Show uncommon uncommon sense john male a bell syndicate ct ce no there Is almost a sermon in the line below which was written by one great poet in his trans regrets of another and fears great poet in my esti estimation matlon the mod era ern poet mr air ritz fitzgerald gerald consider considerably ably improved upon the original text by mr ur I 1 can read mr sir khay yam the tile kerstan only in translations but I 1 think that his whole poem owes most of its celebrity to the scot but let letb b get back to the line past regrets and future fears does not flat express the whole hole life of mankind whatever we are whoever we are we never can be free from remorse for wasted hours perhaps for lives mis spent whatever our beliefs about the here after may be we can never think of what tomorrow may bring without little twinges of uneas uneasiness mess well enough for mr air bryant to tell us so live 11 ve that when thy summons comes to join 11 I 1 but how bow few of us have lived that way how few N believe lieve that being what we are we ever bould have lived that way well what to do about it as the song says all that we can do about it Is to try a little harder from now on to bet ter our way of living a little to be more forbearing less envious less ghen git en to cursing the luck that has done us mean tricks now and then what if it has chasn t it been a pretty fair world on the whole chasn t it given us by and large about what we deserved what about past regrets and future fears I 1 et s look that line over we can t do anything about past regrets so they are out but we can do something about future fears even if they we are the fears of 0 old age which w aich youth does not entertain but which old age dwells upon sadly as it tt gets toward the lean and pantaloon what has been Is over it cannot be helped it cannot be changed people still on the good side of sixty have time to make a few amends I 1 know men of seventy who are try ing eagerly to atone tor for some of their errors and getting away with it it Is easier to avoid errors at sixty or seventy than it is at twenty one people are wiser then and more proof against temptations but there will come a time well what of that there Is still life and where there Is life there is hope there are still chances to do pleas ant things tor for other people to be kindly to be cheerful to be comforting I 1 know at least a dozen men who because of a sudden shift in the finan caal condIt condition lon of tal tafe tale e it the country lost most of the for standing up tunes they supposed they had and were obliged to go to work for other men I 1 know that this hurt them I 1 know that it was extremely hard for them to see the fruits of many years of hard and intelligent work go for nothing but I 1 have yet to hear bear one of them complain the ability to take punishment standing up is not so rare as many people have imagined I 1 find very few whiners among those I 1 know to have been hit extremely hard bard in the money pocket and I 1 am beginning to believe that the majority of the fighting men and worn n of the country have more nerve than they have been credited with this country has weathered several wars one of which the war of 1812 was lost or as good as lost the south after the war between the states suffered a terrific blow but not only did it recover completely but the bitterness that was en gendered by that terrific struggle has completely passed away ours Is not an easy life statesmen do not always know what should be done when the country gets into straits but as a rule they try their best and when the people are convinced of that they stand behind them never doubt that there will be more crises to face and overcome during your life time and mine but they will be met and sur mounted and all the while you will find and people carrying on with little complaint and calmly going to work to recover what they have lost dont don I 1 get the idea into your head that this nation will unit not be able to recover reco ve from any troubles it U has suffered or is likely to suffer its history shows what it can do and what it will do in the future I 1 am no but I 1 do believe that this nation Is moving forward to a brilliant future and while the battle flags may never be furled for ever there will be steadier progress toward happiness and peace v ith every year that goes by if you think that you had any reason to be downhearted during the past few years look back as far as balley forge and you will be convinced that you are wrong |