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Show : I The TOWN DOCTOR j (The Doctor of Towns) Says - THE TRUTH OFTEN HURTS. To tell a man of his good points seldom, if ever, tends toward his betterment. bet-terment. It may sort of perk him up a bit, but iti makes him vain, and always al-ways lowers his resistance in the battle of doing things but throwing him off guard. Flattery is an ensnaring quality and leaves a very uangerous impression. It swells a man's imagination, and his head as well; it entertains his vanity and drives him to doting upon his own person. Seme communities get so full of etro and become so puffed up from '"soft soap" and blarney handed out by individuals who usually have an axe to grind, that the residents think theirs is the essence of perfection. ''Stuck up" communities are as bad as "stuck up" people. They get so cocksure of themselves that they are blind as a bat to everybody's imperfections imperfec-tions but their own. When a community gets to the point that all it is interested in is conversation conver-sation about its own wonderfulness, that community is due for a fall. It is a serious mistake to court only the society of those who please. It doesn't always pay to choose friends altogether from those who flatter. The ones who are truthful will be of real benefit, for they will tell you the truth things you ought to know. The truth often hurts, and there are some who are not big enough to take) it. Such people are small minded, they wince at pain, get sore, sulk and pout, overlooking the fact that the 'real test of qualities for permanent success is ability to go in by criticism. The man who seeks to better himself accepts constructive critcisms as such; he offers no alibis and doesn't try to "crawfish." Yours is a good town no question about that. It has many fine features, fea-tures, many attractions, a multitude of good, hardworking boosters; in fact, it's an even chance that your community has advantages that, because you are so familiar with them, you lose sight of, under-est;mate and fail to appreciate. But it is the things that repel that retard the progress those things that invite will take care of themselves. Copyright, 1929, A. D. Stone. Reproduction prohibited in whole or in part. |