jungly
hunch of nerves that screeches like forty
million cats, knock* the Isittom off of matri
mony quicker than anything 1 know, ami
thorn why 1 say there la nothing s» r “
rating In married life an hysterics."
Is It true, ladles? ^
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