,a ,man of the ,world  ,,by  ,,annie    
,,payson ,,call   ,author of  ,power    
,through ,repose1 ,as a ,matter of      
,course1 ,the ,freedom of ,life         
,,boston  ,,little1 ,,brown1 ,,and      
,,company  #aijf   ,,copyright1 #aije1  
,,by ,,little1 ,,brown1 ,,and ,,company4
   ,all rights reserved  ,published     
,october1 #aije  ,,the ,,university     
,,press1 ,,cambridge1 ,u4,s4,a4     ,a  
,,man of the ,,world     ,i   ,there are
 two worlds in the minds of men3 the one
 is artificial1 selfish1 and personal1  
the other is real and universal2 the one
 is limited1 material1 essentially of   
the earth1 the other supposes a kind of 
larger cosmopolitanism1 and has no      
geographical limits at all2 it is as    
wide as humanity itself1 and only       
bounded by the capacity for experience1 
insight1 and sympathy in the mind and   
heart of man4 ,a true man of the world1 
therefore1 is not primarily of it1--a   
true man of the world must know and     
understand the world2 and in order to do

 so1 he should be able at any time to   
get it into perspective4  ,charles      
,dickens says that by a man who knows   
the world is too frequently understood a
 man who knows all the villains in it4  
,it is of course1 by gentlemen1 also    
understood that a man who knows the     
world knows all its manners and customs1
 and can adapt himself to them easily   
and entirely1 wherever he may be4 ,but  
this external polish does not preclude  
the idea1 even among so-called well-bred
 men1 that a man who knows the world    
knows all the villains in it1 and such a
 man may be more or less of a villain   
himself1 provided he has the cleverness 
and the ingenuity to hide his villainy4 
,to a certain extent the appearance of  
virtue has been always more or less of a
 necessity in the world1 but the moral  
standards in social1 professional1 and  
business life are inconsistent and      
mixed4 ,even in essentials the highest  
standards are often modified to suit the
 preference of the majority4 ,it is not 

always considered dishonorable for a man
 to cheat in business1 so long as the   
cheating is done without interfering in 
any way with the general customs of the 
business world4  ,when we say that a man
 of the world is generally understood to
 be a man who knows all the villains in 
it1 it seems at first sight an extreme  
statement1 but as the world goes now1 it
 certainly represents the general       
tendency of thought4 ,the distinction is
 too seldom made between a man of the   
world and a worldly man1--between a man 
who really knows the world as it is and 
a man whose familiarity with it is      
narrow and sordid4 ,when people speak of
 seeing life they seldom mean seeing the
 best of it4  ,the same tendency toward 
perversion1 as being the more           
interesting phase of life1 is found     
among physicians and trained nurses4 ,a 
good physician once told me1 with pained
 indignation1 that his students would go
 miles to see an abnormal growth of     
tumor1 but not one of them would turn   

around to enjoy the mechanism of a      
healthy heart4 ,and it is a well-known  
fact that many trained nurses will lose 
interest in a case the moment a patient 
begins to recover4 ,a splendid case of  
typhoid fever is1 not a case in which   
the patient is throwing off the effects 
of the germ with wholesome promptness1  
but one in which the germ is doing its  
worst1--where the illness is extreme1   
and the delirium exciting4 ,to be sure1 
in such a case1 there is intense        
interest in taking all possible means1  
with promptness and decision1 to save   
the patient's life2 but1 if this were   
done only with a keen love of           
wholesomeness and normal health1 the    
interest of the nurses and physicians   
would never wane until the patient had  
become strong and vigorous4 ,if the     
standard of the best physical health    
were steadily before the eyes of        
physician and nurse1 and if both had a  
strong desire to bring the patient1 as  
nearly as possible1 up to their own high

 standard of health1 there would be a   
very great difference in the atmosphere 
of sick rooms and hospitals4 ,the work  
of physicians and nurses seems to be    
more often that of protection against   
disease than that of achievement of     
health2 and the distinction1 though at  
first sight it may seem a fine one1 is  
nevertheless radical4  ,note the        
parallel between this negative tendency 
toward health of body1 and the same     
negative tendency in the world toward   
health of soul4 ,it is protection       
against the worst ravages of sin which  
is the moral aim of the majority of the 
world2 not a striving toward a positive 
standard of healthy life for both soul  
and body4 ,what is sin but disease of   
the soul8 ,sin is just as truly1 just as
 practically1 disease of the soul1 as   
any form of known malady is disease of  
the body4 ,if we could impress ourselves
 strongly with the fact that sin is     
disease1--disorder and abnormality1--it 
would be a radical step toward freedom  

from sin4 ,by sin is meant every kind of
 selfishness1--whatever form it may     
take4  ,a young friend1 in speaking of a
 companion charming in his words and    
manners and most attractive because of  
his artistic temperament1 but evidently 
loose in his ideas of morality1 once    
expressed the opinion that it was all   
right to associate with this charming   
man1--enjoying all that was delightful  
in him and ignoring1 so far as possible1
 all that was evidently bad4  ,could you
 ignore dirty nails1 dirty ears1 and a  
bad smell about your companion8 someone 
asked4  ,whereupon the young man        
exclaimed1 with an expression of supreme
 disgust1 ,how can you speak of such    
things1--of course ,i could not stay    
with him for five minutes6  ,but he did 
not in the least associate the loose1   
light1 unclean way of looking at human  
relations1 with the same careless       
uncleanness as applied to the body4 ,and
 yet1 in reality1 the one kind of       
uncleanness corresponds precisely to the

 other4 ,in the one case the dirt is on 
the inside and is what we may call      
living dirt1 because it is kept alive by
 the soul to which it is allowed to     
cling4 ,in the other case the dirt is on
 the outside1 and can be washed off with
 soap and water4 ,very few so-called men
 or women of the world are willing to   
appear dirty and slovenly in their      
bodies1--but a great many are willing to
 be dirty and slovenly in their souls4  
,a curious and significant fact it is1  
that often1 when a man's nerves give    
way1 even when his external habits have 
been most cleanly1 or even fastidious1  
they may change entirely1 and he may go 
about with spotted clothes1 dirty hands1
 and a general slovenly appearance1     
whereas such external shiftlessness     
would have been impossible to him while 
his nerves were comparatively well and  
strong4  ,when such a man's nerves give 
way1 so that he loses to some extent the
 external use of his will1 the dirty    
habits of his mind appear in slovenly   

and dirty habits of body1 because he has
 no longer the will-power to confine    
them to his private thoughts and        
feelings4 ,the habits of his body become
 then a true expression of his state of 
mind4  ,we may prove the relation       
between sin and disease by tracing what 
might be called a mild sin to its       
logical extreme4 ,just as we may follow 
almost any disease in its development1  
until it causes the death of the body1  
if the body is not protected from its   
growth1 so we may follow any sin in its 
development to the death of the soul1 if
 the soul is not similarly protected4   
,all sin1 when allowed to increase      
according to its own laws1 is the       
destruction of both soul and body4      
,macbeth's mind became diseased2 and we 
may find many an ,iago in our insane    
asylums to-day1 for1 with all his       
cleverness1 no ,iago can1 in the long   
run1 keep control of his mind if his    
selfish plans are frustrated4 ,the      
loathsome diseases of the body which are

 liable to overtake a ,don ,juan may    
only be spoken of1 or thought of1 as a  
means of removing the blindness of those
 who1 from dwelling upon the sensations 
of the body1 come to think of sin as    
pleasant4 ,when their blindness is      
removed1 the least touch of the         
sensuality which causes the disease will
 fill them with wholesome horror4 ,it is
 wonderfully provided by the ,creator   
that any sensation1 which is selfishly  
indulged in1 any sensation that a man   
remains in for its own sake1 must lead  
first to satiety1--and then to worse    
than satiety and death4 ,this is true   
both of all selfish sensations of the   
body and of all useless emotions of the 
mind4 ,our sensations and our emotions  
must be obedient servants to a          
wholesome1 vigorous love of usefulness1 
or they become infernal masters whose   
rule leads only to weakness and death4  
,the old asceticism1--the spiritual     
stupidity of primitive times1--placed   
the world1 the flesh1 and the devil on a

 level of equality1 whereas both the    
world and the flesh are capable of noble
 uses1 but the devil is not4 ,the world 
and the flesh are servants1 and good    
servants2 they are necessary instruments
 for the carrying out of the ,divine    
purpose in human life4 ,but the devil is
 merely the perversion of good things to
 useless1 trivial1 and degrading ends4  
,he has no power in himself except as we
 give him power1 and we give him power  
every day when we associate the idea of 
the world with that of the villains in  
it1 and when we debase the flesh by not 
realizing the clean1 good service for   
which it is intended4 ,indeed1 we are   
really feeding the devil in so far as   
our standards of life are negative1 and 
not positive1--in so far as we are only 
busy in protecting ourselves from worse 
sin or from worse disease1 instead of   
casting out all sin and disease as fast 
as we perceive them in ourselves1 and   
working toward the highest possible     
standard of wholesome life for body and 

soul4 ,to look to the ,lord and shun    
evils as sins1 means to hold to the     
standard of health given us by the ,lord
 for both body and soul1 so that it may 
become more and more clear as we apply  
it to life with persistent strength4    
,our present standards of life are      
warped4 ,the abnormal has become so     
familiar to us as to seem normal4 ,the  
joy and life-giving power of fresh air  
for soul and body is too little known to
 us4 ,a thoroughly healthy world1 with  
wholesome habits of mind and body1 is   
almost out of our ken4 ,the lower       
standards have become too generally a   
matter of course1--that is why we do not
 think of brave and wholesome manhood   
when we use the expression a man of the 
world4  ,it is a certain fact that no   
man can understand and live in what is  
good and wholesome1 of his own free     
will1 without having had                
temptations1--and strong ones1--to what 
is evil and unwholesome4 ,thus a        
knowledge of the evil in the world      

enlarges a man's experience just in so  
far as he uses that knowledge to lead   
him to the opposite good4 ,a knowledge  
of evil warps a man's                   
character1--however broad his experience
 may be1--just in so far as he yields to
 the evil and allows it to become a part
 of himself4  ,and ye shall know the    
truth and the truth shall make you free4
 ,the truth which makes us free is the  
truth about ourselves1 the truth about  
evil1 the truth about everything1 and   
our freedom is full and expansive in    
proportion as we recognize1 acknowledge1
 and live by the truth1 both in general 
and in detail4     ,,ii   ,i am a man   
and nothing human do ,i consider alien  
to me1 said ,terence two thousand years 
ago4  ,a man who thoroughly knows the   
world must be capable of understanding  
all phases of life1--not only those of  
his own country1 class1 profession1 or  
sect4 ,it is the humanity in all its    
phases that he loves and                
understands1--not the phase itself2 and 

therefore nothing that is human can be  
so remote as to be unintelligible to his
 mind or without the power of appeal to 
his heart4 ,iago could never understand 
honesty or generosity4 ,don ,juan could 
never understand chastity4 ,on the other
 hand it is possible for an honest man  
to understand ,iago1 and for a clean man
 to understand ,don ,juan4 ,although in 
neither case will the man who           
understands sympathize with the sin1 in 
both cases the understanding will be    
clear and comprehensive4 ,a child cannot
 understand either ,iago or ,don ,juan1 
neither can a childish man2 but a truly 
childlike man can understand all phases 
of temptation and sin1 and estimate them
 justly4  ,there is an innocence of     
ignorance1 and there is an innocence of 
wisdom4 ,the innocence of ignorance is  
involuntary4 ,it is innocence because it
 cannot be anything else4 ,a little     
child is in the innocence of ignorance1 
and it is from that protective innocence
 that we feel the fresh1 happy          

atmosphere of childhood4 ,the innocence 
of wisdom is possible only to those who 
have known temptation and1 through      
overcoming it1 have learned to recognize
 all sin for what it really is1--the    
filth and disease of the soul1 and to   
avoid it as such4 ,the fresh life that  
springs from such struggle and conquest 
of selfish tendencies brings with it a  
vigor of innocence which has a quality  
of life akin to that of a healthy child1
 with the added power and insight of a  
man's maturity4 ,whatever form or phase 
of temptation his fellow men may be in1 
such a man1 from his own experience1 has
 found the means of understanding them4 
,he has found the means of understanding
 his neighbor1 whether the neighbor is  
immersed in self-indulgence1 is         
struggling desperately to gain his      
freedom1 or is well along upon the      
upward path4  ,a man who can only       
understand certain special phases of    
human nature is narrow and provincial1  
however he may assume the air of a man  

of the world2 and the false assumption  
of a broad understanding renders him    
practically still more narrow and       
provincial1 for it stands in the way of 
his learning from those who have it in  
their power to instruct him4 ,but the   
true man of the world1 whose breadth of 
vision and penetration of insight are   
the result of a working familiarity with
 universal principles in practical life1
 detests sin without condemning the     
sinner1 and is not befooled by the      
shallow pretensions of the provincial   
,pharisee4  ,to know the world we must  
not only be able to understand all      
phases of it in general1 but we must    
also understand the various types in    
particular4 ,there are nations1 there   
are grades and phases of life in each   
nation1 and there are individuals in    
each phase4 ,there is as great a        
difference between the individuals of a 
small community of people1 if one has   
the eye to detect it1 as there is       
between nations4  ,i remember once      

talking with a famous anthropologist4   
,all men were to him simply             
representations of ages1 nations1 or    
families4 ,no man was a man in himself2 
he was simply a specimen4 ,it gave to a 
little everyday person a very keen sense
 of the vastness of humanity in general1
 past and present1 to hear this         
scientific man talk4 ,he had the habit  
of swinging all the nations of the world
 into his conversation as easily as if  
he lived with them every day1 as in his 
habitual thought he truly did4 ,whenever
 ,i would speak to him of a friend or a 
relative he would characterize him by   
his national and family tendency4 ,to   
talk with the ,professor for an hour or 
two was most enlightening and expanding2
 but a long acquaintance proved that a  
man1 even in the region of large        
anthropological and geographical ideas1 
could be just as narrow and provincial  
as the self-appointed moral censor of a 
country town4 ,the human body and the   
human mind1 in general1 seemed to mean a

 very great deal to him1 but man as an  
individual soul meant nothing at all4   
,some of the greatest diplomats1 who    
have stood out as clever in their       
dealings with nations1 have been limited
 in the extreme when their lives took   
them outside of the rut of their own    
immediate work4 ,statesmen who have     
dealt cleverly with nations have        
blundered sadly in their dealings with  
individual men1 blundered sometimes when
 their mistakes would react upon their  
national influence4 ,and yet so         
established were they in the selfish rut
 of their national diplomacy1 so        
provincial were they in the knowledge of
 individual human nature1 that they went
 on blundering1 until many a time their 
mistakes led them almost1 if not quite1 
to national disaster4 ,the best lawyers 
know that to do their work truly they   
must be able to judge particular cases  
and special circumstances by standards  
which to the majority of minds do not   
exist4 ,for want of such clear          

understanding of human nature which     
comes from an original instinct for     
truth itself1--as distinguished from the
 cut-and-dried application of           
conventional habit1--lawyers have often 
failed4  ,conventional standards are the
 common standards of the majority2 but1 
although they are perhaps more          
serviceable than any others in the      
achievement of commonplace success1 they
 are invariably inadequate on a really  
high and simple plane of human endeavor4
 ,it is rare to find an active man      
engaged in worldly business who         
recognizes the laws of simple           
unselfishness and truth as having any   
practical existence in human affairs2   
but it is still more rare to find such a
 man understanding the true relation    
between essential goodness and the      
conventional principles of morality4    
,there are times when those who act from
 higher standards must appear to        
contradict entirely all conventional    
modes of life1 but they do not          

necessarily oppose such conventions1 for
 through a courageous adherence to the  
spirit of the law they eventually bring 
new life to its letter4 ,the true man of
 the world is he who can express his    
essential goodness and truth in wise and
 appropriate ways1 and in terms which   
must be1 in the long run1 intelligible  
to all kinds of men4  ,when ,jesus      
,christ healed a man on the ,sabbath    
day1 ,he not only ignored the           
conventional standards of ,his nation1  
but ,he appeared to disobey one of the  
fundamental commandments of the law4    
,the ,pharisees1 and all the people     
about ,him who stood well in the eyes of
 the world1 were angrily indignant4 ,it 
is not difficult to imagine1 after it   
was all over1 a kind and conventional   
soul coming to the ,lord and asking ,him
 why ,he had not waited until the next  
day before carrying out ,his            
intention2--,he would not have had to   
wait long1 and the displeasure of the   
,pharisees would have been avoided4     

,would it not have been more charitable 
to respect the religious scruples of the
 ,jews8 ,is it not wrong to fly         
needlessly in the face of respectable   
public opinion8 ,was it not unwise      
needlessly to break the letter of the   
commandment1 even while keeping its     
spirit8 ,some doubting soul1 who wanted 
to believe in the goodness of the ,lord 
and the purity of ,his motive1 might    
well have put all these questions to    
,him with a sincere and conscientious   
desire to serve4 ,and yet this doubter1 
with all his conscientious kindness1    
would have been blind and stupid4 ,for  
only the self-righteous or the morally  
stupid could fail to understand that1 in
 healing a sick man on the ,sabbath day1
 our ,lord was establishing a new       
precedent of a truer and deeper         
obedience for all mankind4 ,the         
,pharisees were convinced of their own  
goodness2 it would not have occurred to 
them as possible that they were narrow1 
provincial1 and self-righteous4 ,they   

would not have admitted for an instant  
the possibility of any circumstances    
under which it might be right to perform
 a radical cure on the ,sabbath day2 and
 they persuaded themselves that they    
were doing ,god service when they       
subjected to an ignominious execution   
the man who had so roused all their     
personal and selfish antagonism4 ,the   
,pharisees were hopelessly unable to    
understand ,him1 but that was because of
 their own blindness4 ,in laying down   
the principle that the ,sabbath was made
 for man and not man for the ,sabbath1  
our ,lord was expressing an eternal     
truth1 not only to the world of ,his own
 time but to the world of all ages4  ,to
 associate the idea of a man of the     
world with a knowledge of its dark      
places and shallow forms alone1 tends to
 belittle and degrade our conception of 
the world2 whereas the world1 so far    
from being only dark or shallow1 is well
 worth knowing and serving1 provided it 
is made to serve1 in its turn1 all that 

is vigorous and wholesome in man4 ,we   
should recognize the beauty and power of
 the things of this world as servants to
 our highest law2 it is only the        
perversion of those things that is to be
 renounced4  ,the true man of the world 
understands perverted human             
nature1--from the gourmand to the keen  
political sharper2 he is a man who is   
never deceived by appearances1 and who  
sees the real character beneath its     
external polish2 a man who1 with his    
clearer understanding1 takes each       
perversion at its true value1           
understands the ,iagos and the ,don     
,juans equally well1 with no slightest  
taste for either4 ,they are all forms of
 disease to him4 ,he can trace ,iago's  
villainy to its own destruction and ,don
 ,juan's sensuality to its worse than   
satiety4  ,again1 a true man of the     
world is a man who knows1 and loves1 and
 is a part of all the wholesomeness in  
the world2 a man who is quickly at home 
in every variety of good form1 because  

the instincts of a gentleman are the    
same all the world over1 although       
customs may differ entirely2 a man who1 
while accustomed to all conventions and 
respecting them where they properly     
belong1 is easily and happily at home   
without them2 a man who1 while          
preferring fine instincts as well as    
strong characters in his fellow men1 is 
so alive to the best in human nature    
that he can find the gold thread        
anywhere in the wax1 if there is a gold 
thread there2 a man whose thoughts are  
so much at home in fresh air that he at 
once detects a close or tainted         
atmosphere1 but can keep the unpleasant 
sensation to himself2 who never intrudes
 his love of fresh air upon others1 but1
 being surrounded by it himself1 enjoys 
it habitually and as a matter of course4
 ,such a man can never be caught        
unawares2 he is a gentleman in all      
emergencies1 because he cannot be       
otherwise than himself1 and he never    
appears what he is not4  ,a true man of 

the world is not of the world primarily1
 although he serves the world and is    
served by it2 it is to him always a     
means to a higher end1--never an end in 
itself4 ,it was of true men of the world
 that the ,lord spoke when ,he said1 ,i 
pray not that ,thou shouldest take them 
out of the world1 but that ,thou        
shouldest keep them from the evil6      
,,iii   ,from the point of view of good 
we can see and understand evil1 but from
 the point of view of evil we can       
neither see nor understand real         
goodness4 ,a man to understand the world
 must be in the process of gaining his  
freedom from its evils4 ,he must be     
learning to live according to universal 
and interior standards1 not according to
 the standards of a special time1 or of 
the people who happen to be about him2  
and1 in the process1 he will learn that 
faithfulness to his own sincere         
perception of universal truth will lead 
him eventually into true harmony with   
the best in others4 ,we know of only one

 man in the history of the world who    
lived his whole life in a manner        
consistent with his highest standards4  
,the world is a great1 well-kept school4
 ,no one who believes in immortality can
 possibly doubt that the short space of 
time we are here is meant for           
training1--training to prepare us for   
our work hereafter1 whatever that may   
be1 by doing our work here well4 ,if we 
start with the belief that the world is 
a school1 and that we do not want to    
stay in the primary class1 but that we  
want to go through all the classes and  
to graduate honorably1--if that         
conviction is strong in our minds1 it is
 astonishing to realize what a new      
aspect life will have for us4 ,in       
general and in every detail life will be
 full of living interest4 ,no trouble   
will be too hard to bear2 there will be 
no circumstances that we would run away 
from4 ,we shall want to learn all our   
lessons1 to pass all our examinations1  
and to get the living power for use to  

others which is the logical result4  ,to
 love his neighbor as himself1 a man    
must be able truly to sympathize with   
his neighbor and to see through his     
neighbor's eyes4 ,by this ,i do not mean
 that the neighbor's point of view must 
be his own1 but that he should be able  
to understand it as if it were his own4 
,if a man does this1 he can understand  
the wrong or the right of it much more  
clearly2 and can1 when advisable1 modify
 his own point of view according to his 
neighbor's4 ,one can easily recognize   
the advantage it is to a doctor1 a      
lawyer1 a minister1 or a business man1  
to be able and willing always to grasp  
the point of view of other people4 ,a   
doctor makes up his mind as to the best 
course to take in regard to his patient4
 ,the patient tells him a long story    
describing his own state of mind1 which 
seems to the doctor1 according to his   
own experience1 entirely ridiculous4 ,if
 he excludes all appreciation of his    
patient's point of view and holds       

harshly to his own ideas1 he loses the  
most important means for performing a   
perfect cure4 ,if he listens            
attentively1 and earnestly tries to     
appreciate what may be good in his      
patient's ideas1 so that the patient    
feels his sympathy1 an opportunity is   
thus opened to lead the patient         
gradually to common sense4 ,in so far as
 the physician closes his mind to his   
patient's point of view1 in so far he is
 narrow and lacking in the true spirit  
of a man of the world4  ,a good1        
clear-headed lawyer should understand   
not only his client's point of view1 but
 also that of his opponent4 ,a man can  
never lose his own ground by truly      
throwing himself on the side of his     
antagonist4 ,an all-round               
clear-headedness is a necessity to the  
best growth in us of true principles4   
,when a man's eye is single his whole   
body will be full of light1 and such    
light penetrates far and wide within and
 along the whole horizon1 and shows     

characters1 affairs1 and circumstances1 
for what they really are4 ,but no man's 
eye can be single unless he takes a     
clear1 unprejudiced view of his fellow  
men in all phases and varieties of life4
 ,the very large number and variety of  
people who come steadily for help to a  
physician or minister receive the       
greatest help when the physician or     
minister understands the world entirely 
without prejudice4 ,a quiet             
understanding of human nature1 and a    
brave1 gentle manner of dealing with    
others is one of the greatest blessings 
that can come to any man4  ,it is       
absolutely impossible to rid ourselves  
of prejudice without at the same time   
gaining freedom from self-love4 ,if a   
man is favorably prejudiced in a certain
 direction1 it is because there is      
something in the opposite direction     
which offends his selfishness4 ,to gain 
freedom from the prejudice he must see  
and acknowledge heartily the selfishness
 in himself which is at its root4 ,this 

is often a difficult thing to do1 for a 
prejudice may have come to us through   
the selfish egotism of some far-away    
ancestor1 and may have become rooted in 
our own personality before we realized  
its true nature4  ,to be a man of the   
world one must be able to understand the
 world1--not three or four corners of   
it1 but the whole of it4 ,this expansion
 of mind and soul is possible to every  
man who will first understand himself1  
and no man can understand himself who is
 blindly indulging his own selfishness4 
,every day we are seeing people who are 
living and acting in the grossest       
selfishness and they do not know it4    
,such people sometimes frighten those   
who are observing them4  ,if ,john      
,smith1 ,i say to myself1 is the human  
beast that ,i see him to be1 and does   
not know it1 perhaps ,i am unconsciously
 just as brutal as ,john1 and do not    
know it2 and if ,i am1 how can ,i find  
it out8  ,we must have the habit of     
first casting the beam out of our own   

eye1 before we can be ready to help take
 the mote from our brother's eye2 and   
the only possible way to be sure of     
finding ourselves out1 is to be quietly1
 willingly1 open to criticism2 to take  
every criticism1 not with a desire to   
prove ourselves right1 but with an      
earnest desire to find out and act upon 
the truth4 ,i do not mean necessarily to
 invite criticism1--it will come fast   
enough without invitation1--but to      
welcome it when it appears1 and to try  
at once to see ourselves with the eyes  
of our critics4  ,so simple and         
straightforward is the road to travel1  
when we sincerely want to become true   
men of the world1 that the expansion of 
heart and mind resulting from a steady  
walking upon this road must seem        
impossible to worldly men4 ,and yet the 
narrowness of worldly men is in its     
essence similar to the narrowness of the
 dwellers in a small1 gossiping country 
town4 ,the worldly men have more        
superficial knowledge than the          

inhabitants of the country town1 but    
they do not necessarily have any        
stronger grasp on the world-wide        
principles of human nature4 ,worldliness
 is the love of ease and the pride of   
life upon a low plane of commonplace    
existence1 but a true knowledge of the  
world requires a higher elevation4  ,the
 ascent of narrow paths and steep       
inclines leads to the mountain top2     
thence the outlook is wide1 and the     
heights and depths of the landscape take
 their proper places in their true      
relation to each other4 ,the            
single-minded drudgery and toil which   
produces character leads also to the    
wisdom of the seer4 ,only from the point
 of view of unselfish love and truth can
 we get a well-balanced and extended    
view of the heights and depths and      
commonplaces of the world4  ,we have    
seen that a man1 to know the world1 must
 know and understand its individuals and
 types4 ,we have seen that it is out of 
the question to understand other        

individuals1 so long as we are clogged  
by our own selfishness or prejudice4 ,we
 know that1 to understand the point of  
view of another person1 we must be      
clear1 open-minded1 and well grounded in
 true principles4 ,we cannot understand 
another person's point of view truly    
when we are swayed and blinded by its   
influence1 so that it sweeps us off our 
feet and takes possession of us in spite
 of ourselves4 ,we must have true       
standards to judge others by1 and those 
must be standards which we have tried   
and proved1 over and over1 for          
ourselves4  ,at once the most           
interesting and the most profitable     
character-study in the world is the life
 of the one man whose life was          
consistently faithful to a standard     
which was universally true and all ,his 
own1 and that standard ,he has given us 
for ours4 ,many of us fail in our       
interpretation of it1 but1 if we work   
diligently to try it and to prove it1   
and are openly willing and glad to      

acknowledge whenever we have            
misinterpreted it1 we shall be steadily 
enlightened as to its true meaning4     
,the delight of applying the laws of    
science and of seeing them work1 the    
positive joy of watching the certain    
result of a well-managed scientific     
experiment is known to many a chemist or
 electrician4 ,but the joy of testing   
the practical working of spiritual laws 
should be deeper1 and more quiet1 and   
more expanding than all other delights2 
for the spiritual law1 if it exists at  
all1 must underlie all material law4    
,just as our problems in chemistry or in
 physics must fail over and over before 
we have the quiet satisfaction of seeing
 them work1 so must we go through test  
after test before we can be firmly      
established in all the laws of human    
relations4  ,the standard of character  
and life represented by the idea of the 
man of the world has been dwarfed by a  
superficial notion of the meaning of the
 world4 ,the world means many things to 

many men1 and these different meanings  
are of various degrees of truth and     
falsehood2 but we shall find that1      
generally speaking1 they are more and   
more true in proportion as the people   
who hold them are possessed of vigorous 
character4 ,in art and literature we    
know that the greatest truth and the    
deepest beauty is that which appeals at 
all times to all men4 ,it appeals to the
 universal human heart and mind1 and    
thus it is inconceivable that the human 
race should ever tire of ,shakespere1 or
 ,dante1 or the ,bible4 ,such books1    
whatever personal opinions or beliefs we
 may attach to them1 are universally    
acceptable to all men1 because they     
appeal to common human experience and   
apply the principles of irresistible    
human logic4 ,they are the books of the 
world4  ,the world itself is an organism
 corresponding to that of the individual
 man1 and the particular individual     
whose heart and mind lives and thinks   
most nearly in harmony with the best    

life and thought of the world is its    
truest citizen4 ,on the other hand1 the 
individual whose motives and interests  
in life are confined to the narrowest   
circle of experience represents the     
extreme type of provincialism4 ,the     
difference between these two extremes is
 not a matter of long1 varied1 or       
conventional experience1 but of         
experience in those elements of human   
nature which are at its root and not at 
its surface4 ,the statesman1 the        
capitalist1 the experienced traveller1  
although they may have intercourse with 
men in large classes and masses1 may be 
essentially petty in the foundations of 
their character4 ,these1 then1 are not  
men of the world in the true sense2 for1
 if they were1 we should have to mean by
 the world numerical or mechanical      
conceptions of men1 purely intellectual 
conceptions of their thoughts1 or       
geographical ideas regarding the        
inhabitants of the earth's surface4     
,none of these things has any universal 

quality1 unless it is united to the     
power of human character and passion1   
which carries weight with all men at all
 times and in all places4 ,the          
inhabitant of a country village may be1 
according to his quality1 either a man  
of the village or a man of the world4   
,it depends upon his breadth of mind1   
his largeness of heart1 and the depth to
 which his character will absorb the    
best results of his experience4         
,whatever is purely local1 without being
 rooted in a general human              
need1--whatever is purely personal1     
without being founded on a universal    
human principle1--whatever is purely    
sectarian or national1 or pertaining to 
a class or particular clique of persons1
 without being rooted in the same       
general human interests and laws1 must1 
to that extent1 be petty1 provincial1   
trivial1 and comparatively useless4     
,character is1 and always has been1 the 
motive power of the world2 and only     
through finding his own development of  

character in the service of the world   
can the individual man find his         
appointed place as its citizen4 ,there  
is no law higher than that which is     
human1 in the sense that it is the only 
guide to the growth of what is best in  
human life4 ,this essential human       
law1--which is so different from that   
which worldly self-interest has         
organized for its own protection1--is   
that which man derives from the ,divine4
 ,it is the world as made and sustained 
by the heart and mind of ,god of which  
man must be the citizen1 and only as    
such is he truly a ,man of the ,world4