Thomas Jefferson High School - Aurora Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

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w 1 I w I Y 1 I l I L , f I

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Dear GraduaTes: AT The Time This is being wriTTen There is a waTer shorTage in Jerusalem and a sad dearTh oT decenT human regard Tor The Teelings oT oThers in Germany. LiTe wiThouT waTer is unThinkable7 liTe wiThouT kindliness is almosT unlivable. AT leasT, in The laTTer case, whaTever living There is musT be on an animal level. ln boTh insTances along The sTerile, parched deserT wasTes There is no exisTence excepT Tor cerTain Types oT highly specialized animal organisms ThaT need very liTTle To survive. The quesTion is being seriously raised by some oT The eminenT persons l have meT and Talked wiTh on my Travels, Will civilizaTion survive? Are we abouT To reel rapidly backward inTo an age compared To which The so-called dark ages will seem like marvels oT illuminaTion? No one knows. Nor can anyone be guided excepT by The eTernal veriTies, The lighT ThaT has consisTenTly come Trom The greaTesT sages, philos- ophers and propheTs oT all Time. As surely as Two plus Two makes Tour in The pracTical world, so surely does haTe begeT haTe. There is no end To iT because iT Teeds on iTselT, growing ranker and more desTrucTive wiTh The passing oT The days. WhaT can you and l do abouT iT? A greaT deal. ln The TirsT place we musT consciously classiTy ourselves wiTh advanced human beings who reTuse To lead purely egocenTric lives. We owe iT To every man living, including ourselves, To reTrain Trom saying The ThoughTless biTTer word and Trom proclaiming as a greaT TruTh The vapid generalizaTions abouT oThers which circulaTe so Treely in mobs. There is only one Torm oT inTolerance which iT is The obligaTion oT every educaTecl man and woman To espouse and ThaT is inTolerance of inTolerance. lvloral leprosy dwells in The roTTing souls oT Those who haTe, convenienTly, by label. NoT Tor Them is The kingdom eiTher oT earTh or oT heaven. The waTer shorTage in Jerusalem will probably be meT by drawing on oTher springs, some oT Them in disTanT parTs. WhaT springs will humaniTy Tap in order To bring back Tor every human being as long as he remains on earTh-so brieT a Time aT iTs longesTl-his divine righT To liTe, liberTy and The pursuiT oT happinessu? Please accepT my besT wishes, all oT you, Tor a TuTure oT good healTh, happiness and useTulness To yourselves and To oThers. ' GCE YA, -.,-.,A 5 c D

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To The Members oT The GraduaTing Class: For you who are abouT To be graduaTed Trom Jeihlerson, we who are older and more experienced cannoT buT wonder whaT The TuTure is holding in sTore. We are living in Troubled buT wonderTul Times. There are so many l4noTTy problems To be solved, so many conTroversies To be seTTled, so many wounds To be healed. IT is Taxing The ingenuiTy oT our greaTesT sTaTesmen To malce suiTable adiusTmenTs To some oT our mosT pressing problems. Time will bring new perplexiTies and iT may be seen ThaT presenT meThods oT dealing wiTh some oT our diTTiculTies have been inadeguaTe. ln These TuTure deliberaTions you, as educaTed American ciTizens, will have To bear your parT and assume your responsibiliTies. You will noT be able To ignore or evade Them. CriTicism is easy buT worlcable sugges- Tions are noT always readily Tound. Your own experiences here in school have surely TaughT you ThaT de- cisions hasTily reached are seldom eiTher valid or pracTical. Judicious adiusTmenTs reguire careTul consideraTion. You musT also have learned here ThaT diTTerences oT opinion are bound To be meT, buT inTolerance oT The opinions oT oThers should never Tind a place. ThaT characTerisTic never helped anyone To a useTul soluTion oT a l4noTTy problem. You have been reminded oTTen enough ThaT The educaTional oppor- TuniTies you have enioyed carry wiTh Them grave responsibiliTies. To many people These words convey liTTle more Than The pleasing noTion oT The digniTy and presTige oT high posiTion. The plain TacT is, Though, ThaT There is much hard and inconspicuous worlc To be done-worlc which will bring neiTher Tinancial proTiT nor personal preTermenT. And iT is you who musT do much oT This worlc, oTTen aT The sacriTice oT your own personal desires and inTeresTs. You are going ouT Trom JeTTerson wiTh The besT wishes oT all whom you are leaving behind and l exTend my warmesT personal greeTing To you all. Sincerely your Triend, LOUISE SMITH