West Night High School - Echo Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

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Its claims to the First place amongst the forces impelling men onward and upward are based upon the following: In the first place, it is the basis of all true happiness in that it produces that satisfactory and health- ful unrest which urges to higher and nobler achievements. No discouragement can possibly exist in an atmosphere of optimism. The most miserable creature to himself or to his comrades is one over whom the pall 0f discouragement has fallen. This condition is so foreign to optimism that it vanishes at its ap- proach. The world of optimism has no place for those whose practice is to throw cold water. In the second place. it is the basis of all real onward movement in the physical world It is the one thing which makes progress in this department of life sure. t'Write it upon your heart, that each day is the best day of the year. This is optimism made practical. The philosophy of the full enjoyment of every happy day despite what may be coming on the morrow is one of the hardest things for many people to learn. Practice to be happy today, no matter if tomorrow is to he the most unhappy of your life. In the realm of the producer of those things that have made for the help, health and well-being of man, 0p- timism is the motive power. It led Morse to the Telegraph, Fulton to the Steamboat, Bell to the Telephone, Watt to the Steam engine, Whitney to the Cotton-gin, Wilcox t0 the Sewing-machine, Edison to the Electric- light and it is leading the Wrights and Curtis to the Aeroplane. In the third place, optimism is the basis of all true growth in the mental world or that department of activity that seeks to strengthen the mind for the good results and increase of power that come there? from. Belief in one's powers and the possibilities thereof, leads the scholar to his essay, the orator to his eloquence, the commander to his victories, the lawyer to the bench. Optimism never invests one with an overweening sense of self-importance, never breeds egotism. The great are ever the meek. The greatest eulogy pronounced over General U. S. Grant was, ltHe never underestimated himself in the hour of his trial, nor overestimated himself in the hour of his victory. Belief in their powers and the possibilities of growth made Cicero, Disraeli, Burke and Ingersoll masters in oratory; the same forces placed Beecher, Spurgeon and Moody in the front sanks of the great divines; the same sublime force sent Garrick, Kean, Booth and Murdock to leadership in the realms of dramatic art; optimism made it possible for Lincoln to strike the shackles from a race of slaves. Finally, optimism is the basis of all growth in Morals. Belief that one has reached the acme of good- ness, leads to stagnation. The good are ever growing in goodness. Movement is life. Did not one believe that on the morrow he may be better than he is today, no effort would be forthcoming. Optimism is superior to hope. Hope frequently leads to stagnation. Hope is the belief that things m1! come out right: optimism prompts one to mukv things come out right. Optimism leads ever toward the light and all true growth is so toward Optimism is the pursuit of the buffer, and the attitude which it takes is the attitude of success, as diSe tinguished from the attitude of failure. The realities of life are its successes, its dreams, its hopes, its health, its 10 ve. 31

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W. R. COOKK The Staff JOS. H. GROSSMAN. SAMUEL STERN ........ . . ..A550Ciate Editor WALLACE A. COOK. ..Ass't Business Manager .Editor-in-Chief hminesu Mhnuger GEO W. BURNS R. H. GRAVETT M. FREEMAN WARNER PISTDR M. NELSON F. R. WULFHORST LOUIS GORNE B. ECKHOFF C H. ELSTON M. MCCARTY A, NEUMAN ROBERT HAINES MISS HARTUNG 33 GEO. KOHLMAN WM. KLUSMEVER EMMA SCHMIDT HARRIS GINBERG A. N. NAISH j. M. HUGHES F FELIJKAMP W. WEHRUNG A. H. SIEMON H. JACOBS J05. STOECKEL F. S, DAVIS E NIEMEYER