Speaker 1: Impartiality. To get rid of prejudice is a great achievement.
Prejudices pile obstacles in a man's way, obstacles to health, success, happiness,
and prosperity, so that he is continually running up against
imaginary enemies, who, when prejudice is removed, are seen to
be a friend. Life, indeed, is a sort of obstacle
race to the man of prejudice, a race wherein the
obstacles cannot be negotiated and the goal is not reached,
whereas to the impartial man, life is a day's walk
in a pleasant country, with refreshment and rest at the
end of the day. To acquire impartiality, a man must
remove that innate egotism which prevents him from seeing anything
from any point of view other than his own. A
great task, truly, but a notable one, and one that
can be well begun now, even if it cannot be finished.
Truth can remove mountains, and prejudice is a range of
mental mountains beyond which the partisan does not see, and
of which he does not believe there is any beyond.
These mountains, removed, however, opens to the view the unending
vista of mental variety, blended in one glorious picture of
light and shade of color and tone, gladdening beholding eyes.
By clinging to stubborn prejudice, what joys are missed, what
friends are sacrificed, what happiness is destroyed? And what prospects
are blighted? And yet freedom from prejudice is a rare thing.
There are few men who are not prejudice partisans upon
the subjects which are of interest to them. One rarely
meets a man that will dispassionately discuss his subject from
both sides, considering all the facts and waiting all the evidence,
so as to arrive at truth on the matter. Each
partisan has his own case to make out. He is
not searching for truth, for he is already convinced that
his own conclusion is the truth, and that all else
is error. But he is defending his own case and
striving for victory. Neither does he attempt to prove that
he has the truth by a calm array of facts
and evidence, but defends his position with more or less
heat and agitation. Prejudice causes a man to form a conclusion,
sometimes without any basis of fact or knowledge, and then
to refuse to consider anything which does not support that conclusion,
and in this way prejudice is a complete barrier to
the attainment of knowledge. It binds a man down to
darkness and ignorance, and prevents the development of his mind
in the highest and noblest directions. More than this, it
shuts him out from communion with the best minds and
confines him to the dark and solitary cell of his
own egotism. Prejudice is shutting up the mind against the
entrance of new light, against the perception of more beauty,
against the hearing of diviner music. The partisan clings to
his little, fleeting, flimsy opinion and thinks it is the
greatest thing in the world. He is so in love
with his own conclusion, which is his only form of
self love, that he thinks all men ought to agree
with him, And he regards men as more or less
stupid who do not see as he sees, while he
praises the good judgment of those who are with him.
In his view, such a man cannot have knowledge, cannot
have truth. He is confined to the sphere of opinion,
to his own self created illusions, which is outside the
realm of reality. He moves in a kind of self infatuation,
which prevents him from seeing the ominous facts of life.
While his own theories, usually more or less groundless, assume
in his mind overpowering proportions. He fondly imagines that there
is but one side to everything, and that side is
his own. There are at least two sides to everything,
and he it is who finds the truth in a matter,
is he who carefully examines both sides, with all freedom
from excitement, and without any desire for the predominance of
one side over another. In its divisions and controversies, the
world at large is like two lawyers defending a case.
The council for the prosecution presents all the facts which
prove his side, while the council for the defense presents
all the facts which support his contention, and each belittles
or ignores or tries to reason away the facts of
the other. The judge in this case, however, is like
the impartial thinker among men. Having listened to all the
evidence on both sides, he compares and sifts it so
as to form an impartial summing up in the cause
of justice. Not that this universal partiality is a bad thing,
nor as in all other extremes nature here reduces the
opposition of conflicting parties to a perfect balance. Moreover, it
is a factor in evolution. It stimulates men to think
who have not yet developed the power to rouse up
vigorous thought at will. And it is a phase through
which all men have to pass. But it is only
a bye way, and a tangled, confused and painful one
toward the great highway of truth. It is the arc
of which impartiality is the perfect round. The partisan sees
a portion of the truth and thinks it the whole,
but the impartial thinker sees the whole truth, which includes
all sides. It is necessary that we seech on truth
and sections, as it were, until having gathered up all
the parts, we may piece them together and form the
perfect circle. And forming such a circle is the attainment
of impartiality. The impartial man examines ways and considers with
freedom from prejudice and from likes and dislikes. His one
wish is to discover the truth. He abolishes preconceived opinions
and lets facts and evidence speak for themselves. He makes
no case to make out for himself, for he knows
that truth is unalterable, that his opinions can make no
difference to it, and that it can be investigated and discovered.
He thereby escapes a vast amount of friction and nervous
wear and tear to which the feverish partisan is subject.
And in addition, he looks directly upon the face of reality,
and so becomes tranquil and peaceful. So rare is freedom
from prejudice, that wherever the impartial thinker may be, he
is sure sooner or later to occupy a very high
position in the estimation of the world and in the
guidance of his destiny. Not necessarily an office in worldly affairs,
for that is improbable, but in exalted position in the
sphere of influence. There may be such a one now,
and he may be a carpenter, a weaver, a clerk.
He may be in poverty or in the home of
a millionaire. He may be short or tall, or of
any complexion. But whatever and wherever he may be, he has,
though unknown, already begun to move the world, and one
day he will be universally recognized as a new force
and creative center in evolution. There was one some nineteen
hundred years ago. He was only a poor unlettered carpenter.
He was regarded as a madman by his own relatives,
and he came to the ignominious end in the eyes
of his countrymen. But he sowed the seeds of an
influence which has altered the whole world. There was another
such in India some twenty five centuries ago. He was accomplished,
highly educated, was the son of a capitalist and landed proprietor,
a petty king. He became a penniless, homeless mendicant, and
today one third of the human race worship at his
shrine and are restrained and elevated by his influence. Beware
when the Great God lets loose a thinker on this plane,
says Emerson. And a man is not a thinker who
is bound by prejudice. He is merely the strenuous upholder
of an opinion. Every idea must pass through the medium
of his particular prejudice and receive its color, so that
dispassionate thinking and impartial judgment are rendered impossible. Such a
man sees everything only in its relation, or imagine, relation
to his opinion, whereas the thinker sees things as they are.
The man who has so purified his mind of prejudice,
and of all imperfections of egotism, as to be able
to look directly upon reality has reached the acme of power.
He holds it in his hands, as it were, the
vastest influence, and he will wield this power, whether he
knows it or not. It will be inseparable from his life,
and will go from him as perfume from the flower.
It will be in his words, his deeds, in his
bodily postures, and the motions of his mind, even in
his silence and the stillness of his frame, wherever he goes,
even though he should fly to the desert, he will
not escape this lofty destiny. For a great thinker is
the center of the world. By him all men are
health in their orbits, and all thought gravitates toward him.
The truth thinker lives above and beyond the seething world
whool of passion in which mankind is engulfed. He is
not swayed by personal consideration, for he has grasps the
importance of impersonal principles, and thus, being a non combatant
in the clashing warfare of egotistic desires, he can, from
the vantage point of an impartial but not indifferent watcher
see both sides equally and grasp the cause and meaning
of the fray. Not only the great teachers, but the
greatest figures in literature, are those who are free from prejudice, who,
like true mirrors, affect things impartially. Such are Whitman, Shakespeare, Balzac, Emerson, Homer.
These minds are not local, but universal. Their attitude is
cosmic and not personal. They contain within themselves all things
and beings, all worlds and laws. They are the gods
who guide the race, and who will bring it at
last out of its fever of passion and into their
own serene land. The true thinker is the greatest of men,
and his destiny is the most exalted. The altogether impartial
mind has reached the divine, and it basts in the
full daylight of reality. The four great elements of impartiality
are one justice, two patience, three calmness four wisdom. Justice
is the giving and receiving of equal values. What is
called striking. A hard bargain is a kind of theft.
It means that the purchaser gives value for only a
portion of his purchase, the remainder being appropriated as clear gain.
The seller also encourages it by closing the bargain. The
just man does not try to gain an advantage. He
considers the true values of things and molds his transactions
in accordance therewith. He does not let what will pay
come before what is right, for he knows that what
is right pays best in the end. He does not
seek his own benefit to the disadvantage of another, for
he knows that a just action benefits equally and fully
both parties to a transaction. If one man's loss is
another man's gain, it is only that the balance may
be adjusted later on. Unjust gains cannot lead to prosperity,
but are sure to bring failure. A just man could
no more take from another an unjust gain by what
is called a smart transaction, that he could take it
by picking his pocket. He would regard the one as
dishonest as the other. The bargaining spirit in business is
not the true spirit of commerce. It is the selfish
and thieving spirit, which wants to get something for nothing.
The upright man purges his business of all bargaining and
builds it on the more dignified basis of justice. He
supplies a good article at its right price, and does
not alter. He does not soil his hands with any
business which is tainted and fraud. His goods are genuine,
and they are properly priced. Customers who try to beat
down a tradesman in their purchases are degrading themselves. Their
practice assumes one or both of two things, namely, that
either the tradesman is dishonest and is overcharging a low
and suspicious attitude of mind, or that they are eager
to cajole him out of his profit in equally based attitude,
and so benefit by his loss. The practice of bearing
down is altogether a dishonest one, and the people who
pursue it most assiduously are those who complain most of
being imposed on. And this is not surprising, seeing that
they themselves are all the time trying to impose on others.
On the other hand, the tradesman, who is anxious to
get all he can out of his customers, irrespective of
justice and the right value of things, is a kind
of robber, and is slowly poisoning his success, for his
deeds will assuredly come home to him in the form
of financial ruin. Set a man of fifty to me
the other day, I have just discovered that all my
life I have been paying fifty percent more for everything
than I ought to. A just man cannot feel that
he has ever paid too much for anything, for he
does not close with any transaction which he considers unjust.
But if a man is eager to get everything at
half price, then he will always be meanly and miserably
mourning that he is paying double for everything. The just
man is glad to pay full value for everything, whether
in giving or receiving, and his mind is untroubled, and
his days are full of peace. Let a man avoid
all meanness and strive to be ever more and more
perfectly just. For if he be not just, he can
be neither honest, nor generous, nor manly, but is a
kind of disgusted thief, trying to get all he can
and give back as little as possible. Let him aescuw
all bargaining, and teach bargainers a better way by conducting
his business with that exalted dignity which commands a large
and meritorious success. Patience is the brightest jewel in the
character of the impartial man. Not a particular patience with
a particular thing like a girl with her needlework, or
a boy building his toy engine. But in unswerving considerateness,
a sweetness of disposition at all times and under the
most trying circumstances, an unchangeable and gentle strength which no
trial can mar and no persecution can break. A rare possession,
it is true, and one not to be expected for
a long time yet from the bulk of mankind. But
a virtue that can be reached by a degree and
even a partial patience will work wonders in a man's
life and affairs, as a confirmed impatience will work all devastation.
The irascable man is courting speedy disaster. For who will
care to deal with a man who is continually going
off like ground powder when some small spark of complaint
or criticism falls upon him? Even his friends will one
by one desert him, For who would court the company
of a man who rudely assaults him with an impatient
and fiery tongue over every little difference or misunderstanding. A
man must work to wisely control himself and to learn
the beautiful lessons of patience. If he is to be
highly prosperous, and if he is to be a man
of use and power. He must learn to think of others,
to act for their good, and not alone for himself.
To be considerate forbearing and long suffering, he must study
how to have a heart at peace with men who
differ from him on those things which he regards as
most vital. He must avoid quarreling, as he would avoid
drinking a deadly poison. Discords from without will be continually
overtaking him, but he must fortify himself against them. He
must study how to bring harmonies out of them by
the exercise of patience. Strife is common, It pains the
heart and distorts the mind. Patience is rare. It enriches
the heart and beautifies the mind. Every cat can spit
in fume. It requires no effort, but only a looseness
of behavior. It takes a man to keep his mournings
through all events, and to be painstaking and patient with
the shortcomings of humanity. But patience wins as soft water
wears away the hardest rock. So patience overcomes all opposition.
It gains the hearts of men, It conquers and controls.
Calmness accompanies patience. It is a great and glorious quality.
It is the peaceful haven of emancipated souls after their
long wanderings on the tempest river ocean of passion. It
makes the man who has suffered much, endured much, experienced much,
and has finally conquered A man cannot be impartial who
is not calm. Excitement, prejudice, and partiality spring from disturbed passions.
When personal feeling is thwarted, it rises and seas like
a stream of water that is dammed. The calm man
avoids this disturbance by directing his feeling from the personal
to the impersonal channel. He thinks and feels for others
as well as for himself. He sets the same value
on other men's opinions as his own. If he regards
his work as important, he sees also that the work
of other men is equally important. He does not contend
for the merit of his own against the demerit of
that of others. He is not overthrown like Humpty Dumpty
with a sense of self importance. He has put aside
egotism for truth, and he perceives the right relations of things.
He has conquered irritability and has come to see that
there is nothing in itself that should cause irritation as well,
be irritable with a pansy because it is not a
rose as with a man, because he does not see
as you see. Mind stiff, and the calm man recognizes
the difference as facts in human nature. The calm, impartial
man is not only the happiest man. He also has
all his powers at his command. He is sure, deliberate, executive,
and swiftly and easily accomplishes in silence. But the irritable
man slowly and laboriously toils through with much work. His
mind is purified, poised, concentrated, and ready at any moment
to be directed upon a given work with unerring power.
In the calm mind, all contradictions are reconciled, and there
is a radiant gladness and perpetual peace. As Emerson puts it,
calmness is joy, fixed and habitual. One should not confound
indifference with calmness, for it is at the opposite extreme.
Indifference is lifeless, while calmness is growing life in full
orbed power. The calm man has partially or entirely conquered self,
and having successfully battled with the selfishness within, he knows
how to meet and overcome it successfully in others. In
any moral content, the calm man is always the victor.
So long as he remains calm, defeat is impossible. Self
control is better than riches and calmness in a perpetual benediction.
Wisdom abides with the impartial man. Her counsel guides him,
her wings shield him. She leads him along pleasant ways
to happy destinations. Wisdom is many sided. The wise man
adapts himself to others. He acts for their good, yet
never violates the moral virtues or the principles of right conduct.
The foolish man cannot adapt himself to others. He acts
for himself only, and continually violates the moral virtues and
the principles of right kinds. There is a degree of
wisdom in every act of impartiality, and once a man
has touched and experienced the impartial zone, he can recover
it again and again, until he finally establishes himself in it.
Every thought, word, and act of wisdom tells on the
world at large, for it is fraught with greatness. Wisdom
is a well of knowledge and a spring of power.
It is profound and comprehensive, and so it is exact
and all inclusive, as to embrace the smallest details in
its spacious greatness. It does not overlook the small. The
wise mind is like the world. It contains all things
in their proper place and order, and is not burdened thereby.
Like the world, also, it is free and unconscious of
any restrictions. Yet it never loses, is never erring, is
never sinful. And repentant. Wisdom is the steady, grown up
being of whom Folly was the crying infant. It has
outgrown the weakness and dependence the errors and punishments of
infantile ignorance, and is erect poised, strong, and serene. The
understanding mind needs no external support. It stands of itself
on the firm ground of knowledge, not book knowledge, but
ripened experience. It has passed through all minds, and therefore
knows them. It has traveled with all hearts, and knows
their journeying and joy and sorrow. When wisdom touches a man,
he is lifted up and transfigured. He becomes a new
being with new aims and powers, and he inhabits a
new universe in which to accomplish a new and glorious destiny.
Such is the pillar of impartiality, which adds its massive
strength and incomparable race to support and beautify the Temple
of Prosperity.