Somerville High School - Radiator Yearbook (Somerville, MA)

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There is a famous quotation which reads:— “All who joy would win must share it — hap- piness was born a twin. Think with me for a moment about the truth of these words. Can a man enjoy a hearty meal while a hungry, starving beggar watches him eat? But how happy he is when he shares with the beggar his meal! Was Munsey happy after he reaped his great fortune through crushing other smj'ler concerns? Surely not, for just be- fore his dying day he was heard to have said: “I wonder if all this has paid. His only real satisfaction of life lay in the thought that he had willed his immense fortune to a museum, which perhaps did not need it. True happiness is self-forget- fulness, willingness to do the right thing for everybody’s happiness. Finally, and most important of all, one must in order to be happy, have a basic, profound religious faith. Lacking it, one may not necessarily be bad, but it is a surety that he is sad; for without it life becomes a meaningless, despairing, incon- gruous conglomeration of events, the world becomes a mysterious riddle. With- out it, each earthly thing becomes an emptiness; “All is vanity and vexation of spirit. Without it people are sorrowful; they find no joy; they find no happiness. Count Tolstoi, who lived in pre-eminently happy circumstances, favored with posi- tion, reputation, home-life, physical and mental strength, describes in his “Con- fessions how fruitless and purposeless his life was to him. He had to fight the temp- tation to commit suicide. Though he stud- ied literature, the arts, the sciences, still life appeared to be a wicked and foolish joke played upon him. He envied the peas- ant for his quiet faith; until finally he, too, Count Tolstoi, the nobleman, bent his neck humbly, faithfully to the yoke of Christ. Then he wrote: “My whole life underwent a sudden transformation. . . . My soul, once filled with despair of life and fear of death, is now full of happiness and peace. Fellow Classmates:— Why are so many of us unhappy ? Who is to blame for it? Who is at fault? I shall not have fulfilled my purpose today if I have not impressed you with the thought that we have a right to happiness and we alone are to blame if we are not intimately, closely, in contact with hap- piness. Happiness lies in our own breast. From ourselves joy must flow. Our pond of happiness is fed from hidden springs within ourselves, and nothing, no outward circumstances can contribute toward it or detract from it. We need only do our work well, optimistically, unselfishly, and faithfully. Then, let us choose our work with care and precision that we may pursue it with interest and assiduousness. Let us be a radiant folk, pour forth our joy, assure ourselves and others of the livableness of life. We may meet, as we go forth into the world, with many sorrows and regrets, but let us not despair. Remember: “Only the soul that knows the mighty grief can know the mighty rapture. When a stream is broken by the rocks, it is made more beautiful than when it glides silently along. So, also, happiness is made brighter, fuller, lovelier for its many in- terruptions. Let us also cultivate a spirit of unsel- fishness, a love and consideration for others, for by each doing our part, we ag- gregate an unselfish spirit, thus prevent- ing all evils. Finally, let us confide in God a trust, a loyal faith, and “live a trustful, tranquil, God-centered life, meeting storm with calm, adversity with fortitude, defeat with faith, and death with hope of im- mortal life. Let us feel His protecting hand over us, leading us through the dark- nesses until we finally reach our long de- sired, long aspired, ultimate goal — HAPPINESS. Robert Eng Dunn. [ TWENTY-ONE ]

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piness? Dr. Samuel Johnson once said, “Work! and don't whine! Indeed one of the most durable satisfactions of life comes from doing the work that fits one's nature, from doing the work that one knows he is best fitted to do. “But, you say, “how many such fortunate people are there, especially in this time of depres- sion? Too few perhaps, but those who do whatever work they may attain, doing it well, whether it be congenial or not, derive very real satisfaction from it. Again you say, “But today there is no work. All too true if you mean work that brings large salaries and wages, but as for useful work, there is much to be done. A certain wealthy and successful wool merchant was not long ago a victim of the depression. He lost his entire busi- ness. Everything was gone except a bare living. At the present time he receives no income, but is he idle? Every day he works harder than before, his services of- fered to the Boston Relief Commission, helping those less fortunate than himself. Hard work, no income, yet he comes home happier than he has been for many years. He is a living example of John Dwight’s poem of a century ago:— “Work and thou wilt bless the day, Ere the toil be done; They that work not, cannot pray, Cannot feel the sun.” Work then and not idleness is an essential for true human happiness. A second important source of happiness lies in that spirit of optimism that is de- rived from playing life as a game. Pro- fessor George Herbert Palmer said of his famous wife, Alice Freeman Palmer: “She got the greatest joy out of life, for it was to her a game in which she was always matching her skill with that of a hidden opponent. There is a constant fear of change in many people who feel that in order to be happy, one must feel secure. They shrink from any feeling of insecur- ity. They dread to be in a position where circumstances may oppose their conveni- ence. They lack a game optimism; for with it one has the ability to feel secure in all his insecurity, with it one can easily endure the tests and trials of life, with it one can, in spite of any undesired change, live happily. But even with these two important es- sentials, one cannot live a happy life un- less he has an unselfish heart. Oh, what a delightfully happy world this would be if we could but obliterate that demoniacal spirit of selfishness from our souls! Sel- fishness, the curse and sin of the ages! Because of it crimes are committed, courts are crowded, jails prosper. Because of it our economical system, our political sys- tem is unsound. Because of it labor prob- lem is acute, and thousands of unemployed walk the streets, sleep on doorsteps, shel- terless, foodless, clothesless. Because of it wars are waged, bombing, blasting, devas- tating the lands, killing and crippling and deforming millions upon millions of peo- ple. Indeed, because of selfishness, every sorrow, every suffering, every unhappiness is engendered. It is truly said that not one single evil can be conceived which is not traceable to the same vulgar source of selfishness. Selfishness in all its forms, jealousy, greed, revenge, prejudice, hatred, isolation, they caused the uneasy situation which exists in Europe today. France, jealous of her neighbors’ mounting power; Italy, greedy for more arms and ammuni- tions; Germany with its keen desire for revenge; England, Austria, Hungary, the Little Entente, all deeply prejudiced against each other, each suspecting, doubting, hating one another; the United States with its policy of isolation, not willing to exert its potent influence, for it might mean self-sacrifice; all these man- ifestations of selfishness are the cause of the present international unrest; all this aggregation of self-interest takes from the world’s people their rightful happiness. Such is the relation of a collective sel- fishness with happiness, but what of in- dividual selfishness and happiness? Can these two exist together? Is it true hap- piness when only one person enjoys it? [ TWENTY ]

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CLASS POEM GARDEN OF LIFE Years and years ago, my classmates, There was made a tiny garden, Hoed and furrowed and duly planted With the seed of fruits and flowers, Wisely watched and wisely tended. And the days passed oh! so swiftly, Sun-kissed June and bleak December, And the seeds, now firmly bedded, Grew in size and o’er the landscape Spread in colorful confusion. And the garden ever growing Furrowed through the grassy meadows, Ever seeded, ever fertile, Till at last it reached the forest, Sombre, sad, and melancholy, Save in spots where filtered sunlight Pierced the shades in golden halo. There the growing garden seedlings Mingled with the forest monarchs And forsook their fertile homeland Where the tillers toiled unfailing. Fast they crept, and ever faster In among the giant branches, Mingling in a green profusion. Swiftly years flew by like shadows. Bearing storms and drouths and famine, But the vines survived these dangers. They were hardy, deeply rooted. Winds and rains and icy blizzards Held no terrors for these climbers. For their roots were deep imbedded In the fertile garden furrows. Years and years ago, my classmates, We were introduced to knowledge. By the efforts of our teachers We were taught the many lessons Necessary to existence. It became a daily feature In our lives as yet untutored. Then our minds were as the garden Seeded by our teachers’ efforts. Ever growing, ever gaining In that strength called moral fibre — Character attained by knowledge. Comes the day when school is ended; We are leaving now the meadow Where we learned the daily lessons; And the unknown forest beckons, Life, the forest, grim and sombre. Yet, ’tis not unknown to scholars. Knowledge lights the shades of ignorance. Ours to conquer, or be conquered. And the message that was taught us We must ever carry with us. Let us seek advice from others Trained to understand life’s problems, Friends and parents, teachers, scholars. By experience they can help us; Turn to them we must, my classmates. Learn from them of life’s great blessings, Learn from them of life’s great dangers, Learn from them the greatest lesson — We, too, must serve if we would live. Robert Ham. [ TWENTY-TWO ]