ONE DAY, at a great hospital, I watched a work of human devotion – doctors, nurses, and therapists lab technician to salvage the badly wounded of war. I was impressed. I must have had stars in my eyes when I met a neighbour and told him what I had seen.
He brought me down to earth fast. “Yes, but did you also look into the waste and incompetence there?” he demanded, “Why, you should hear some of the stories I’ve heard…..”
“Maybe I should, but now, if you don’t mind. I’m not an investigating commission, just a citizen who has seen something worthy of praise. Don’t I have the right to approve?”
“See here,” I accused him. “You act as though being enthusiastic is a sin or a crime.”
He smiled condescendingly. “Just don’t let it make a fool of you. Don’t be taken in. Remember, nothing’s as good as it seems.”
He spoke, I have since realized, not for himself but for our times. We are in the days of “yes, but,” the era of refusal to praise.
Great things are happening in every aspect of our lives; yet it is fashionable to minimize them. When you mention our shining achievements in science, someone will counter with, “Yes, but we’ve also developed the H-bomb.” Speak of what we have done in medicine and the retort is likely to be, “Yes, but you heard about the after-effects of the antibiotics?”
Something has gone sour only inAmerica
How did we get to the point when we shun enthusiasm, distrust a normal pride? I believe it began in the 1920 when the dream of a world made safe for democracy was shattered. Out of the great disillusion came sordid skepticism. The word “debunk” was coined, became part of our language and thinking. With glee we dragged our heroes down smashing their toys. We asked about everything. “What’s wrong with the picture?”
There are imperfections in every picture. But there is often beauty and grandeur as well, which we have a right to admire without glancing furtively over our shoulders to make sure we’re not being taken in. For that is our dread – may we may be trapped by our own enthusiasms.
It is certainly true that time after time we have been taken in. Promoters have heaped their superlatives on much that is flashy and cheap: fads, ideas, personalities have been given such dazzling acclaim that often it is hard to tell true from false. And men we have trusted have proved to have feet of clay.
We do well to be cautious. But, having found what to us is admirable, why not have the courage to stay that it is? On the contrary, it seems popular to spread “the low-down,” the inside story about everything. That proves we’re in the know, a step ahead of the gullible who merely accept and admire.
I was speaking recently with a friend about a famous American who had been the head of an important educational institution.
“He was in a fog all the time he was there,” my friend said. “Never once knew the score.”
I didn’t agree. I told him one single thing which that man done, with-fanfare – a constructive achievement which had benefited all education.
He raised his eyebrows. “Come, come now. Has his publicity man been talking to you?”
Part of our population blindly accepts the propagandist’s picture of public figures – and another part just as blindly rejects.
A Swiss journalist who had reported world news in every country ofEurope all through the 1950’s made a surprising observation to me. “I have met the heads of every government,” he said, “and have talked with all of them. I found each one entirely sincere, believing he was doing the best that the country could be done for his country.”
That isn’t the portrait at which we have become accustomed to look. The fumblings, the failures are held up to view, not the man-killing burdens, the grave decisions, and the straining sincerity. The man in the street – he who never had to make a big decision and therefore never had the chance to make a big mistake – plays grandstand quarterback to history. To him, no man in public life and authority remains a hero or even an honest tryer.
Then there’s Big Business. That too, gets its share of the sour grimaces. Is it cold, heartless, and impersonal? A small boy who wished to transport his dog on a train which had no baggage car thinks otherwise. His proudest possession is a railroad pass, written out for “Brownie” by a vice-president of the railroad.
And take that gross gross current slander against the whole human race, that no one does anything for anyone without an ulterior motive. A friend of mine befriended a stranger, an attractive, sensitive girl who was alone in the city and was in serious trouble. Her friendship consisted of standing by, feeding the girl now and then, seeing her frequently. The girl was grateful.
When her father finally came, she told him about her friend and was shocked at his answer. “Why did that do that? What does she expect to get out of it? No one ever does anything for you for nothing, you know.”
Few things are more rare than the man or woman who is wholly evil.
Every case of double-dealing and callousness can be matched by one, at least, of kindness and helpfulness. Is it naïve to mention them or to refuse to join the wailing chorus that calls the youth of today the “beat-up generation,” when it isn’t that at all?
“I wouldn’t exactly call myself. “I did my stint in the war like most of the guys. I came home; got married. We had our first baby when I got my job. We have since bought a nice house – not a mansion but it’s better one than my parents ever had. We’ve got two children, a car, and we figure we’re doing all right.”
Match him against the young woman whom I found with her head in her hands, whimpering. “It’s all so confused and hopeless. Your generation has left us a horrible mess.”
The last fifty years have not been altogether one of defeat and despair. There has been betterment. Our aged people enjoy the dignity of Social Security earned in their taxpaying lives. The right of each man to freedom from hunger has become part of our creed. Children no longer toil of factories and mines; their fathers work hours a week. Our schools and our health have improved; our homes are more comfortable.
True, criticism is healthy; but praise is even more so. Like the sun, it brings needed warmth in which we expand and grow. We begin to believe in ourselves because others believe in us and, as a consequence, we gain strength and faith.
Praise is the hand up the ladder. Without it we stumble and halt in half-achievements or defeat. It is the balm which takes off the rough edges of living and gives our existence grace and meaning.
He brought me down to earth fast. “Yes, but did you also look into the waste and incompetence there?” he demanded, “Why, you should hear some of the stories I’ve heard…..”
“Maybe I should, but now, if you don’t mind. I’m not an investigating commission, just a citizen who has seen something worthy of praise. Don’t I have the right to approve?”
“See here,” I accused him. “You act as though being enthusiastic is a sin or a crime.”
He smiled condescendingly. “Just don’t let it make a fool of you. Don’t be taken in. Remember, nothing’s as good as it seems.”
He spoke, I have since realized, not for himself but for our times. We are in the days of “yes, but,” the era of refusal to praise.
Great things are happening in every aspect of our lives; yet it is fashionable to minimize them. When you mention our shining achievements in science, someone will counter with, “Yes, but we’ve also developed the H-bomb.” Speak of what we have done in medicine and the retort is likely to be, “Yes, but you heard about the after-effects of the antibiotics?”
Something has gone sour only in
How did we get to the point when we shun enthusiasm, distrust a normal pride? I believe it began in the 1920 when the dream of a world made safe for democracy was shattered. Out of the great disillusion came sordid skepticism. The word “debunk” was coined, became part of our language and thinking. With glee we dragged our heroes down smashing their toys. We asked about everything. “What’s wrong with the picture?”
There are imperfections in every picture. But there is often beauty and grandeur as well, which we have a right to admire without glancing furtively over our shoulders to make sure we’re not being taken in. For that is our dread – may we may be trapped by our own enthusiasms.
It is certainly true that time after time we have been taken in. Promoters have heaped their superlatives on much that is flashy and cheap: fads, ideas, personalities have been given such dazzling acclaim that often it is hard to tell true from false. And men we have trusted have proved to have feet of clay.
We do well to be cautious. But, having found what to us is admirable, why not have the courage to stay that it is? On the contrary, it seems popular to spread “the low-down,” the inside story about everything. That proves we’re in the know, a step ahead of the gullible who merely accept and admire.
I was speaking recently with a friend about a famous American who had been the head of an important educational institution.
“He was in a fog all the time he was there,” my friend said. “Never once knew the score.”
I didn’t agree. I told him one single thing which that man done, with-fanfare – a constructive achievement which had benefited all education.
He raised his eyebrows. “Come, come now. Has his publicity man been talking to you?”
Part of our population blindly accepts the propagandist’s picture of public figures – and another part just as blindly rejects.
A Swiss journalist who had reported world news in every country of
That isn’t the portrait at which we have become accustomed to look. The fumblings, the failures are held up to view, not the man-killing burdens, the grave decisions, and the straining sincerity. The man in the street – he who never had to make a big decision and therefore never had the chance to make a big mistake – plays grandstand quarterback to history. To him, no man in public life and authority remains a hero or even an honest tryer.
Then there’s Big Business. That too, gets its share of the sour grimaces. Is it cold, heartless, and impersonal? A small boy who wished to transport his dog on a train which had no baggage car thinks otherwise. His proudest possession is a railroad pass, written out for “Brownie” by a vice-president of the railroad.
And take that gross gross current slander against the whole human race, that no one does anything for anyone without an ulterior motive. A friend of mine befriended a stranger, an attractive, sensitive girl who was alone in the city and was in serious trouble. Her friendship consisted of standing by, feeding the girl now and then, seeing her frequently. The girl was grateful.
When her father finally came, she told him about her friend and was shocked at his answer. “Why did that do that? What does she expect to get out of it? No one ever does anything for you for nothing, you know.”
Few things are more rare than the man or woman who is wholly evil.
Every case of double-dealing and callousness can be matched by one, at least, of kindness and helpfulness. Is it naïve to mention them or to refuse to join the wailing chorus that calls the youth of today the “beat-up generation,” when it isn’t that at all?
“I wouldn’t exactly call myself. “I did my stint in the war like most of the guys. I came home; got married. We had our first baby when I got my job. We have since bought a nice house – not a mansion but it’s better one than my parents ever had. We’ve got two children, a car, and we figure we’re doing all right.”
Match him against the young woman whom I found with her head in her hands, whimpering. “It’s all so confused and hopeless. Your generation has left us a horrible mess.”
The last fifty years have not been altogether one of defeat and despair. There has been betterment. Our aged people enjoy the dignity of Social Security earned in their taxpaying lives. The right of each man to freedom from hunger has become part of our creed. Children no longer toil of factories and mines; their fathers work hours a week. Our schools and our health have improved; our homes are more comfortable.
True, criticism is healthy; but praise is even more so. Like the sun, it brings needed warmth in which we expand and grow. We begin to believe in ourselves because others believe in us and, as a consequence, we gain strength and faith.
Praise is the hand up the ladder. Without it we stumble and halt in half-achievements or defeat. It is the balm which takes off the rough edges of living and gives our existence grace and meaning.
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