'' I 
 
 \ I
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 OF 
 
 SCHOOL BOYS 
 
 BY JEREMIAH W. JENKS, PH.D., LL.D. 
 
 Professor of Economics and Politics, 
 Cornell University 
 
 ASSOCIATION PRESS 
 
 NEW YORK: 124 EAST 28-m STREET 
 
 LONDON: 47 PATERNOSTER Row, E. C. 
 
 1913
 
 Copyright 1C08 by 
 The International Committee 
 
 of 
 Young Men's Christian Associations 
 
 Copyright. 1910, by 
 The International Committee 
 
 of 
 Toung Men's Christian Associations
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CA T TFORNiA 
 SANTA BARBARA 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Introduction 7 
 
 I. Relation of the School to Life . 13 
 
 II. Custom : Habit 23 
 
 III. Societies : Cliques : Fraternities ... 33 
 
 IV. Intoxicating Liquors and Tobacco 41 
 
 V. Profanity and Slang 51 
 
 VI. ^ Lying 59 
 
 VII. Cheating and Graft 67 
 
 VIII. Gambling and Betting 75 
 
 IX. The Sex Problem 83 
 
 X. Attitude Toward Work 91 
 
 XL The Self-Centered Man 99 
 
 XII. Social Service in the Community . . 109 
 
 XIII. Politics 119 
 
 XIV. Success 127 
 
 XV. Religion . 135
 
 BOOKS OF REFERENCE 
 
 Emerson, Ralph Waldo: Essays. 
 
 Bacon, Lord of Verulam : Essays. 
 
 Bible. 
 
 Mathews, William : Getting On in the World. 
 
 Smiles, Samuel: Self-Help. 
 
 Smiles, Samuel: Character. 
 
 Smiles, Samuel: Duty. 
 
 Lowell, James Russell: Essays.
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 1. These brief outlines of discussions have been 
 prepared at the request of Mr. David R. Porter, 
 secretary in charge of the work in preparatory and 
 high schools of the International Committee of the 
 Young Men's Christian Associations, and to Mr. Por- 
 ter I owe many valuable suggestions. The method 
 of treatment, as well as the topics themselves, have 
 been the outcome of experiences as a boy, as a teacher, 
 as a father. At the age when most boys are in 
 the preparatory and high schools these great funda- 
 mental moral questions must come before them. They 
 will be thought of; they will be answered. It is of 
 vital importance that they be answered wisely. 
 
 2. Sometimes parents and teachers have thought it 
 best to impose upon young men their opinions, and 
 to attempt to compel them to form right habits under 
 the pressure of authority; but an action compelled 
 has, relatively speaking, little educative force. At 
 times these questions are ignored, it being thought 
 that as the result of experience and of the best pub- 
 lic opinion the right answers will eventually be 
 found. In very many cases this is doubtless true, 
 but very generally at a great waste of energy and 
 often thru many sad, if not seriously demoralizing, 
 experiences. The only safe way, and even that will 
 not always be found effective, is for the boys to 
 think thru these questions for themselves. When, 
 as the result of deliberate consideration, possibly 
 given under suggestive guidance, a boy is once con- 
 vinced as to what is right and wise and determines
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 that lie will follow wisdom and righteousness, there 
 need be little fear fcr him thereafter. In this course ; 
 as far as possible, the attempt has been made to fol- 
 low out this last plan, and to guide the boys in the 
 way of independent, wise thinking. 
 
 3. Not much reading has been suggested. In addi- 
 tion to their school work not much reading can be 
 expected of boys. A little from the Bible, a little 
 from two or three thoughtful, interesting writers, 
 especially Emerson and Bacon, who are likely to 
 stimulate independent thinking instead of attempt- 
 ing to impose their views, have been considered suf- 
 ficient. On special topics where technical knowledge 
 is required, the selection of reading has been left to 
 the discretion of the leader of the group of boys, 
 who knows his men and their local environment 
 and who can best judge just what should be done. 
 
 4, These questions are not primarily religious. In 
 none of our states is the teaching of religion in 
 schools formally recognized. It is sometimes for- 
 bidden, and no effort should be made to bring in 
 surreptitiously topics that are openly by law for- 
 bidden. On the other hand it must be recognized, 
 as we do recognize in most of our state constitutions, 
 that religion, and especially the Christian religion, 
 is the foundation of most that is best in our morals 
 and in our social life to-day, and that the life of 
 Jesus has affected profoundly the views of western 
 civilization. Here and there this fact will appear 
 naturally in the lessons. It is well to have the boys 
 find an application of the principles which they 
 think out, in the lives and works of not merely great 
 religious teachers, but also of the great men in the 
 fields of business and politics. 
 
 8
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 5. Unless some care is taken by the teacher, the 
 boys may discuss these questions at considerable 
 length and perhaps even receive many stimulating 
 ideas without taking the trouble to formulate definite- 
 ly their own views. Moreover, unless some thought is 
 given to the work by the leader, the topics may be 
 d'scussed thoroly perhaps for an hour, but then will 
 be dropped from the minds of the boys. It will prob- 
 ably be best, therefore, for the leader near the close 
 of the day's discussion to take up the subject that 
 will follow at the next meeting, outline it briefly, ask 
 suggestive questions, and assign more or less formally 
 to different members of the group some of the topics 
 in the discussion of which they will be expected to 
 take the lead at the next meeting. In this way some 
 phase of the subject will lie in the boy's mind for a 
 week, and he will have an opportunity, if he wishes, 
 to talk it over with his friends and relatives, to read 
 about it, and somewhat definitely to formulate his own 
 opinions. 
 
 6. In order to secure precision in thinking and to 
 preserve a record of the suggestive thoughts of others, 
 blank leaves are inserted, so that the boys may put 
 down their thoughts systematically while preparing 
 for or at the time of the discussions. Such books, laid 
 away perhaps for a period of years, will often prove 
 suggestive, fruitful and helpful in later life. 
 
 7. It is of prime importance that the leader of the 
 group stand well in the confidence of the boys with 
 whom he is working. These questions are all life 
 questions. They all touch boys closely. They will 
 talk them over among themselves at any rate. It is 
 much better if the teacher can get them to talk 
 them over freely with him. He should not attempt to 
 
 9
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 force his own opinions upon the boys. He should 
 even, as far as possible, concede to the boys the 
 strength of their arguments when they differ from 
 him. On few of the questions under discussion is 
 there an absolute right or an absolute wrong; and 
 of greater importance than a conclusion that seems 
 to him right, is the acquirement by himself as well 
 as by the boys of a tolerant spirit. The man who 
 can secure the hearty good-will and liking of the 
 boys and their belief in his fairmindedness as well 
 as in his goodness of heart, has secured a hold that in 
 the long run will be worth far more than the inculca- 
 tion of any opinion. 
 
 10
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 OF 
 
 SCHOOL BOYS 
 
 JEREMIAH W. JENKS
 
 RELATION OF THE SCHOOL TO 
 LIFE
 
 "A boy is better unborn than untaught." EMER- 
 SON. 
 
 "Provided always the boy is teachable (for we are 
 not proposing to make a statue out of punk), foot- 
 ball, cricket, archery, swimming, skating, climbing, 
 fencing, riding, are lessons in the art of power, which 
 it is his main business to learn." EMERSON. 
 
 "He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own 
 soul; but he that heareth reproof getteth understand- 
 ing." PROVERBS, 15:32. 
 
 "Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears 
 to the words of knowledge." PROVERBS, 23:12. 
 
 REFERENCES 
 
 Emerson : Culture. 
 Mathews: Chap. 5. 
 Bacon: Of Youth and Age. 
 Matthew, 25,
 
 RELATION OF THE SCHOOL TO 
 LIFE 
 
 1. The opportunities for securing a good posi- 
 tion in business with a manufacturer, merchant, 
 lawyer, doctor, farmer, increase with the training 
 of the applicant. Most business men require let- 
 ters of recommendation from teachers, former em- 
 ployers, or others, who know regarding training 
 and experience. 
 
 In the Baldwin Locomotive Works at Philadel- 
 phia, for example, apprentices are classified in 
 three groups: those who have had a college 
 training ; those who have had a high school train- 
 ing; those who have had neither: and the wages 
 and the opportunities for advancement depend 
 upon this training. 
 
 2. The chances of success in business increase 
 with the training, altho, of course, in lines of 
 business in which much book-learning is not re- 
 quired, the training and discipline is rather that 
 of experience. Mr. Carnegie and Mr. Schwab, for 
 example, were very successful as steel manufactur- 
 ers, altho neither had a college training. Both, 
 however, are men of extraordinary ability who 
 have since acquired much literary skill from wide 
 reading and practice. ]t will be found usually 
 that the proportion of college men who have made 
 a great success in business is far beyond their pro- 
 portion in the community at large. 
 
 15
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 Business men without school training find them- 
 selves greatly hampered. I have known skilled 
 civil engineers to hire high school boys to correct 
 their English in preparing bids for contracts, and 
 a successful merchant to ask a college professor to 
 write him out a speech to be delivered before a 
 grocers' association. 
 
 3. The ease and success of work in college is 
 largely a matter of good preparation. A stu- 
 dent's first term in college usually fixes his status 
 thruout his course, altho the ablest men, if ham- 
 pered by poor preparation, may in the course of 
 time overcome the disadvantage. 
 
 4. Note the men in your home community who 
 have the greatest influence and the most respected 
 positions and see how many of them are men of 
 education. Is not the proportion of educated 
 men of influence far above that of the uneducated, 
 compared with their relative numbers in the com- 
 munity ? 
 
 Be careful, however, not to over-estimate the 
 value of school education. What is the source of 
 influence in the community of the strong men of 
 little school education? Is it wealth? Is it high 
 character? Is it a helpful spirit? 
 
 5. Our enjoyment of life comes largely from 
 the gratification of our tastes. A man who has a 
 taste for literature, or music, or art, or science, 
 has a source of enjoyment that others lack. His 
 life is so much the richer. 
 
 Why does not a taste for strong drink, a 
 
 16
 
 RELATION OF THE SCHOOL TO LIFE 
 
 source of enjoyment unknown to those who lack 
 it, have the same good effect? -If a pleasure short- 
 ens life or brings after it troubles and sorrows 
 that in the long run more than counterbalance 
 the enjoyment, is it wise to take that pleasure? 
 
 Is it wise to make one's life richer and better 
 by cultivating tastes of a higher type that give 
 enjoyment without evil results? What tastes? 
 
 6. The period of youth is often spoken of as the 
 time of happiness. But is this right? As one 
 grows older, if his life has been right, he usually 
 acquires some wealth, more influence, more power. 
 Does he not also gain added enjoyment? 
 
 Ought not the last ten years of life to be the 
 richest and best in experience, and in enjoyment? 
 
 7. The experiences of later life, however, de- 
 pend, of necessity, largely upon health, and char- 
 acter, and position- all of which are dependent 
 largely, if not primarily, upon the habits and 
 training of youth, and upon the associations made 
 then. The feeling that some boys have that they 
 will be good later, will join a church when old, 
 and will be reckless in youth, comes from mis- 
 taken views as to the real nature of the enjoy- 
 ments of a good life and of the likelihood of 
 changes of habit in later life. "As the twig is 
 bent the tree is inclined." 
 
 Is not, therefore, the school age perhaps the 
 period of greatest importance in life, tho not 
 the one that marks the culmination of either in- 
 fluence or enjoyment? 
 
 17
 
 18
 
 XftTSI
 
 NOTES 
 
 20
 
 NOTES
 
 II 
 
 CUSTOM : HABIT
 
 "We pray to be conventional. But the wary Hea- 
 ven takes care that we shall not be, if there is any- 
 thing good in you." EMERSON. 
 
 "Since custom is the principal magistrate of man's 
 life, let men by all means endeavor to obtain good 
 customs." BACON. 
 
 "Custom is most perfect when it beginneth in 
 young years." BACON. 
 
 "If a man on the Sabbath day receive circumcision, 
 that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye 
 amazed at me, because I have made a man every 
 whit whole on the Sabbath day?" 
 
 "Judge ye not according to appearance, but judge 
 righteous judgment." JOHN, 7:23, 24. 
 
 "And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the 
 commandment of God, that ye may keep your own 
 traditions." MARK, 7:9- 
 
 REFERENCES 
 
 Smiles: Character. Chap. 3. 
 Emerson: Manners. 
 Bacon: Of Custom and Education. 
 Ecclesiastes, 1 :2.
 
 II 
 
 CUSTOM: HABIT 
 
 1. Far more than we realize we are creatures 
 of custom. The style of our clothing, the type 
 of our houses, our focd, our amusements, our kind 
 of education, cur religion, are taken by most of 
 us from the customs of our time and country. 
 
 Many customs and styles had a use and meaning 
 originally which now have been lost. 
 
 Why does a Prince Albert coat have buttons 
 on the back? 
 
 Why do tailors usually put a notch in the collar 
 of the coat? 
 
 Why are most people in Italy Roman Catho- 
 lics ; in England Protestants? Is the difference 
 one of character? 
 
 2. There are certain advantages usually found 
 in following the customs of our fellows : 
 
 (a) Probably the customs are, or at any rate 
 have been, wise the result of experience. For 
 example, our houses and clothing are adapted to 
 our climate and to the season of the year. The 
 food which we customarily use is, probably, under 
 most circumstances, healthful. 
 
 (b) If one does not follow the usual style he is 
 looked upon as odd. He will be ridiculed. The 
 city boy is likely to laugh at the country boy as 
 boorish and uncultivated. The fact is, the customs 
 of the country boy are just as good and just as 
 sensible, but they are different. If the city boy 
 
 25
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 goes to the country and attempts to play the 
 part of a country boy, he is equally ridiculous. 
 I may laugh at a Chinaman because he is awkward 
 in using his fork and knife at table; the China- 
 man would probably be too courteous to laugh 
 at me because I could not use chopsticks. 
 
 (c) Our social customs, of whatever kind, are 
 likely to prevent misunderstandings, and hence 
 avoid difficulties. The position of the young man 
 and woman when waltzing is proper, only because 
 customary. Otherwise, would it be misunder- 
 stood ? 
 
 3. Owing to our lack of personal independence 
 we often follow customs to an unwise extent : 
 
 (a) Americans in tropical climates at times 
 wear heavy black coats and stiff shirts ; likewise 
 they retain the food and habits of a colder c]i- 
 mate. Many people, from pride, follow wedding 
 customs, funeral customs, and other ceremonies 
 at great cost and even injury to their families, 
 because they are too cowardly not to follow cus- 
 tom. 
 
 (b) In many instances custom prevents bene- 
 ficial action and even progress. Because a man 
 has not a customary evening suit, he refuses a 
 desirable invitation. Because a low mark in school 
 has become fashionable, thru the influence of some 
 careless, tho perhaps strong boys, poor work is 
 deliberately done. The custom of keeping the 
 Sabbath among the ancient Jews was so rigidly 
 fixed that it took the wonderful originality and 
 
 26
 
 CUSTOM : HABIT 
 
 independence of spirit of Jesus Christ even "to 
 do good on the Sabbath day." 
 
 (c) Much of our business and politics is car- 
 ried on in ways that are customary, but not the 
 best. Only the original man in business, if he is 
 also sensible, is the man who makes a great suc- 
 cess ; the common man makes a bare living or fails. 
 
 The large majority of voters follow their party 
 without thought ; this mental laziness is indirectly 
 the source of much political corruption. 
 
 (d) Many people are too cowardly even to do 
 right, if that involves a break with custom. Do 
 the majority of school boys learn to smoke, or 
 swear, or drink, because these things are nat- 
 ural, or because the boys have not the independ- 
 ence of character to defy custom ? 
 
 4. We are so constituted that by repetition an 
 action becomes a habit, and that is an important 
 matter for either good or evil. 
 
 (a) Habit has the very great advantage of 
 increasing skill and saving energy. It is only 
 thru habit that we can read without spelling out 
 words ; that a ball player gets his wonderful skill 
 so that he judges the position of a ball to a frac- 
 tion of an inch or a hundredth of a second. Thru 
 habit only can a person become accurate in the 
 use of figures or in reasoning. Success in every 
 line, physical, or mental, or even moral, is largely 
 dependent upon habit. 
 
 (b) The disadvantage lies in the difficulty of 
 breaking a bad habit. This can usually best be 
 
 27
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 done by substituting a good one. A great stride 
 forward is made toward success in any line when 
 we deliberately make ourselves create good habits 
 and break bad ones. There could be no better 
 exercise for a club than for each member to try 
 to break off some habit, even tho it be so slight a 
 thing as the use of a favorite slang word, and to 
 create some good habit, even tho it be so slight a 
 thing as to get to breakfast on time. The ex- 
 periences along both lines would serve to empha- 
 size both the difficulty of breaking a habit, and 
 the importance, and perhaps even the ease, of ac- 
 quiring a habit. 
 
 (c) There is perhaps no greater fault in stu- 
 dents than the lack of concentration of attention 
 and energy the habit of letting one's attention 
 be diverted by little things from the work in hand. 
 In order to get the control desirable to make a 
 habit at will, one should practice concentration 
 or attention upon the thing in hand, whether 
 work or play. A very able student fixed the 
 number of minutes to be assigned to preparing 
 each lesson, in order that during these few min- 
 utes, under pressure of necessity, the habit of 
 concentration might be formed. It is useful to 
 practice studying in the midst of a hubbub in 
 order to force on oneself the power of concentra- 
 tion. Concentration of attention and will is the 
 key to the control of habit. 
 
 28
 
 NOTES
 
 N OTE8 
 
 30
 
 NOTES
 
 Ill 
 
 SOCIETIES: CLIQUES: FRATERNITIES
 
 It; is always a practical difficulty with Clubs to 
 regulate the laws of selection so as to exclude per- 
 emptorily every social nuisance." EMERSON. 
 
 "it is possible that the best conversation is be- 
 tween two persons who can talk only to each other." 
 EMERSON. 
 
 Jesus spent his life in discoursing with humble 
 people on life and duty, in giving wise answers, 
 showing that he saw at a large angle of vision, 
 and at least silencing those who were not generous 
 enough to accept his thought." EMERSON. 
 
 I find out in an instant if my companion does 
 not want me, and ropes cannot hold me when my 
 welcome is gone." EMERSON. 
 
 Society we must have ; but let it be society, and 
 not exchanging news, or eating from the same dish." 
 EMERSON. 
 
 "Every man brings into society some partial 
 thought and local culture. We need range and al- 
 ternation of topics. ' ' 
 
 It is a mere and miserable solitude to want true 
 friends, without which the world is but a wilderness. ' ' 
 BACON. 
 
 REFERENCES 
 Emerson : Clubs. 
 Bacon : Of Counsel. 
 Proverbs, 4. 
 
 84
 
 Ill 
 
 SOCIETIES : CLIQUES : FRATERNITIES 
 
 1. The desire to be with congenial people leads 
 naturally to the formation of either formal or 
 informal groups, or classes, or cliques, or socie- 
 ties. This is found everywhere, in clubs, churches, 
 business organizations. In the period of school 
 life, however, such grouping needs to be care- 
 fully studied, for it has in it much that is 
 evil as well as much that is good. 
 
 2. There arc great advantages in this group- 
 ing of people, whether it comes about without 
 effort, or whether a society is formally created. 
 
 (a) The close association of congenial people 
 who become warm friends, if they are people of 
 the right type, is beneficial. Friendships are often 
 made that last thru life, and nothing is to be 
 prized more highly than friendships of the right 
 type. 
 
 (b) Many associations have as their aim some- 
 thing uplifting and ennobling, like charity or- 
 ganizations, educational clubs, churches ; and if 
 these aims are followed, members of the associa- 
 tion may well get a stimulus and an uplift toward 
 the better things of life that will afterward prove 
 extremely helpful. 
 
 (c) For the carrying out of work among num- 
 bers of people, organization is often helpful. In 
 the planning and work of organization and thru 
 the organization, the habit of leadership and dis- 
 
 85
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 cipline is sometimes formed, a benefit not to be 
 overlooked. The well-organized group is the one 
 that wins in a competitive contest. 
 
 3. Many associations, both in school and else- 
 where, have serious disadvantages. 
 
 (a) Frequently, owing to the rivalry for mem- 
 bership or to carelessness in selection, persons 
 are brought into the association who are not con- 
 genial and sympathetic, and who, because of the 
 formal organization, cannot be dropped as easily 
 as when the grouping is purely informal or in- 
 stinctive; sometimes members are persons whose 
 influence is even distinctly bad and demoralizing, 
 but the difficulties of getting free from their as- 
 sociation are no less. The difficulty of choosing 
 right associates is often too great for persons not 
 of mature years. 
 
 (b) In schools and colleges, as well as in so- 
 cial life, the expense of societies is often con- 
 siderable, usually more than is anticipated when 
 one enters them. This expense often lays a seri- 
 ous burden upon the shoulders of persons who 
 ought not to carry it, merely because they are un- 
 willing that their children should not be brought 
 up in the relationships they desire. Without fra- 
 ternities or clubs, the children might easily be 
 friends and associates. When some join these or- 
 ganizations, the parents of others must either see 
 their children separated in part from former re- 
 lationships, or must bear the burden of the ex- 
 pense of the society. 
 
 16
 
 SOCIETIES : CLIQUES : FRATERNITIES 
 
 (c) Where formal organization is encouraged, 
 the tendency is toward exclusiveness, with the se- 
 lection of members not always on the highest 
 grounds, and a large amount of snobbishness 
 toward outsiders is frequently the result. 
 
 (d) If our associations are largely confined to 
 a few people, we soon become so familiar with their 
 habits of thinking and their ways of living that, 
 altho the association may be very pleasant, it 
 teaches us very little and gives us little intellec- 
 tual stimulus. We learn more by meeting many 
 people of different types, and tastes, and associa- 
 tions, than from confining our interests to a few. 
 We can get many of the advantages of travel by 
 extending our acquaintance widely. When we go 
 abroad we often deliberately seek the poorer and 
 uncultivated classes in order to benefit by learning 
 strange customs. We could often learn about as 
 much by making friends among those at home 
 whose habits of living and working and thinking 
 are different from ours. 
 
 4. A good exercise would be to investigate the 
 clubs and fraternal orders in the home town, and 
 the high school and college fraternities, in order 
 to see the nature of the benefits and disadvan- 
 tages which come to the members thru these as- 
 sociations. 
 
 37
 
 NOTES 
 
 38
 
 NOTES
 
 IV 
 INTOXICATING LIQUORS AND TOBACCO
 
 "But it is a safer conclusion to saj-, 'This agreeth 
 not well with me, therefore I will not continue it,' 
 than this, 'l find no offence of this, therefore I may 
 use it.' : BACON. 
 
 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine 
 heart in the way. 
 
 "Be not among wine-bibbers; among riotous eat- 
 ers of flesh : 
 
 For the drunkard and glutton shall come to pov- 
 erty and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags." 
 PROVERBS, 23: 19-21. 
 
 REFERENCES 
 Mathews : Chap. 4. 
 Bacon : Of Regiment of Health. 
 Luke, 7: 31-50.
 
 IV 
 INTOXICATING LIQUORS AND TOBACCO 
 
 1. Possibly the chief objection to the use of in- 
 toxicating liquors and tobacco is that the use 
 becomes a habit which is very difficult to break, 
 and that, owing to the effect upon one's physical 
 constitution, the tendency is strongly toward the 
 use of an increasing quantity in order to get the 
 desired satisfaction. The younger and less mature 
 the person is, the stronger are these tendencies 
 and the more rapid the evil results. 
 
 According to the best medical authorities there 
 is no advantage whatever, from the physical point 
 of view, to be gained by the use of any of these 
 articles by normal young persons, tho they real- 
 ize the benefit to be gained at times in illness. 
 
 . It is sometimes asserted that the use of in- 
 toxicating liquors stimulates the imagination and 
 the intellect so that one can do his best work when 
 under the influence of liquor, and the examples of 
 Poe, Daniel Webster, and others are cited in 
 proof. The same argument might be used, with 
 probably even greater emphasis, regarding the 
 use of opium. The truth is that when a person 
 has become addicted to the use of these drugs and 
 his constitution has become warped by them, he 
 sometimes cannot do his best work without them 
 because he has already become abnormal. This is 
 no proof that if he had remained normal he could 
 not have done as good or even better work. For 
 
 43
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 one illustration like those given above, dozens 
 could easily be cited of as great or greater work 
 by people in normal condition. Probably no ex- 
 ample can be found of a person doing a piece of 
 sustained, difficult work under the influence of 
 liquor. Such work must be done under normal 
 conditions. Our greatest statesmen and ablest 
 politicians of both the earlier and later days, 
 with very rare exceptions, have all been temperate 
 men, often practically teetotalers. Often, like 
 Roosevelt, they do not even smoke. It is a mis- 
 taken notion that to deal with men and politicians 
 one must join in such practices. David B. Hill, 
 the greatest democratic leader of New York State 
 in the present generation, used neither tobacco nor 
 strong drink. Can there be a great religious or 
 social leader who is intemperate in any particu- 
 lar? 
 
 3. The evil influence of drinking intoxicating 
 liquors is intensified by the fact that in drinking 
 places, saloons, one usually meets associations that 
 are degrading rather than elevating. Altho, of 
 course, every one knovs that some people who 
 drink to excess, or many saloon keepers, have ex- 
 cellent personal qualities, their influence, on the 
 whole, is likely to be bad. 
 
 4. The custom of treating, which comes from a 
 good inclination toward sociability and generos- 
 ity, has an evil influence in leading toward exces- 
 sive use. 
 
 Is there en element of heroism in refusing to 
 
 44
 
 INTOXICATING LIQUORS AND TOBACCO 
 
 accept a treat in a company where treating is 
 customary, or is it snobbishness? 
 
 May a man be so generous in his treating as 
 to be unjust to his family or creditors? Is this 
 common ? 
 
 5. For most young men the expense of either 
 habit, even tho it does not lead to immoderate use, 
 is nevertheless a heavy burden. Figure out the cost 
 to the average smoker or the moderate drinker for 
 a period of ten years, computing interest on the 
 investment at the market rate. Is saving this ex- 
 pense to be looked upon as stinginess or as praise- 
 worthy thrift? 
 
 6. A very serious disadvantage of the use, es- 
 pecially of intoxicating liquors, to boys is the 
 effect which it has upon prospective employers. 
 Many of our best railroads and business houses 
 employ only temperate men, some of them only 
 teetotalers. Some saloon keepers insist that their 
 bartenders be teetotalers. The tendency is rap- 
 idly increasing to put in responsible positions only 
 men who are practically teetotalers. 
 
 7. Worst of all, perhaps, is the fact that the 
 use of intoxicants perverts the moral sense, as for 
 that matter does any dominating passion. So to a 
 man who has taken a few drinks of liquor, tho 
 he is not really drunk, many acts will sometimes 
 appear right, even praiseworthy, that at other 
 times he knows to be wrong. The effect of opium 
 is even more direct and powerful. 
 
 45
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 8. Every one would concede the pleasure given 
 from the gratification of one's taste in the case of 
 both these habits. When one considers the added 
 pain that comes from a physical breakdown, and 
 the shortening of life that frequently comes, one 
 sees that the added pleasure in life from these 
 habits is likely to be more than offset by the les- 
 sened pleasure from the gratification of other 
 tastes that are not themselves detrimental. 
 
 9. Make out a list of a dozen habits, good and 
 bad, found in school life, with a brief statement of 
 the immediate and permanent gratification and 
 cost both in money and in other effects of each. 
 
 46
 
 NOTES
 
 NOTES
 
 NOTES 
 
 49
 
 V 
 
 PROFANITY AND SLANG
 
 A man's power to connect his thought with its 
 proper symbol, and so to utter it, depends upon the 
 simplicity of his character, that is, upon his love 
 of truth, and his desire to communicate it without 
 loss." EMERSON. 
 
 The corruption of man is followed by the cor- 
 ruption of language. " EMERSON. 
 
 Picturesque language is at once a commanding 
 certificate that he who employs it is a man in alli- 
 ance with truth and God." EMERSON. 
 
 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy 
 God in vain ; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless 
 that taketh His name in vain." EXODUS, 20: 7. 
 
 But let your communication be, Yea, yea ; Nay, 
 nay : for whatsoever is more than these cometh of 
 evil." MATTHEW, 5 : 37. 
 
 REFERENCES 
 
 Emerson : Language. 
 Bacon : Of Discourse. 
 James, 3. 
 
 52
 
 PROFANITY AND SLANG 
 
 1. Speaking generally, there is no better test 
 of refinement and cultivation, perhaps even of 
 character, than the use of language. This test 
 covers both the tone of voice and the selection of 
 words. 
 
 Does a good disposition show in tone? 
 How docs a bully's voice betray character? 
 
 2. It is not given to every person to make liter- 
 ature in the best sense of the word. Many people 
 have not the necessary imagination or experience 
 in life, but with some care and training every per- 
 son who thinks clearly can make himself clearly 
 understood. For most purposes a simple, clear, 
 direct manner is by far the best in both speaking 
 and writing. Careful, accurate distinctions in 
 thought demand a very careful use of words in 
 order that the different shades of meaning be 
 clearly expressed. 
 
 3. Probably the chief disadvantage in the use 
 of slang comes from the fact that the one slang 
 word, which every one grants may be very pic- 
 turesque and expressive in a particular case, is 
 made to do service in many cases, so that the 
 meaning is obscured. The habit of using slang 
 breeds carelessness about enlarging the vocabu- 
 lary or noting carefully the exact meaning of 
 words. It is said that Wendell Phillips thruout 
 his early years never permitted himself the use of 
 
 53
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 slang, In order that the habit of accurate, careful 
 expression might be fixed. His marvelous success 
 as an orator in later years depended largely upon 
 the ease and grace with which he expressed his 
 thoughts without previous preparation. 
 
 4. Uncultivated people who swear make a few 
 oaths take the place of hundreds of words which 
 would express nice discriminations of though*. 
 Most swearers do not show wickedness by their 
 oaths, for their words are thoughtlessly uttered; 
 they show merely ignorant, vulgar stupidity. 
 Deliberate cursing or blaspheming is, of course, 
 irreverent and sinful, and in some countries and 
 states it is unlawful and punishable as a misde- 
 meanor. The injunction of Jesus, "Let your com- 
 munication be Yea, yea ; Nay, nay," is primarily 
 good sense rather than religion. 
 
 5. Swearing is sometimes defended on the 
 ground that certain great men have had that 
 habit. 
 
 Can you give an example of one such man for 
 ten of those of equal greatness who have not had 
 that habit? 
 
 If great men swear at times it is a hindrance, 
 not a help. The men whose commands are obeyed 
 most promptly and willingly are not the loud 
 users of profanity, but the quiet, self-contained 
 men whose control of self gives them control of 
 others.
 
 NOTES
 
 NOTES
 
 NOTES 
 
 57
 
 VI 
 LYING
 
 But it is not the lie that passeth thru the mind, 
 but the lie that sinketh in and settleth in it, that 
 doth the harm." BACON. 
 
 But however these things are thus in men's de- 
 praved judgments and affections, yet truth, which 
 only doth judge itself, teacheth that the inquiry of 
 truth, which is the lovemaking or wooing of it, the 
 knowledge of truth, which is the presence of it, and 
 the belief of truth, which is the enjoying of it, is 
 the sovereign of human nature." BACON. 
 
 Certainly, it is heaven upon earth, to have a 
 man's mind move in charity, rest in providence, and 
 turn upon the poles of truth. " BACON. 
 
 It seems a very simple thing to tefl the truth, 
 but, beyond all question, there is nothing half so 
 easy as lying." HOLLAND. 
 
 It is impossible for bigots, for men of one idea, 
 for fanatics, for those who set boundaries to them- 
 selves, in religious, social, and political creeds, for 
 men who think more of their own selfish interests 
 than they do of truth, and for vicious men, to speak 
 the truth." HOLLAND. 
 
 The getting of treasure by a lying tongue is a 
 vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death." 
 PROVERBS, 21:6. 
 
 REFERENCES 
 Bacon: Of Truth. 
 Smiles : Character, Chap. 7. 
 Genesis, 31. 
 Aces, 5: 1-11. 
 Jonn. 8:12-59. 
 
 60
 
 VI 
 LYING 
 
 1. Perhaps no other moral quality affects so 
 profoundly the stability of social institutions as 
 that of truthfulness, including under that term 
 both accuracy of statement and fidelity in carry- 
 ing out agreements. Among business men on the 
 stock exchange and boards of trade, transactions 
 involving hundreds of thousands of dollars are 
 frequently closed by merely a sign or a nod or a 
 word, and the broker making the contract would 
 never think of violating it or of pretending to 
 misunderstand. The interests of business compel 
 absolute fidelity to the agreement. 
 
 2. And yet people are often found ready to 
 advocate trickery and inaccuracy in statements. 
 Until late years it was popularly supposed that a 
 good part of the business of a diplomat was to 
 deceive the ruler of the state where he was resi- 
 dent ; and at the present time in polite society we 
 hear many exaggerated statements on minor mat- 
 ters, made for the sake of increasing the pleas- 
 antness of social intercourse, that are lightly ex- 
 cused as "society lies," "white lies," etc. It is 
 desirable that every person define clearly to him- 
 self just what he understands by telling the truth 
 or telling a lie, and that he follow unswervingly 
 the principle which he adopts. 
 
 Is a general justified in deceiving the enemy? 
 
 61
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 Is one of the great evils of war the encourage- 
 ment of deceit? 
 
 Is an exaggerated statement of a society lady 
 as to her pleasure in seeing a guest, which de- 
 ceives no one, a lie? 
 
 Ought a ball player to let the umpire make a 
 mistake in his favor? 
 
 Is it wrong for a catcher to draw the ball so as 
 to deceive the umpire as to whether it crossed the 
 plate? Why? 
 
 Is a physician justified in misleading a nervous 
 patient regarding his condition? 
 
 3. Probably no reputation contributes more to 
 the success of a merchant or of a business man of 
 any kind than that of never misrepresenting his 
 goods and never failing to keep his agreements. 
 Probably no reputation contributes more to the 
 success of a lawyer along many lines of practice 
 than that of absolute trustworthiness, and yet 
 many lawyers seek to acquire the reputation of 
 winning cases even by means of trickery and 
 deceit. 
 
 Do we fully trust any person whom we have 
 ever caught deceiving us? 
 
 Do such methods pay? 
 
 Are such methods right, looked at from the 
 point of view of the good of society? 
 
 Is there any greater blemish on the reputation 
 of Napoleon Bonaparte than that of being an 
 habitual liar? 
 
 Bismarck is reported to have said that he told 
 
 62
 
 LYING 
 
 the truth regarding his intentions in diplomatic 
 matters and that thereby he deceived his rivals at 
 foreign courts most effectually. 
 
 Is the purpose or the method the criterion by 
 which one should judge the quality of such an 
 act? 
 
 Can one imagine a great moral or religious 
 teacher, like Socrates, or Buddha, or Confucius, 
 or Jesus, telling a lie? 
 
 Is this merely religious or is this a good prin- 
 ciple from the practical business and political 
 point of view? 
 
 Can the political boss afford to deceive? 
 
 What is the loss and gain to the pupil in pre- 
 senting to the teacher a forged excuse for ab- 
 sence? 
 
 fls
 
 NOTES
 
 >l OTES
 
 VII 
 CHEATING AND GRAFT
 
 There is no vice that doth so c*ver a man with 
 shame as to be found false and perfidious." BACON. 
 
 He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack 
 hand; but the hand of the diligent maketh rich." 
 PROVERBS, 10:4. 
 
 Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He 
 shall stand before kings : he shall not stand before 
 mean men." PROVERBS, 22 : 9. 
 
 Therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal 
 not treacherously." MALACHI, 2: 16. 
 
 REFERENCES 
 
 Smiles: Self-Help, Chaps. 9, 10. 
 Genesis, 30 : 25-43.
 
 VII 
 CHEATING AND GRAFT 
 
 1. Allied to truth-telling and to the keeping of 
 contracts is the quality of trustworthiness and 
 faithfulness in doing work for one's self or for 
 others. A great employer of labor mentioned as 
 one of the chief advantages in the employment 
 of Chinese, that when they had once learned the 
 way of doing a task and what was expected of 
 them, they would work as well when their em- 
 ployer was iibsent as when he was present ; where- 
 as, he said, many Europeans and Americans 
 worked much better under their employer's eye 
 than when he was absent. A Chinaman's wages 
 were placed correspondingly high. In engaging 
 new men a reputation for faithfulness is the best 
 recommendation. 
 
 2. In colleges and schools it is, in many cases, a 
 not uncommon practice for students to cheat in 
 their examinations, cither by taking secretly into 
 the class some aids or by securing assistance from 
 other students. In these ways students frequently 
 have succeeded in passing an examination without 
 discovery by the teacher when otherwise they 
 probably would have failed. Under what circum- 
 stances, if any, are such practices justifiable from 
 the standpoint (a) of the student who considers 
 (1) his ultimate success in life; (2) the effect 
 upon his character; (3) the effect upon his repu- 
 tation among the students? (b) From the stand-
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 point of the teacher. In what way is he affected? 
 (c) From the standpoint of the school and so- 
 ciety. In what ways are they affected? 
 
 3. The cheating in examinations is confined pri- 
 marily to the school itself. Similar practices in 
 connection with inter-school athletics have a much 
 wider range. Can a school afford to deceive other 
 schools by practically hiring professional athletes, 
 either directly contrary, technically and practi- 
 cally, to agreement, or, if technically correct, 
 practically contrary to the spirit of the agree- 
 ment ? 
 
 Does it require bravery to take a stand for 
 clean athletics under all circumstances? Ought 
 such courage to be less praiseworthy than that 
 shown on the battlefield? Which is of more con- 
 sequence to the nation? 
 
 Is it of more consequence for the school to have 
 the reputation of being successful in athletics, 
 even by unfair means, or of being both broad and 
 fair in athletics as well as in scholarship? 
 
 What penalty should be provided for a runner 
 who will deliberately beat the pistol in starting? 
 Should his school be made to suffer? 
 
 Are the students who are attracted mainly by 
 successful, even tho unfair athletics, desirable stu- 
 dents for the school? 
 
 Are the parents who select a school with refer- 
 ence to success by whatever means, instead of with 
 reference to careful scholarship and upright deal- 
 ings, desirable patrons for a school? 
 
 70
 
 CHEATING AND GRAFT 
 
 4. How do such school practices affect one's 
 reputation or his business habits in later life? 
 
 Let the student look up the practices of the 
 most respected, upright men of the community 
 when they were in school. Be careful not to con- 
 fuse love of fun and mischief with dishonesty or 
 meanness. 
 
 71
 
 NOTE*
 
 MOTE*
 
 VIII 
 GAMBLING AND BETTING
 
 But chiefly the mould of a man's fortune is in 
 his own hands." BACON. 
 
 Fortune is to be honored and respected, and it 
 be but for her daughters, Confidence and Reputa- 
 tion." BACON. 
 
 Shallow men believe in luck, believe in circum- 
 stances." Strongmen believe in cause and effect." 
 EMERSON. 
 
 REFERENCES 
 Bacon : Of Fortune. 
 Smiles: Self-Help, Chaps. 4, 10. 
 Mathews : Chap. 2. 
 Genesis, 37. 
 Matthew, 27 : 35. 
 
 76
 
 VIII 
 GAMBLING AND BETTING 
 
 1. The settlement of questions by chance is 
 often convenient and is a means frequently em- 
 ployed in government. In cases of a tie election, 
 the decision is, in some states, by chance. In 
 games chance often decides which person shall 
 have the selection of sides. 
 
 In what way does the settlement of a question 
 of the kind mentioned differ from gambling? 
 
 2. In business life it is considered both right 
 and wise to render an equivalent for everything 
 which one receives. In making purchases or sales 
 one expects to give or to receive one's money's 
 worth. Owing to the different circumstances of 
 buyer and seller, both gain by the exchange. In 
 gambling, one party loses what the other gains, 
 and, except in the rare cases where the sum at 
 stake is trivial and where the pleasure of playing 
 is equivalent to the amount lost, there is no equiv- 
 alent to the loser. In consequence, the effect of 
 gambling is exactly the same as that of robbery, 
 except in the fact that the loser has voluntarily 
 submitted himself to the loss and the winner has, 
 in many cases, if not in most, had no evil intent. 
 Experience shows, however, that when the habit 
 of gambling becomes fixt, the consequences to the 
 loser are not considered by the winner, and the 
 effect is often as bad as that of robbery. In fact, 
 the effect is often worse, because the loser, when 
 
 77
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 he acquires the gambling habit, instead of making 
 up his loss, 'as in the case of robbery, and then 
 keeping it, is sure to risk his earnings over and 
 over again, with the practical certainty of con- 
 tinual loss. The gambling habit is opposed to 
 thrift, and no community can prosper whose mem- 
 bers are not thrifty. 
 
 Ought a man who gambles or bets on a small 
 scale merely for fun to consider the possible ef- 
 fect of his example upon others, especially boys? 
 
 3. Gambling establishments always play with 
 chances so heavily on their side that in the long 
 run they certainly win and their customers lose. 
 The moral effect of gambling, however, is such 
 that, excepting in the rarest instances, the gam- 
 bling is not conducted fairly, even tho the chances 
 are in favor of the house or gambler. Cheating 
 is common among gamblers. 
 
 What is the difference between gambling at 
 faro or poker without cheating and dealing in fu- 
 tures on the boards of trade with no intention of 
 actual purchase and sale ; as when one buys 10,000 
 bushels of wheat to be delivered at 80 cents a 
 bushel three months hence, not intending to take 
 the wheat, but to pay the seller two cents for each 
 bushel if the market price should be at that time 
 78 cents, and to receive the same amount from him 
 if the price becomes 82 cents? 
 
 Has a director of a company with previous 
 knowledge of the conditions of his business any 
 moral right to buy or sell the stock of his own 
 
 78
 
 GAMBLING AND BETTING 
 
 company with the practical certainty of gaining 
 at the expense of the stockholders from whom he 
 buys or to whom he sells, and for whom, it should 
 be remembered, he is a trustee? 
 
 5. In countries where lotteries are common a 
 very large proportion of the poorer people spend 
 much of their earnings in buying lottery tickets. 
 How docs this custom injure society? 
 
 6. Betting. 
 
 (a) Is there any essential difference in princi- 
 ple between gambling and betting? If so, what? 
 
 (b) What classes of people in society arc in 
 the habit of betting? Cheating at cards and 
 playing with loaded dice are considered dishonora- 
 ble. Is it honorable to bet without giving your 
 opponent the same information which you have 
 regarding the chances? Is such information 
 usually given? 
 
 Enumerate the dangers to the individual of 
 gambling and betting. Enumerate the dangers 
 to society of gambling and betting. Is the habit 
 a difficult one to break?
 
 NOTES 
 
 86
 
 NOTES 
 
 81
 
 "There is no truth which personal vice will not 
 distort." HOLLAND. 
 
 "Any nobleness begins at once to refine a man's 
 features; any baseness or sensuality to embrute 
 them." THOREAU. 
 
 "He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace 
 of his lips the king shall be his friend." PROVERBS, 
 22: 11. 
 
 "The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he 
 that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein." 
 PROVERBS, 22: 14-. 
 
 REFERENCES 
 Bacon: Of Beauty. 
 Genesis, 39: 1-23. 
 I Cor., 3: 16-17. 
 I Cor., 5: 9-13; 6. 
 Proverbs, 7.-
 
 IX 
 THE SEX PROBLEM 
 
 1. During their school days the attitude of 
 boys toward girls is likely to change very materi- 
 ally. It is extremely desirable both for the boys 
 and for the community that the naturally increas- 
 ing interest in the other sex be a source of benefit 
 instead of a detriment. 
 
 2. Most boys believe in and have a chivalrous 
 feeling of championship for the honor and hap- 
 piness of their mothers and sisters. They will 
 fight for them gladly. 
 
 Is it not well for .them to bear continually in 
 mind the fact that most girls are the sisters and 
 the daughters of persons whose lives would be 
 made wretched by serious misconduct on their 
 part? 
 
 3. Most boys during their school years become 
 aware of the fact that there are girls who make 
 their living by pandering to the passions of men. 
 Some of these girls have been led into this life by 
 the deceit and trickery and meanness and vileness 
 of men who have deliberately misled them for their 
 own gratification and have then abandoned them 
 to a life of misfortune and dishonor. Others have 
 been practically trained as children for this life 
 and have been kept purposely or by unfortunate 
 circumstances in such surroundings that they are 
 not conscious of guilt in their actions. Neverthe- 
 less, they find themselves under the condemnation
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 of society and subjected to a life which is prac- 
 tically certain to bring them unhappiness and dis- 
 ease, and to make them outcasts. A very large 
 proportion of these girls are practically slaves 
 who are allowed to retain no part of their earn- 
 ings, all of which goes into the pockets of their 
 criminal masters. 
 
 Association with such girls is very likely, if 
 common it is practically certain, to bring disease, 
 often incurable; and it is certain to bring a boy 
 into immoral and contaminating surroundings 
 which, if he continues, will eventually wreck his 
 opportunities for usefulness and success. 
 
 Does it pay to yield to inclinations which result 
 so certainly in evil? 
 
 Does it ever pay to yield one's power of self- 
 control ? 
 
 4. Nearly every young man looks forward, and 
 properly, to a married life and to happiness with 
 a family. 
 
 Can a man with a clear conscience associate 
 himself with a pure woman as intimately as in 
 marriage if he has been tempted into the con- 
 taminating associations connected with an impure 
 life? 
 
 Is it not worth while, for the sake of the future 
 permanent happy family relationships, for young 
 men to keep control of their lives when boys? 
 They should not confound passion with love. 
 
 5. Passion needs to be kept well in hand or the 
 habit of self-abuse may lead to results almost or 
 
 80
 
 THE SEX PROBLEM 
 
 quite as harmful to the individual as illicit rela- 
 tions. 
 
 Excess in any of these directions leads to physi- 
 cal weakness as well as to mental and moral de- 
 generacy. An athlete must be continent and ab- 
 stemious in all ways. 
 
 6. A large part of the temptations to illicit 
 relationships and a large part of the evil associa- 
 tions connected therewith are brought about by 
 loose talk, vile stories, and impure thinking re- 
 garding the relations of the sexes. 
 
 Is it not better worth while to keep the physi- 
 cal condition sound and the mental and spiritual 
 attitude clean and sane by active association with 
 people of the right type of both sexes whose in- 
 fluence will be toward clean and moral enjoy- 
 ments ?
 
 NOTES 
 
 88
 
 NOTES
 
 X 
 
 ATTITUDE TOWARD WORK
 
 "Kites rise against, not with, the wind. No man 
 ever worked his passage anywhere in a dead calm." 
 NEAL, by Mathews. 
 
 "A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but 
 he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be inno- 
 cent." PROVERBS, 28: 20. 
 
 REFERENCES 
 
 Bacon : Of Ambition ; Of Dispatch. 
 Mathews: Chaps. 14, 15. 
 Smiles: Character, Chaps. 4, 12. 
 Proverbs, 2i. 
 Luke, 19: 11-28.
 
 ATTITUDE TOWARD WORK 
 
 1. Workingmen generally are anxious to get 
 their wages increased, and they properly take 
 measures to get as good wages as possible. With 
 this desire, however, is sometimes combined that 
 to render the least possible service without losing 
 their place. Workingmen frequently are very 
 prompt at the quitting hour, less eager at be- 
 ginning. 
 
 Is this fair? 
 
 Is this wise? 
 
 The employer, on the other hand, attempts to 
 get more than a fair day's work without paying 
 more. 
 
 Is this fair or wise? 
 
 2. Where the work is interesting, or where the 
 workingman has a peculiar professional pride, his 
 endeavor is often to render the best service pos- 
 sible under the conditions without much regard to 
 the wages or money returns. 
 
 In this case, may the enjoyment of the work 
 itself be looked upon as part of the compensation? 
 
 3. If a person desires promotion or an increase 
 in pay, will it not be practically impossible for the 
 employer to promote him or to increase the pay 
 until the workman is earning more than his wages? 
 As a practical matter, then, must not the ambi- 
 tious workman lay his emphasis upon the quality 
 
 93
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 and amount of service rendered, rather than upon 
 the pay received? 
 
 Ought not the employer to be ready to increase 
 wages promptly when unusually good service is 
 rendered ? 
 
 'k Aside from the question of the work done, 
 owing to our human nature we all like the spirit 
 of cheerfulness and willingness on the part of 
 those associated with us. In consequence, in se- 
 lecting men for promotion the employer is more 
 likely, other things being equal, to take the will- 
 ing worker, even though the quality of the work 
 done is not superior. 
 
 Is he to be blamed for so doing? 
 
 5. Some workmen are disposed to do faithfully 
 just what they are told, but to make no effort to 
 go beyond instructions and think out new plans 
 for themselves which will render their work more 
 efficient and more valuable to their employer. 
 Others are inclined toward reliance upon self and 
 to originality in thinking out methods of work. 
 
 How far can individual originality be permitted 
 in the case of men working together interdepend- 
 cntly ? 
 
 Is the employer ordinarily glad to see individ- 
 ual initiative on the part of his workmen? Why? 
 How far? 
 
 Does a good living and prosperity come oftener 
 from high wages or from a habit of saving? Dis- 
 tinguish carefully between stinginess and thrift. 
 
 What is the difference between a generous man 
 
 94
 
 and a spendthrift? Which does most harm to the 
 community, a stingy man or a spendthrift? 
 
 6. The principles laid down above and the ques- 
 tions with reference to workingmen and their em- 
 ployers apply in part to work in school, but with 
 some very important differences. Point out the 
 differences. 
 
 How far is the teacher the gainer, how far the 
 loser, by the faithful or unfaithful work of 
 pupils? 
 
 Is the pupil the gainer or the loser by faithful 
 or unfaithful work? 
 
 Have the successful men in all lines kept their 
 work or their pay first in mind?
 
 NOTES
 
 .NOTES
 
 XI 
 
 THE SELF-CENTERED MAN
 
 "Whosoever in the frame of his nature and affec- 
 tions, is unfit for friendship, he taketh it of the 
 beast, and not from humanity." BACON. 
 
 "Speech of man's self ought to be seldom, and 
 well chosen." BACON. 
 
 "Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge." SHAKS- 
 PERE. 
 
 "Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there 
 is more hope of a fool than of him." PROVERBS 
 24: 12. 
 
 REFERENCES 
 
 Bacon : Of Discourse. 
 Mathews: Chaps. 11, 13. 
 Smiles : Character, Chaps. 8, Q. 
 Luke, 18. 
 
 100
 
 XI 
 THE SELF-CENTERED MAN 
 
 1. Most persons are inclined to think much of 
 themselves and of their own interests. Many peo- 
 ple are very unwise and short-sighted in seeing 
 clearly what is, in the long run, for their own 
 best interests. 
 
 With the exception of dishonesty and untrust- 
 worthiness, there is perhaps no personal charac- 
 teristic which stands more in the way of ultimate 
 success than self-conceit, undue pride in one's own 
 possessions and powers. Usually the conceited 
 person is narrow-minded and mentally short- 
 sighted. The man who sees himself accurately in 
 his relations with others ordinarily knows that, 
 however able and wise he may be, there are many 
 others still abler, more experienced, and wiser. 
 Even the greatest man at the head of his profes- 
 sion, if he thinks carefully, knows that, great as 
 his knowledge may be, the extent of his ignorance 
 even in his chosen field is probably much greater. 
 The range of the problems of nature and society 
 is so nearly infinite that the most accomplisht by 
 man in any direction seems small when compared 
 with that still left to be accomplisht. Sir Isaac 
 Newton, near the close of his life, spoke of him- 
 self in relation to his scientific attainments as a 
 little child playing upon the beach, picking up a 
 shell here, a pretty pebble there, with the great 
 ocean of truth still unexplored before him. 
 
 101 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF r
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 2. Too many people hesitate to give credit to 
 others for the good work they do, apparently 
 being jealous lest the good work of others should 
 detract from their own credit. Even presidents 
 of colleges, heads of corporations, managers of 
 a great business, sometimes claim the credit of 
 work done by their subordinates. Such action is 
 unwise, because, first, the head of any enterprise 
 is always given credit for its success, whoever does 
 the work ; and, second, such action lessens the en- 
 thusiasm, and, in consequence, the efficiency of the 
 subordinates, and checks success. 
 
 3. A person who does good work ordinarily 
 needs to make little effort to secure credit for 
 himself. People are generally willing to give 
 credit where it is due ; and people are always 
 eager to get work done by those who are most 
 efficient. Excellent work in any line makes an 
 immediate demand for more work from the same 
 individual. There is no kind of credit for work 
 so certain or so satisfactory as the requests and 
 demands for more work of the same kind from 
 the same person. Moreover, a continual demand 
 for recognition is likely to arouse prejudice and 
 hostility, so that it often defeats its own pur- 
 pose. 
 
 4. Without reference to the question of individ- 
 ual claim for credit or willingness to give credit 
 to others for good work, it is often very desira- 
 ble to give one's time and energy to the service 
 of some worthy cause or to the public. Much of 
 
 102
 
 THE SELF-CENTERED MAN 
 
 the best work in the world is done to further some 
 social or religious reform with no thought of per- 
 sonal reward on the part of the worker ; and yet 
 a reward is ordinarily obtained in, first, the con- 
 sciousness of an honest attempt at good service, 
 and, second, frequently, in the consciousness of 
 having attained the end sought for. 
 
 What pay did Socrates get for his efforts to 
 reform Greece? 
 
 What special dangers in school life are there in 
 the direction of self-conceit? 
 
 Do any boys dress beyond their means to grati- 
 fy their vanity? 
 
 Is there much snobbishness in your school? 
 
 Are there any who think more highly of them- 
 selves than they ought to think? Who? 
 
 Are you one of them? 
 
 If you are superior to some of your fellows in 
 some regards, is the credit due to you personally 
 or to surrounding circumstances? 
 
 Is the conceited or self-centered man more likely 
 to be stingy or to be a spendthrift? Is he likely 
 to be a generous man ? 
 
 If you had been born in a hovel and reared 
 among petty thieves, what reason have you for 
 thinking that you would not be a pickpocket? 
 
 If you were, ought you not to be arrested and 
 punished? Why? 
 
 How are doers of unselfish deeds paid ; for ex- 
 ample, the man who rescues a drowning person at 
 the risk, possibly the cost, of his own life?
 
 M OTEg 
 
 104
 
 NOTES 
 
 105
 
 NOTES 
 
 106
 
 NOTES 
 
 107
 
 XII 
 SOCIAL SERVICE IN THE COMMUNITY
 
 ' 'Tis the fine souls that eerve us, and not what 
 is called fine society." EMERSON. 
 
 "Mankind divides itself into two classes, bene- 
 factors and malefactors. The second class is vast, 
 the first a handful." EMERSON. 
 
 "Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is a 
 reproach to any people." PROVERBS, 14: 34. 
 
 REFERENCES 
 
 Emerson : Experience. 
 
 Matthew, 5; 6; 7. 
 
 Smiles: Self-Help, Chap. 1. 
 
 110
 
 XII 
 SOCIAL SERVICE IN THE COMMUNITY 
 
 1. People frequently assume that in their re- 
 lations with the public and the state they may 
 apply a different standard of honesty from that 
 which they have in their relations with private 
 individuals. Persons who would not steal from 
 individuals or cheat in private business will often 
 smuggle, altho that is depriving the state of prop- 
 erty to which it has a legal right. The state 
 must have a certain amount of income. If one 
 individual pays to the government less than his 
 fair share of the taxes, other people must pay 
 more than their fair share. The effect, then, of 
 tax-dodging is practically the same as taking 
 money from the pockets of one's neighbors. 
 
 2. Properties belonging to the public, like 
 schoolhouses, parks, streets, etc., in effect belong 
 to all the individuals in the community taken as a 
 unit. If a student destroys school property, is 
 he practically destroying the property of his 
 parents and neighbors? 
 
 If a person realizes that he is a member of the 
 community which owns the streets and parks, and 
 that they are under the charge of officers chosen 
 either directly or indirectly by his parents or him- 
 self to care for them, will he not naturally take a 
 pride in keeping them in good order? Will he not 
 take a pride in keeping the parks beautiful, enjoy- 
 ing their flowers and trees? 
 
 Ill
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 If a park belongs to the people of a community, 
 why has not each individual in the community a 
 right to pick flowers from the park at will? Un- 
 der what conditions could this properly be done? 
 
 3. Inasmuch as we do not like to see suffering 
 and as it is more convenient for the people in the 
 community to make contributions fairly thru the 
 government, there has gradually grown up in civ- 
 ilized communities the recognition of the duty of 
 the public to support the helpless poor and un- 
 fortunate. In consequence, taxes are levied for 
 their support, almshouses are built, and the public 
 thru properly chosen officers cares for many un- 
 fortunates. The receipt of aid under most cir- 
 cumstances from others who are not under obli- 
 gation to give it, as are members of the family, 
 has been found, in most cases, to have an injuri- 
 ous effect upon people who are able to earn their 
 own living. It is a way of getting something for 
 nothing which is often as demoralizing to the 
 character as is gambling. It is, therefore, often 
 better for the individuals, as well as for the pub- 
 lic, for assistance to be given in the way of fur- 
 nishing work or in the way of friendship, rather 
 than by giving public charity. 
 
 Is there danger of being too generous? Under 
 what circumstances? 
 
 Is it not desirable that these facts and these 
 principles be understood by the students in 
 the schools, and that they begin some of their 
 duties as citizens by investigating, as best they 
 
 112
 
 SOCIAL SERVICE IN THE COMMUNITY 
 
 can, the cases of suffering in the community and 
 taking a personal part in the relief of such suffer- 
 ing? In many cases, perhaps in most cases, the 
 personal touch with those who are unfortunate is 
 most helpful to all persons concerned. 
 
 4. Of greater danger to the community than 
 the unfortunate paupers, are those who are crimi- 
 nals or who are criminally inclined. We are all 
 of us likely to blame the criminal and the de- 
 praved, but beyond doubt in very many cases the 
 tendency toward crime has come from the sur- 
 roundings in youth of the individual who, under 
 different circumstances, would never have become 
 criminal. A very large number of those who lead 
 lives innocent of crime would doubtless have been 
 criminals, or perhaps would even now become 
 criminals, were the circumstances changed so that 
 they were brought under severe temptation, and 
 particularly so if the pressure of public opinion, 
 instead of holding them from crime, should impel 
 them toward crime, as is often the case with the 
 real criminal. Under these circumstances, ought 
 not young people in school to consider with 
 some care the circumstances surrounding crim- 
 inals, or surrounding those whose lives, while 
 not contrary to law, are, nevertheless, contrary to 
 public opinion regarding good morals and good 
 habits ? 
 
 Is not a special social duty laid upon those who 
 are receiving from the public the blessings of edu- 
 cation? 
 
 113
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 Why may not our pupils do much toward 
 uplifting the moral tone of the community if 
 they see the nature of the influences which drag- 
 people down, and endeavor both for themselves 
 and for their fellows to change the unfortunate 
 circumstances which tend toward degradation? 
 Such work can often be done best in connection 
 with the churches, but at times much can be done 
 independently. 
 
 It would be well to have the boys make some 
 brief study of institutions dealing with the unfor- 
 tunate and criminal, as well as of special schools, 
 such as the George Junior Republic. A visit to 
 an almshouse, a boys' reformatory, a juvenile 
 court, would be helpful, especially if, in each in- 
 stance, an attempt were made to get the personal 
 history of individual cases, so as to note the in- 
 fluences leading to misfortune or degradation. 
 
 How much of a part have saloons, pool rooms, 
 brothels, played in producing pauperism, immo- 
 rality, crime? 
 
 How far do school boys put themselves under 
 like influences? 
 
 114
 
 NOTXB 
 
 115
 
 116
 
 NOTES 
 
 117
 
 XIII 
 POLITICS
 
 "Everything feels the new breath (courage), ex- 
 cept the old doting, nigh-dead politicians, whose 
 heart the trumpet of resurrection could not wake." 
 EMERSON. 
 
 "We see insurmountable multitudes obeying, in 
 opposition to their strongest passions, the restraints 
 of a power which they scarcely perceive, and the 
 crimes of a single individual marked and punished 
 at the distance of half the earth." EMERSON. 
 
 "We shall one day learn to supercede politics by 
 education." 
 
 "A politician weakly and amiably in the right is 
 no match for a politician tenaciously and pugna- 
 ciously in the wrong." WHIPPLE. 
 
 "Happy is that people that is in such a case: yea, 
 happy is that people, whose God is the Lord." 
 PSALMS, 144: 15. 
 
 REFERENCES 
 
 Emerson: Courage, Politics. 
 Lowell: Politics. 
 Lowell: Democracy. 
 Luke, 20. 
 
 320
 
 xm 
 
 POLITICS 
 
 1. As soon as an individual attempts to take 
 part in the civil life of the community by bringing 
 influence to bear upon the government, either di- 
 rectly or thru taking part in the choice of public 
 officials, he is taking part in politics and is, to 
 some degree, a politician. The welfare of the com- 
 munity is bound up so closely in the nature of 
 the government which controls our schools, our 
 prisons, our highways, our churches, our social 
 institutions of all kinds, that every good citizen 
 ought to inform himself carefully regarding the 
 nature of problems which must be dealt with by 
 government and regarding the way in which gov- 
 ernmental affairs are carried on. 
 
 Can a person be a good citizen without taking 
 an active part in politics? If so, under what cir- 
 cumstances? Did Jesus take part in the political 
 movements of his day? Why did he follow that 
 plan ? 
 
 Can a person be a good citizen without being a 
 good man? Why? 
 
 2. In most communities persons are chosen to 
 office thru the active work of political parties ; and 
 beyond question in our country persons can do 
 their political work, under most circumstances, 
 more efficiently thru the medium of a party than 
 by acting independently. 
 
 1*1
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 How many political parties are there in the com- 
 munity, and what are they? 
 
 What part does the political party play in 
 electing men to office? 
 
 Does an officer chosen largely thru the influence 
 of a political party owe any special allegiance to 
 that party or is his allegiance to the public as a 
 whole? Is the party supposed to exist for the 
 sake of the public or for the sake of its own 
 members ? 
 
 3. A political party exists for the purpose of 
 carrying out certain principles of governmental 
 work. Usually on every question over which po- 
 litical parties divide there is a great deal to be 
 said on both sides. If a person keeps the welfare 
 of the state in mind, he is often greatly puzzled 
 to know with which party he should work in or- 
 der to obtain the best results. Sometimes even 
 the party itself changes its attitude on a public 
 question under the influence of a change of lead- 
 ership. In consequence, it is desirable, if a person 
 is to do his full duty as a citizen and maintain 
 his self-respect as a man, that he think over care- 
 fully the issues of the day that separate political 
 parties. 
 
 4. But, owing to the tendency of men to follow 
 custom and to do little original thinking, a person 
 who once joins a political party usually remains 
 with it, even tho the party managers have changed 
 the principles which they will follow. Every 
 thoroly self-respecting person should endeavor to 
 
 122
 
 POLITICS 
 
 think out the issues of each election as carefully 
 as possible and to act accordingly. 
 
 5. Is it a desirable thing for a young man, be- 
 fore he becomes a voter, to identify himself with 
 any political party by marching in party proces- 
 sions, assisting in bringing voters to the polls, or 
 otherwise ? Why ? 
 
 Is there any danger that a person, by holding 
 his judgment on party questions in abeyance un- 
 til he becomes a voter, will fall into the habit rf 
 indecision so that his character will be weakened? 
 
 6. What are the advantages and disadvantages 
 of discussing political questions in school debating 
 clubs or classes? 
 
 How far should a person receive favors from 
 party managers ; for example, his expenses in go- 
 ing home to vote ; pay for working at the polls, 
 etc.? Why? 
 
 7. Let the young men report on the different 
 political organizations in the neighborhood, their 
 leaders, modes of work, etc. 
 
 Let them report on the issues of any election 
 and sec whether, in their judgment, the voters are 
 swayed by their cool study of these issues or by 
 prejudice. 
 
 125
 
 NOTES 
 
 124
 
 NOTE* 
 
 125
 
 XIV 
 SUCCESS
 
 "I cannot call riches better than the baggage of 
 virtue." * * * * "Of great riches there is no real 
 use, except it be in the distribution; the rest is but 
 conceit/' BACON. 
 
 "I confess that increasing years bring with them 
 an increasing respect for men who do not succeed 
 in life as those words are commonly used." HILLARD, 
 by Mathews. 
 
 "O Keep me innocent! Make others great." 
 
 "To know 
 
 That which before us lies in daily life 
 Is the prime wisdom." MILTON. 
 
 REFERENCES 
 
 Emerson: Success. 
 
 Bacon : Of Riches. 
 
 Mathews : Getting on in the World, Chap. 21. 
 
 Psalms, 128. 
 
 Matthew, 4: 1-11. 
 
 128
 
 XIV 
 SUCCESS 
 
 1. Most young men, very properly, look for 
 success in life. The whole course of their train- 
 ing and activity will be determined by the view 
 they have of what constitutes success. Inasmuch 
 as it is essential in a civilized community for a 
 person, in order to live, to secure an income suf- 
 ficient to pay for food and clothing and shelter 
 and the other necessities of life, people are likely 
 to think of success first as the acquirement of a 
 fortune, larger or smaller. 
 
 Can the ordinary man of reasonable health and 
 ability be considered cither a good citizen or a 
 good man unless he fits himself for acquiring a 
 good livelihood? 
 
 Is there any principle by which a person can 
 determine in youth the income that will be suita- 
 ble for him in middle age? 
 
 Is it desirable to attempt to fix a limit to the 
 fortune which a man should strive to acquire? 
 
 2. Many people prize influence over others or 
 influence in the community more than they prize 
 wealth, or they value wealth on account of the 
 influence which it gives. Consider the men in the 
 community where you live whose opinions are 
 prized and who are men of chief influence. What 
 arc the sources of their influence? Wealth? Good 
 fellowship? Sound judgment? Good character? 
 Unselfishness ? 
 
 129
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 How far should one consciously make influence 
 the test of success in life? 
 
 3. Some philosophers, and a good many persons 
 not philosophers, judging by their teachings and 
 acts, have looked upon happiness or content as the 
 chief aim in life; in consequence as the best cri- 
 terion of success. 
 
 Is content or happiness a matter primarily of 
 the things which one possesses, of the work that 
 one does, of one's personal disposition, of one's 
 health? 
 
 How far is content with one's lot compatible 
 with progress? 
 
 4. The idea of success in life that seems to be 
 set up in the Bible thru the life and teachings of 
 Jesus is service to other people. How far is this 
 consistent with wealth getting? With extending 
 one's influence in the community? With securing 
 happiness or content? 
 
 130
 
 NOTES
 
 NOTES 
 
 132
 
 133
 
 XV 
 
 RELIGION
 
 " It is true, that a little philosophy inclineth man's 
 mind to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth 
 men's minds about to religion." BACON. 
 
 "The broad ethics of Jesus were quickly narrowed 
 to village theologies, which preach on election or 
 favoritism." 
 
 "The way to judge of religion is by doing our 
 duty. Religion is rather a divine life than a divine 
 knowledge. In heaven, indeed, we must first see, 
 and then love; but here, on earth, we must first love, 
 and love will open our eyes as well as our hearts, 
 and we shall then see, and perceive, and understand." 
 SMILES. 
 
 REFERENCES 
 Bacon: Of Atheism. 
 
 Of Superstition. 
 James, ?. 
 
 136
 
 XV 
 
 RELIGION 
 
 1. By a man's religion is meant his relationship 
 with God; or his view of his relationship to any 
 power that he believes in which is superhuman. 
 The nature of his religion, therefore, is likely to 
 depend very largely upon what has been taught 
 him in his youth, upon the degree of his intelli- 
 gence, upon the extent of his knowledge of life, 
 and upon his surroundings. A man's religion is 
 thus likely to be a growth changing and develop- 
 ing with increasing years and experience. 
 
 2. To a good many people religion seems to be 
 primarily a matter of thinking, of believing, and 
 not a matter of living. But the men who have had 
 the greatest influence in history along religious 
 lines are those whose views of their relation to God 
 have affected profoundly their lives, and have de- 
 termined what they should do in life. A person's 
 view of God is, of course, determined largely by 
 his idea of what is highest and best in life. 
 
 Would it be possible for an untutored savage 
 to take the same view of God as a highly trained 
 civilized man? 
 
 In what respects would the views of God of, let 
 us say, a cannibal differ from those of a cultivated 
 American, even tho both might be Christians? 
 
 3. If a person's view of his duty to God affects 
 his daily life, is it likely to force upon him many 
 sacrifices? If so, what will be the nature of such 
 
 137
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 sacrifices? Must he give up pleasures? If so, 
 what kinds? 
 
 Must he give up certain plans of making a live- 
 lihood? If so, what kinds of plans? 
 
 Must he change his ambition for success in life? 
 If so, how? 
 
 What comfort or active enjoyments come or 
 ought to come from one's religious belief? 
 
 How far is a man's religion a matter of this 
 life? How far is it intimately connected with the 
 life to come, regardless of this life? 
 
 Are religious practices primarily acts of church 
 worship or deeds of active service for others? 
 Upon which did Jesus lay most emphasis? 
 
 What acts of your daily life have a religious 
 character? Studying? Giving to the poor? 
 Playing ball? Helping your parents? 
 
 4. It would seem as if the relationship of a man 
 to his God ought to be a source of enjoyment, of 
 satisfaction ; and yet this would depend very 
 largely upon his view of the nature of his God. 
 In many cases savages have looked upon their 
 gods as avenging deities who needed to be propi- 
 tiated or bought, and their chief sentiment toward 
 their gods has been that of fear ; so that little or 
 no enjoyment came from such relationship, unless 
 they thought by sacrifice they had secured safety. 
 
 In most civilized Christian communities the 
 thought of the nature of God is different. Since 
 Jesus Christ came into the world his acts and 
 character have largely made the ideals of good- 
 
 138
 
 RELIGION 
 
 * 
 
 ness, and in consequence have created the concep- 
 tions of God that are found in the minds of 
 Christian peoples. In that way at least he is the 
 revealer of God, the incarnation of Godhood. 
 Unless men can get a higher conception of good- 
 ness than is found in Jesus Christ, the Christian 
 religion must stand. It will stand. 
 
 With the life of Jesus Christ embodying all that 
 is best and noblest in our ideals, and with the 
 teachings of Jesus forming the foundation of the 
 best in our civilization and in our lives, can we do 
 better than to make this life and these teachings 
 the subject of regular thoughtful study? 
 
 739
 
 NOTES
 
 TEACHERS' SUPPLEMENT 
 
 TO LIFE QUESTIONS OF SCHOOL 
 
 BOYS 
 
 JEREMIAH W. JENKS 
 
 Many teachers who have used the Life Ques- 
 tions have asked for a supplementary reading 
 list that would enable them with a large class 
 to get a variety of views and of suggestions 
 from reading. Others have wished to use the 
 book as primarily a Bible study course, and 
 have asked especially that the list of refer- 
 ences to the Bible be lengthened, in order that 
 about the Bible reading as the central topic 
 other related topics of value to life might be 
 grouped. To meet the wishes of these 
 teachers this pamphlet has been prepared.
 
 I 
 
 RELATION OF THE SCHOOL TO 
 LIFE 
 
 MacCunn, John : Making of Character Part 
 
 II, Chapter IV, School 
 
 Oppenheim, Nathan: Mental Growth and Con- 
 trol- 
 Chapter I, The Growth of Character 
 Chapter XI, Reasoning, the Guide 
 Two Recent College Graduates : Not in the 
 Curriculum Chapter XIII, Relation to 
 Your College 
 
 Coe, George A. : Education in Religion and 
 Morals Chapter I, The Place of Char- 
 acter in Education 
 
 Dewey, John : The School and Society Chap- 
 ter I, The School and Social Progress 
 I Samuel: Chapter 3 
 Proverbs : Chapters 1 :5 ; 2 :10, 11 ; 4 :7 
 
 II 
 
 CUSTOM : HABIT 
 
 MacCunn, John : Making of Character 
 
 Part I, Chapter IV, Capacities, Instincts, 
 Desires
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 Part i, Chapter VII, Habit and its Limi- 
 tations 
 
 Oppenheim, Nathan : Mental Growth and Con- 
 trolChapter VII, The Bonds of Habit 
 Nordhoff, Charles : God and the Future Life 
 Chapter III, What are You? 
 Chapter IV, You are an Individual 
 James, William: Principles of Psychology 
 
 Vol. I, Chapter IV, Habit 
 Morgan, G. Campbell: Life Problems Chapter 
 
 VI, Destiny 
 Luke: Chapter 4:16-32 
 Proverbs : Chapter 22 :6 
 
 III 
 
 SOCIETIES: CLIQUES: FRATERNITIES 
 
 Oppenheim, Nathan : Mental Growth and Con- 
 trol- 
 Chapter IV, What Association Means 
 Chapter IX, Imagination, the Enlightener 
 
 Hyde, William DeWitt : Practical Ethics- 
 Chapter XIV, Fellow-men 
 Chapter XVII, Friends 
 
 Two Recent College Graduates : Not in the Cur- 
 riculum 
 
 Chapter II, Relations to Fellows 
 Chapter III, Friends
 
 TEACHERS' SUPPLEMENT 
 
 Speer, Robert E : A Young Man's Questions 
 
 Chapter VI, His Companions 
 King, Henry Churchill: The Laws of Friend- 
 ship 
 
 Chapter XVIII, Reverence for the Person 
 Chapter XIX, Expression 
 Hall, G. Stanley: Youth Chapter IX, The 
 
 Growth of Social Ideals 
 
 Coe, George A. : Education in Religion and 
 Morals Chapter XVIII, Societies and 
 Clubs 
 
 MacCunn, John: The Making of Character 
 Part II, Chapter IV, School and 
 Friendship 
 
 Everybody's Magazine, August, 1909 
 Proverbs: Chapter 18:24 
 Psalms : Chapter 55 :12, 13 
 Ruth: Chapter 1:16, 17 
 
 
 
 IV 
 
 INTOXICATING LIQUORS AND 
 TOBACCO 
 
 MacCunn, John: The Making of Character 
 Part IV, Chapter II, Self-control 
 
 Oppenheim, Nathan: Mental Growth and Con- 
 trol: Chapter VII, The Bonds of Habit
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 Hyde, William DeWitt: Practical Ethics- 
 Chapter I, Food and Drink 
 Two Recent College Graduates : Not in the 
 Curriculum Chapter XVII, A Word as 
 to Drunkenness 
 
 Morgan, G. Campbell: Life Problems 
 Chapter II, Environment 
 Chapter III, Heredity 
 
 Speer, Robert E. : A Young Man's Questions 
 Chapter VII, Shall I Drink? 
 Chapter VIII, Shall I Smoke? 
 Devine, Edward T. : Misery and Its Causes 
 
 Pages 109 ff., also 24-1 
 
 Williams, Henry Smith: Scientific Solution of 
 the Liquor Problem McClure's, Feb- 
 ruary, 1909 
 Abbott, Lyman : The Temple ; The Appetites 
 
 Outlook, August 28, 1909 
 Proverbs : Chapters 20 :1 ; 23 :21, 9 :5 . 
 Matthew : Chapter 24 :49-51 
 I Corinthians : Chapter 6 :10 
 
 PROFANITY AND SLANG 
 
 Two Recent College Graduates: Not in the 
 
 Curriculum 
 Chapter XI, Conversation 
 
 6
 
 TEACHERS' SUPPLEMENT 
 
 Chapter XVIII, Profanity 
 
 Starbuck, Edwin Dillor, in California Prize 
 Essays : Moral Training in the Public 
 Schools Essay 3 
 
 Hall, G. Stanley: Youth, Its Education, Regi- 
 men and Hygiene Chapter X, Intellec- 
 tual Education and School Work. Pages 
 252-258 
 
 Ephesians: Chapter 5:4 
 
 Matthew: Chapters 5:33-37; 12:36, 37; 
 15:18, 19. 
 
 Proverbs: Chapter 10:19; 15:4; 18:6 
 James : Chapter 5 :12 
 
 VI 
 
 LYING 
 
 Cabot, Ella Lyman : Everyday Ethics 
 Chapter XIX, Truth 
 
 Chapter XX, Truth-speaking as a Fine 
 Art 
 
 Oppenheim, Nathan: Mental Growtli and Con- 
 trol- 
 Chapter VII, Bonds of Habit 
 Chapter XII, Will the Controller 
 
 Carlyle, Thomas : Heroes and Hero Worship 
 Lecture V, The Hero as Man of Letters 
 Lecture VI, The Hero as King
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 Hyde, William DeWitt : Practical Ethics 
 Chapter VI, Exchange 
 Chapter VII, Knowledge 
 Hall, G. Stanley: Youth, etc. Chapter VII, 
 
 Faults, Lies, and Crimes 
 Philippians : Chapter 4 :8 
 Ephesians : Chapter 4 :25 
 James: Chapter 3:17 
 Proverbs: Chapter 24:28 
 Psalms :. Chapter 101 :7 
 
 VII 
 
 CHEATING AND GRAFT 
 
 Carlyle, Thomas : Heroes and Hero Worship 
 Lecture IV, The Hero as Priest 
 
 Two Recent College Graduates : Not in the Cur- 
 riculum Chapter IX, Use of Money 
 
 Hadley, Arthur T. : Standards of Public Moral- 
 ity Chapter IV, The Workings of our 
 Political Machinery 
 
 Nordhoff , Charles : Politics for Young Ameri- 
 cans Chapter IV, Primary and Neces- 
 sary Functions of Government 
 
 MacCunn, John : The Making of Character 
 Part II, Chapters XI and XII, Precept, 
 Casuistry 
 
 8
 
 TEACHERS' SUPPLEMENT 
 
 Hyde, William DeWitt: Practical Ethics- 
 Chapter VI, Exchange 
 Matthew: Chapter 6 
 Proverbs: Chapters 20 :K; 28:8; 29:27 
 Romans: Chapter 13:7, 8 
 Luke: Chapter 16:12 
 Ephesians : Chapter 4 :28 
 
 VIII 
 GAMBLING AND BETTING 
 
 DuBois, Patterson : The Culture of Justice- 
 Chapter X, Money as a Means of Moral 
 Training 
 
 Two Recent College Graduates : Not in the Cur- 
 riculum 
 
 Chapter VII, Disposal of Time 
 Chapter IX, Use of Money 
 
 Speer, Robert E : A Young Man's Questions 
 Chapter XI, Is it Wrong to Bet? 
 Chapter XII, His Amusements 
 Hyde, William DeWitt: Practical Ethics- 
 Chapter VI, Exchange 
 Matthew : Chapter 5 :38-41 
 
 9
 
 LITE QUESTIONS 
 IX 
 
 THE SEX PROBLEM 
 
 MacCunn, John: Making of Character Part 
 IV, Chapter II, Self-Control 
 
 Oppenheim, Nathan : Mental Growth and Con- 
 trol Chapter IX, Imagination the En- 
 lightener 
 
 Two Recent College Graduates : Not in the Cur- 
 riculum Chapter XV, Purity 
 
 Speer, Robert E. : A Young Man's Questions 
 Chapter XIII, Men and Women 
 
 Devine, Edward T. : Misery and its Causes 
 Pages 38-42 
 
 Hall, Winfield S. : From Youth to Manhood 
 Chapte-s II, III, IV 
 
 Abbott, Lyman : The Temple ; The Passions 
 
 Outlook, September 4, 1909 
 II Timothy : Chapter 2 :22 
 Titus : Chapter 1 :15 
 I Corinthians : Chapter 6 :9, 19, 20. 
 
 ATTITUDE TOWARD WOUK 
 
 Abbott, Lyman: The Temple; The Ear Out- 
 look, July 17, 1909: The Hand, Out- 
 look, August 14, 1909 
 
 10
 
 TEACHERS' SUPPLEMENT 
 
 Oppenheim, Nathan: Mental Growth and Con- 
 trol- 
 Chapter III, The Power of Attention 
 Chapter X, The Emotions and Their Edu- 
 cation 
 Hyde, William DeWitt: Practical Ethics 
 
 Cha-ter IV, Work 
 
 Two Recent College Graduates : Not in the Cur- 
 riculum 
 
 Chapter I How to Begin 
 Chapter IV Study 
 Chapter V, Athletics 
 
 Nordhoff, Charles : God and the Future Life 
 Chapter V, Necessity of a Living 
 Faith 
 
 Morgan, G. Campbell: Life Problems Chap- 
 ter II, Environment 
 Devine, Edward T. : Misery and its Causes 
 
 Chapter II, Out of Ht-lth 
 
 Stevenson, Albert Louis : Underwood Re- 
 quiem; The Celestial Surgeon; Mem- 
 ories and Portraits 
 
 Royce, Josiah: The Philosophy of Loyalty 
 Lecture I, Nature and Need of Loyalty, 
 Parts G and 7 
 
 Matthew : Chapters 6 :24-34 ; 7 :21 
 Luke : Chapter 9 :62 
 Romans: Chapter 9:19-21 
 
 I Corinthians: Chapter 12:4-17 
 
 II Corinthians : Chapter 10 :13 
 
 U
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 XI 
 THE SELF-CENTERED MAN 
 
 Cabot, Ella Lyman : Everyday Ethics Chapter 
 XII, Selfishness 
 
 Oppenheim, Nathan: Mental Growth and Con- 
 trol Chapter X, The Emotions and 
 Their Education , 
 
 Carlyle, Thomas: Heroes and Hero Worship 
 Lecture II. The Hero as Prophet 
 Lecture V, The Hero as Man of Letters 
 
 Hyde, William DeWitt: Practical Ethics- 
 Chapter XIV, Fellow-m'en 
 
 Nordhoff, Charles: God and the Future Life- 
 Chapter XVI, Conduct of Life 
 Chapter XVII, Conduct of Life 
 
 Morgan, G. Campbell: Life Problems Chapter 
 I, Self 
 
 Jordan, David Starr : Care and Culture of Men 
 Chapter XI, Science in the High 
 School 
 
 Royce, Josiah: The Philosophy of Loyalty 
 Lecture II, Individualism, Parts 4 and 
 5 
 
 King, Henry Churchill: The Laws of Friend- 
 ship Chapter XIII, The Giving of 
 the Self
 
 TEACHERS' SUPPLEMENT 
 
 Matthew: Chapters 5:29, 30; 16:24; 19:23, 
 24 ; 20 :26-28 
 
 I Corinthians: Chapter 9:17-27 
 Galatians: Chapter 5:24 
 
 XII 
 SOCIAL SERVICE IN THE COMMUNITY 
 
 Jordan, David Starr: Care and Culture of Men 
 Chapter V, The Scholar in the Com- 
 munity 
 
 DuBois, Patterson: The Culture of Justice 
 Last three pages of Chapter IV 
 
 Hyde, William DeWitt : Practical Ethics- 
 Chapter XVI, Wrong Doers 
 Chapter XIX, The State 
 Chapter XX, Society 
 
 Two Recent College Graduates : Not in the Cur- 
 riculum Chapter II, Relations to Fel- 
 lows 
 
 Ruskin, John: Sesame and Lilies Lecture III, 
 Paragraph 135, Mystery of Life and its 
 Arts 
 
 Morgan, G. Campbell: Life Problems Chapter 
 V, Influence 
 
 Speer, Robert E. : A Young Man's Questions 
 Chapter XV, A Young Man in his Work 
 in the World 
 
 13
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 Rauschenbusch, Walter: Christianity and the 
 Social Crisis Chapter II, The Social 
 Aims of Jesus 
 
 Devine, Edward T. : Misery and Its Causes 
 Chapter V 
 Chapter VI 
 
 Matthew: Chapter 7:12; 25:34-40 
 I Corinthians: Chapters 8:12, 13; 10 
 Luke : Chapter 6 :33 
 Galatians : Chapter 6 :10 
 
 XIII 
 
 POLITICS 
 
 Hadley, Arthur T. : Standards of Public Moral- 
 ityChapter V, The Political Duties of' 
 the Citizen 
 
 Jenks, Jeremiah W. : Principles of Politics 
 Chapter II, Political Motives 
 
 Jenks, Jeremiah W. : Citizenship and the 
 
 Schools 
 
 Chapter I, Training for Citizenship 
 Chapter III, The Making of Citizens 
 
 Shaw, Albert : Political Problems of American 
 Development Chapter I, Nature and 
 Meaning of Our Political Life 
 
 Leacock, Stephen : Elements of Political Science 
 Page 20, The Ideal State 
 
 14
 
 TEACHERS' SUPPLEMENT 
 
 Nordhoff, Charles : Politics for Young Ameri- 
 cans 
 
 Royce, Josiah: The Philosophy of Loyalty 
 Lecture V, Some American Problems in 
 Their Relation to Loyalty, Parts 5, 6, 7 
 Romans: Chapter 13 
 
 I Chronicles: Chapters 17, 22, 29 
 
 II Chronicles: Chapters 10, 33 
 I Kings : Chapters 1, 2, 8 
 
 XIV 
 SUCCESS 
 
 MacCunn, John : Making of Character Part 
 III, Chapter III, Growth of the Indi- 
 vidual Ideal 
 
 Hyde, William DeWitt: Practical Ethics- 
 Chapter X, Fortune 
 
 Two Recent College Graduates : Not in the Cur- 
 riculum Chapter VIII, How to be 
 Popular 
 
 Jordan, David Starr: Care and Culture of Men 
 Chapter XIII, The Procession of Life 
 
 King, Henry Churchill: The Laws of Friend- 
 ship Chapter I, Friendship the Prob- 
 lem of Life 
 Matthew: Chapter 6:19-21; 6:33; 7:21; 
 
 16:26 
 
 15
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 Mark : Chapter 10 :28-31 
 Revelations: Chapter 14:13 
 Proverbs: Chapter 22:29 
 
 XV 
 
 RELIGION 
 
 Carlyle, Thomas : Heroes and Hero Worship 
 Lecture 1, The Hero as Divinity 
 
 Hyde, William DeWitt: Practical Ethics- 
 Chapter XXII, God 
 
 Jordan, David Starr: Care and Culture of Men 
 Chapter XV, The Social Order 
 
 Two Recent College Graduates : Not in the Cur- 
 riculum 
 
 Chapter XIV, Practical Christianity 
 Chapter XVI, Dealing with Doubt 
 
 Hyde, William . DeWitt : Self Measurement 
 Pages 70 ff. 
 
 Devine, Edward T. : Misery and its Causes 
 Pages 251 ff. 
 
 Coe, George A. : Religion of a Mature Mind 
 Chapters X and XIII, Education in Re- 
 ligion and Morals, Chapters XII-XV 
 
 Royce, Josiah: The Philosophy of Loyalty 
 Lecture VIII, Loyalty and Religion, 
 Parts 5 and 6 
 
 16
 
 TEACHERS' SUPPLEMENT 
 
 Speer, Robert E. : A Young Man's Questions- 
 Chapter II, Why a Young Man Should 
 be a Christian 
 
 Matthew : Chapters 7 :21 ; 25 :40 
 
 Ephesians : Chapter 5 ;19 
 
 James : 1 :26, 27 
 
 Proverbs : 29 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Abbott, Lyman: The Temple. The Macmillan 
 
 Co. 
 Cabot, Ella Lyman: Everyday Ethics. Henry 
 
 Holt & Co. 
 California Prize Essays: Moral Training in the 
 
 Public Schools. 
 
 Carlyle, Thomas : Heroes and Hero Worship. 
 Devine, Edward T. : Misery and Its Causes. The 
 
 Macmillan Co. 
 Dewey, John : The School and Society. The 
 
 University of Chicago Press. 
 DuBois, Patterson : The Culture of Justice. 
 
 Dodd, Mead & Co. 
 
 Hadley, Arthur T. : Standards of Public Moral- 
 ity. The Macmillan Co. 
 Hall, G. Stanley. Youth, etc. D. Appleton & 
 
 Co. 
 Hall, Winfield S. : From Youth to Manhood. 
 
 Y. M. C. A. Press. 
 
 17
 
 LIFE QUESTIONS 
 
 Hyde, William DeWitt: Practical Ethics. 
 Henry Holt & Co. 
 
 James, William: Principles of Psychology. 
 Henry Holt & Co. 
 
 Jenks, Jeremiah W. : Principles of Politics. 
 Columbia University Press. 
 
 Jenks, Jeremiah W. : Citizenship and the 
 Schools. Henry Holt & Co. 
 
 Jordan, David Starr : Care and Culture of Men. 
 Whitaker & Ray Co. 
 
 King, Henry C. : The Laws of Friendship. The 
 Macmillan Co. 
 
 Leacock, Stephen : Elements of Political Science. 
 Houghton, Miffiin & Co. 
 
 MacCunn, John : Making of Character. The 
 Macmillan Co. 
 
 Moral Training in the Public Schools. Califor- 
 nia Prize Essays. Ginn & Co. 
 
 Morgan, G. Campbell : Life Problems. Fleming 
 H. Revell Co. 
 
 Nordhoff, Charles: God and the Future Life. 
 Harper Bros. 
 
 Nordhoff, Charles. Politics for Young Ameri- 
 cans. Harper Bros. 
 
 Oppenheim, Nathan: Mental Growth and Con- 
 trol. The Macmillan Co. 
 
 F.auschenbusch, Walter: Christianity and the 
 Social Crisis. The Macmillan Co. 
 
 18
 
 TEACHERS' SUPPLEMENT 
 
 Royce, Josiah: The Philosophy of Loyalty. 
 The Macmillan Co. 
 
 Ruskin, John : Sesame and Lilies. 
 
 Shaw, Albert: Political Problems of American. 
 Development. Columbia University Press. 
 
 Speer, Robert E. : A Young Man's Questions. 
 Fleming H. Revell Co. 
 
 Two Recent College Graduates : Not in the Cur- 
 riculum. Fleming H. Revell Co.
 
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