Larry's Philosophy (II)

II

Tonight, several of us were having a good bull-session. One of the men said that a friend of his wanted a spacious mansion in the country where he could spend his days as a bachelor. He would read good books, have plenty of wholesome recreation with his hunters and his dogs, entertain a great deal among a congenial circle of friends, travel to new places a part of every year--in short, find happiness through seeing life in its most gracious and becoming aspects. I held that he would not find happiness; that he would become restless and discontented, and end up by wondering what he had proved by being alive at all. Because he would be living to himself. Happiness is the goal toward which we all work, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, the cherished ideal of our dreams--but how shall we find it? The Koran says: "Happiness must be earned." Christ said that we will find happiness only in proportion to the happiness that we give others.

So once again we find our definition of selfishness to be helpful. We desire happiness because we are human, we know that we cannot be happy until we give ourselves unreservedly to the task of making others happy, and so we do that--and find our pot of gold. This is selfishness, but in the higher sense.

Someone asked me why I came to college if it is not for selfishness. In trying to answer him I cleared up some points that I have been hazy about for some time. I came to college because I want to increase physically, mentally, and spiritually to such an extent that I can command a great deal of influence and win the confidence, the respect, and the love of other people. Pure selfishness. But I mean to use this influence in bringing happiness to these other people; through the medium of politics or architecture, or engineering, or the Y.M.C.A. I mean to do my utmost to make the Christian way of life the only way of life. Incidentally, if I can prove that the matter of being a Christian is not a mollycoddle idea, but a red-blooded, two-fisted, daring scrap from start to finish, I shall feel that I have accomplished a lot toward the ultimate goal.

Many people start out on the plan above--that of fitting themselves--but they lose the determination to carry on their work in the enjoyment of the conditions they have built up. For instance, a man may start out in his college career with the definite idea of climbing to a position from which he can command most, and for the greatest good. He reaches the position by hard work; he is president of the class, on the college paper, in serveral honorary societies, and outside activities. All the chance in the world for a marvelous influence--unlimited potentialities. Then, because of vanity or flattery, always something unworthy, he loses his ideal of sacrifice, his desire to be of aid, and he becomes impossible, a nonentity, a parasite. He reached third base, and died; he lost his opportunity. Suppose another man started out with the same idea and reached a similar position, his pen, and his persuasiveness, for the highest ideals on the campus; he made a radical change for the better along some lines. He made a glorious dash for home--and won the game.

Now, both used selfishness (if you will) to gain position. In physics, potential energy is "energy of position," and must be stored up before it is expended as kinetic energy; the weight of a pile driver must be hauled to the top before it can be in a position to do work. In the same way, both of these boys got their potential energy; one of them didn't have his guide rods in place, and the force of his weight, unaimed, was spent on trivial and superficial things; the other sent all of his weight crashing squarely on the top of the pile--and his objective was driven home! The selfishness of the first man changed to self-advancement for self, and his selfishness became a sin; that of the other was self-improvement for others, and his selfishness became a virtue. Into these two branches is selfishness divided for me.