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CAN YOU STAND RIDICULE?
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Ridicule Is a Deadly Weapon. It Helps the Race e Whole. It Kills Individuals.
Ridicule Destroys and Discourages the Spirit ot Children. Deliberate Ridicule of Others wll lili
Is a Crime. Happy Ihe Man Who. Like the Man in This Picture, Defies Ridicule When |||
He Knows That He Is Right and Coes Ahead with the New Idea. KI I
ET us talk tu-day ibout ridicule, i
power, the good and the harm that it
r&jgrog! does.
jjgPfcSl! Many a. man who can stand cruel
fl punishment, suffering without flinch
U&SjJSKSS&i ing. CANNOT ENDURE THE
' • JGHTER. THE SCORN, CHE
RIDICULE OF OTHEnb
Many a man leads a life foreign to his nature because
he fears ridicule. ,
Millions of women dress extravagantly, pinch tiieir
feet squeeze their waists, impoverish their husband-,
because they fear ridicule. They dare not be out of the
style.
Ridicule has killed men.
Keats, the young poet, of wonderful promise, died
almost in his boyhood—killed by harsh criticism and
ridicule.
Ridicule has helped civilization immensely, for to
establish the fact that a thing is ridiculous puts it under
the ban, makes it abhorrent, makes men and women dread
’■*, more than they dread actual sallering.
Ridicule has kept many a man from being a coward
when physical cowardice was a fatal thing for the general
welfare.
Ridicule developed the manly qualities in men -a
development that was necessary.
And ridicule developed the womanly qualities in
vonien—also necessary.
Many a man has marched to death in defense of hi
country or of his family, and has been called a hero,
when he was really a man sc much afraid of ridicule that
he would much rather die than be laughed at.
One Fren ;h n n who had irran du<
-het himself the night before the duel He was afraid
that he would not have courage on the duelling ground
and that others would laugh ;;t m He had the courage
to kill himself. He hadn’t the courage to run the risk
of being laughed at.
A db A
fathers and mothers ugbt to understand the power
of ridicule, remember it ’.nd fear it in the education
of their children.
It is well enough to teach boys and girl.; gradually,
to develop ’’idul ert ce to i’.icule
But it i- wrong to expect too much, of children The
fathers and n < the ’ «
history of our race ridicule. “LAUGHING AT THAT
WHICH I J NC
one cf the greatest educative f irces. And the race in
its babvh ihood
enced by ridicule more ti a; by anythin ■ else.
It is” stupid and brutally cruel t” compel a little bay
to wear long curls and be 1 mgl ed it 1 y tl e other boys
The boy that might have ■ . ioui te . t
could be utterly ruined ■ 1 " h.t; ■ c / r.i r irbid
child by that piece of st up; ,ity.
It is brutal and cruel t compel boys to wear short
trousers or other g .rment:- that n ark them ■ait f r
ridicule among brys after i cervain :v\
The foolish mother r father guilty i c-essing a boy
in a Lord Fauntleri y costume bee < ” and velvet
jacket and hair ridiculously cut. or riedcutons-y ; -n
a criminal when such a •wild is se t i * be ridiculed
by other normal b.ys.
your child ■». sL-ulj • • :• -
ridicule. Teach them t< fl ink I t • I
themselves as they h > ‘ '
bad examples and the ridicuh id >. v
Don't expect ■md <' uh? ■•.‘nr! •’ ■
possible for them to stand, the ridicule which comes
when one child is singled out and made different from
the others in appearance.
AAA
Lucky the man who can be guided by the common
sense of history which expresses itself sometimes in
•idiculc ridiculing that which is preposterous, effemi
nate, vicious, unworthy.
Millions of men have been cured of chewing tobacco
by ridicule—and a very useful ridicule.
Other men have been ridiculed out of idleness and
aimlessness in life.
Unfortunately, many a man who might have been
useful, and added to the world's knowledge, has been
driven from his useful line of thought, or of effort by
the ridicule of others.
The man who will do the real thing in this world,
which is THE NEW THING, is the man who can stand
ridicule, who will not be discouraged.
Almost every inventor, without exception, if he has
finally succeeded, has been compelled to endure ridicule,
to u ten patiently while others told him how foolish he
was—and go on working in spite of it.
Every new idea is laughed at by fools—and the fools
are a vast majority.
Every attempt a better living is laughed at. by those
that live viciously.
Many a man who would stop drinking or some other
vice is kept in his evil ways by the ridicule of men
worse than hnnself.
AAA
Ti e history of the human race and its progress is a
history of ridicule.
They laughed at Columbus thought him crazy, when
he started on his journey which meant so much to the
human race.
The assembled steel and iron makers c-f England, the
iblcst men in their profession, laughed immoderately
di. i man poor and diffident got up to explain a new
meth d oi making steel. They said it was stupid and
preposterous, and they decided, unanimously, to strike
:iis remarks from the record, so as "not to make the
convention ■ f iron makers ridiculous.’’
The n at whom they laughed was Bessemer, who
revolutiimized the steel business, whose invention has
produced thousands of millions of dollars in steel.
Om in by the way, who happened to be there, who
heard what Bessemer had to say. spoke kindly to him.
n his de.i. and MADE A FORTUNE
OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS OUT OF IT. Sometimes
it pay. to treat kindly the man at whom others laugh.
William H. Vanderbilt, second of the line of very
rich Vanderbilts, laughed at the idea of an elevated
railroad in New York, and ridiculed the suggestion.
The people ire fools. ’’ said lie, "but they are not fools
enough to ride on stilts.”
He laughed at the man who had the idea of the ele
vated railroad, but he did not discourage that man.
If William H. Vanderbilt had laughed less, and
th.tight i ore. -e might have made about one hundred
millions of dollars cut of the idea at which he laughed.
The Gould family refrained from laughing, bought
the elevated railroad—and the hundred millions that
■ ] * ]• ■'.< beii'i.ged to the Vanderbilts went to the
Goulds.
AAA
’ was laughed at when he s/arted his first
.-fc creakin' 1 and puffing, managed to send
it /■■.." >ver the water.
Tie ’ wsp’yers ’ ridicule, hr a. The crowds
d ' e re.- wu ;in ‘t • see the thing blew up.
a r die Ic 1. dr. t disc ur: . e Fulton. And therefore.
Hl , i-o' tip mas v, ,i i,\ t« > t , usaud years the first th it
ever thought of using steam in ships. HE WAS THE
FIRST MAN THAT EVER MADE A STEAMSHIP GO
AND SUCCEED COMMERCIALLY.
Even the great Napoleon, while he was planning to
cross the English Channel and land his troops in Eng
land, sent word to Fultcn, who called upon him, that he
would give him one minute.
He had no time to listen to Fulton’s idea of the steam
boat.
If Napoleon had had time to listen to Fulton, and
had experimented with steam, he could have landed his
troops in England, regardless of the wind—and the whole
of history might have been changed.
It is a fortunate thing, probably, that Napoleon
would not listen to Fulton.
AAA
If Fulton had been afraid of ridicule, easily discour
aged. he would probably have stopped in his efforts when
the great. Napoleon told him there was nothing in the
idea.
But Fulton could fight ridicule—that is why the
steamship came when it did.
If you can withstand ridicule when you know that
you are right, if you can teach your boys and your girls
to disregard ridicule when they know that they are
right, and when they have reached an age ■when it is
reasonable to expect of them indifference to the taunts
of others, you will succeed in your career as far as it is
possible for you to go, and you will set your chi/dren on
the right road.
A man who invented the porcelain that we all use
now, who gave great industries and work for hundreds
of thousands of men to the world, was laughed at as be.
burned up his fence and even the furniture in his house
to keep het the oven in which he was baking the porce
lain. But. laughter combined with dreadful poverty
did not discourage him. For that reason Palissy suc
ceeded.
The men who wanted to build the first steam rail
lines were laughed at. They were told, in the first
place, that if you kept the men moving inside of a car
for two or three hours at such a high rate of speed as
twenty miles an hour it would certainly kill them.
They were also told that it would be necessary to
put high stene walls on both sides of the railroad track,
as the wind from the cars would kill the neighbors.
The scientific men of England,with very few excep
tions united to explain how the thing was utterly im
possible—and then it went through, and those gentle
men lived tc ride on the steam cars at which they
had laughed.
We are not all inventing steamboats, or railroads,
or new methods for making porcelain. We are not all
poets cruelly attacked by stupid critics.
But every single one of us could be better off’, more
prosperous and a better citizen if he could learn to be
indifferent to ridicule.
HOW MUCH OF YOUR MONEY DO YOU SPEND
BECAUSE YOU ARE AFRAID OF BEING LAUGHED
AT?
How much could yen save if you had the courage to
do what vou ought to de for the sake of your wife and
your children. ESPECIALLY FOR THE SAKE OF
THAT FUTURE WHICH WILL BE VERY GLOOMY
AND CCLI IF YOU HAVE NOTHING SAVED UP
WHEN GLI AGE COMES?
How much do women speii I <>n cbthes because they
ire afraid of ridicule?
H w much d - men give their wives io pend stupidly
because they are afraid “not to have their wife dressed
«s well as any man’s wife?”
In every biff city tens of thousands of men md worn
an live iq houses or apartments more expensive than they
can afford—and they cut down on actual necessities,
good books, the right, kind of food for themselves and
their children, perhaps. Many a so-called “kitchenette’ 0
is the foolish expedient of a family that is afraid of
ridicule, that prefers a big parlor in which fools may
sit to a comfortable home and decent kitchen in which
proper food may be prepared.
Many a man and woman live in the city, spend
ing what they cannot afford, because they are ashamed
to live simply in the country, where they and their chil
dren would be better off.
It is not necessary or wise to deny your family ANY
THING THAT YOU CAN AFFORD.'
If your wife wants to look like a first class bird of
Paradise, and you car afford it, let her look like a bird
of Paradise and keep her happy.
If you and she want a large, grunting automobile
and you can afford it, have it by all means.
But don't let the ridicule of others, or fear of what;
others will say or think, persuade you to spend what
you can’t afford, and throw away to-day as a sacrifice
tc ridicule that which you will bitterly need when old
age comes along, or when the children get older and need
and have a right to demand help in their education.
Do not, however, mistake personal conceit, egotism,
blind confidence in your own ideas for indifference to
ridicule.
There is a great difference between conquering ridi
cule and making a goose of yourself.
The unfortunate woman who dresses like a man, cuts
her hair short, wears a stiff collar, and thinks that she is
indifferent to ridicule is simply silly, and setting a- bad
example.
The foolish individual who wears his hair long and
curly has a flat, turned down collar, and a flowing silk
tie and ridiculous clothes, and high heels, is not indif
ferent to ridicule—he is simply foolish peacock.
The ridicule of the public in general is wise ridicule.
The people, as a whole, ridicule that which is bad.
The older brother usually educates his younger
brother by ridicule.
Ridicule is a gieat educating force, and those that
are ignorant are made to learn BY RIDICULE.
Learn to distinguish between the cruel ridicule
which checks growth, which kills original thought, and
that useful, ne?<- iry ridicule which keeps the human
Tace more or less uniform in its meth< ds, and enables
us to go a’-.ead as a united body instead of scattering in
all directions hue monkeys hopping about a. cage.
Ridicule keeps the human race a solid army of
progress. It is a splendid thing for the race.
But ridicule toe often keeps the individual from
achievement.
Learn to distinguish.
At first think for yourself, and when you have
learned to think for yourself don’t let the ridicude or
the thoughts if others stop your thinking. The man in
itly irawn by Tad, shows one type
that succeeds. It is the t T>e that can fight ridicule.
There is a better type than that in the picture, one
with less chin and more f rehead, and that better type
is more apt. to fight successfully against ridicule.
When < thers know more than you do, learn from
them, listen t< what they Fave to say.
At some time in your life, h we ver. you have got to
make up your mind WHAT YOU WILL DO. You have
got't reach decisions, stick to them. Then you have
got to learn he ir different 1 > ridicule If you can do
that, you can <••■.rry out ymr own line of work. And if
you c:r> < carry nut VOUR OWN line of w. rk wp can't
get anywhere.