| Show NO DEADLINE IN YEARS for the reaper by frank P Lits litschert hert every once in a while some more or less expert authority gives us data on the age at which men cease to be useful in certain of the activities of life one of the latest opinions of this kind comes from dr cloyd heck marvin head of george washington university located in the national capital dr marvin is quoted by the washington star as declaring that 45 is the age at which most men have lost touch with the new developments of the world they live in and are therefore unfit for executive positions in which they deal with youth that the mental attitude of most of the men and women of forty five or older is unfit for gov governing eming youth dr marvin is quoted further as follows men at 45 have reached a philosophical complacency out of lian harmony nony with the energetic enthusiasms of thel the psychological developing youth they do the work at it hand in an efficient manner but lack the imaginative and adventurous advent crous erous enthusiasm of youth it is this attitude which handicaps them in their dealings with young even their own sons and daughters the challenge of youth auth to middle j l age is a constant one to meet chiq challenge we must keep day by day dav adapting ourselves to the new in life whether it be social psychological or mechanical ever renewing our youth and keeping abreast of the generations we are bringing up for leadership tomorrow picking a definite number of years as the border line of middle age or old age may be an interesting procedure but it is not exactly precise for the simple reason that old age cannot be estimated in years all of us know or have known some men of twenty five who are aged who were I 1 entirely out of step with everything and we have known many more of thirty thirty five and forty in the same category on the other hand all of us are acquainted with men who are arc sixty sixty five and seventy who are still full of the enthusiasm of youth who are more in touch with real youth its aspirations and its ideals than some of the young old men of thirty for this reason it may be maintained that the philosophical complacency of the lack of imagination and not the result altogether of age as measured in years but in the physical and mental makeup of tho the individual for instance christopher columbus was beyond the deadline set by bv dr marvin when he set forth on the greatest adventure in the history of mankind and performed a deed which is admittedly the greatest human feat in all history and to quote a recent editorial in the san francisco chronicle abraham lincoln was approaching 50 when lie he made his house divided speech which first lifted him out of the class of local politicians foch was 67 when he was made chief of the allied armies at the same time clemenceau ten years older was the outstanding allied statesman hinden burg now in his eighty second yar year is the rock of the german republic and hindenburg if we are to believe press dispatches is the idol i and inspiration of his grandchildren and when it comes to a matter of j imagination who can outpoint that grand old man thomas E edison dison now more than eighty and henry ford who at the age of 67 had the imagination and youthful enthusiasm to i spend millions in the development of a brand now new motor car i it can be admitted that the man whether he he be thirty forty five or sixty five who has become old in spirit and devoid of imagination and enthusiasm thusia sm for progress is unfit to be the leader of the youth of the land just as he is unfit for most moat otter other things in the same category however we must place the mental youth of twenty five or fifty five who takes on all the new things in life whether it be social psychological or mechanical without weighing them in the light of experience and common sense there is no deadline in years for such a man he may be twenty five forty five or seventy five and stand as an inspiration and leader for the youth of the land or he may be too old at thirty at forty or sixty to serve sene the laudable pur purpose |
