--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Barnes, Claude F. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 9 number: 11 published: 1906-09 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Claude F. Barnes, "Our Goal and Self-Insistence," *Improvement Era* 9, no. 11 (September 1906): 846–856.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0911unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera0911unse start_page: 846 end_page: 856 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1906-09) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0911unse publication_year: 1906 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1906, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Our Goal and Self-Insistence OUR GOAL AND SELF-INSISTENCE, BY CLAUDE F. BARNES. I. After what model do you mold your conduct — what to you is the supreme good of life? Before utilizing our power of self-in- sistence, we must know a real exemplar or conceive an ideal, for, if not, our deeds are liable to be capricious and our very thoughts whimsical — life, itself, perhaps, either as unoccupied as that of a The oft-heard ex- — "shall I?"Lord sinecure, or as erratic as that of pression of indecision Byron. — has by reduplication formed the word "shilly-shally." Is there any shilly-shally in you, or have you some standard that guides your choice in all questions of moral doubt? Nearly all great men have, even in youth, predetermined their course of action; they have pre-resolved to reach some definite destination. Now from a standpoint of character, not worldly success — ethically—whither is your aim? When we look into the history of ethical reflection, we find that from the first there have been two opposing types of moral theory, each basing itself, somewhat, upon a corresponding conception of human nature. One school has maintained that man is essentially a sentient being, and, therefore, that the first consideration should be the pleasure of the body — this is Hedonism, upheld among the ancients by the Cyrenaics and Epicureans. At variance with the Hedonists were the Rationalists, who argued that man is in reality, exclusively, a rational being, and that all conduct should aim to satisfy the demands of cold intellect — this is Rationalism, supported, formerly by the Cynics and Stoics, and latterly, by the Intuitionists and Kant. Apart from these extreme, adverse persuasions, but emanating from Hedonism, there OUR GOAL AND SELF-INSISTENCE. 847 is the modern, more altruistic view of John Stuart Mill, who contended that the final cause in life is not the most pleasure of the individual, but the greatest pleasure of the largest number — this is Utilitarianism. Suppose before you are three motto cirds, ready to be fixed upon the wa'l. The first says: "Look, first and wholly, to the pleasures of your own body;" the second, "Endeavor, always to satisfy, first, the intellect;" and the third, "Let your aim in life be the greatest pleasure of the largest number." On the backs are written respectively, Hedonism, Rationalism, Utilitarianism. Think upon it. Which could you hang up in your room and behold, evening and morning, with the thought: "That is in accordance with my life and aim?" Perhaps you criticize: the first is, ostensibly, too voluptuous; the second, in that it intellectualizes the moral life — identifies goodness with wisdom, duty with logic, and virtue with knowledge — is inadequate, for there is a sentient side to human nature; the third, though practically very good, fails to reach the maximum of life; sensibility is egoistic, not altruistic; and, as a well-fed pig is happy, happiness, as an end, inspires too little greatness, too strongly encourages a refined intemperance, and induces too much vapid contentment to be the watchword of a perfect society. "Perfect!" ah, there is the word — there is one other maxim. This card contains the rich precept of our Savior: "Be ye, therefore, perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." Below you may inscribe "Eudgemonism," and, if you desire, "Mormonism," for, indeed, neither pleasure nor happiness is, alone, our goal, but something more, something higher —Perfection! In the gladsome hope of self-realization, self-fulfilment and individual perfection, one forgets the grossness of the flesh, in growing into the faultless beauty of the spirit.' Matthew Arnold has finely enforced the idea: Know, man hath all which Nature hath, but more, And in that more lie all his hopes of good. Man must begin, know this, where Nature ends Nature and man can never be fast friends. Fool, if thou canst not pass her, rest her slave Browning, in his Rabbi Ben [Ezra, dispraises Hedonism and 848 IMPROVEMENT. ERA. commends the difficult path that leads onward, upward toward the perfect day: Foor vaunt of life indeed, Were man but formed to feed On joy, to solely seek and find and feast; Such feasting ended, then As sure an end to men Irks care the crop-full bird? Frets doubt the maw-crammed beast? Then welcome each rebuff That turns earth's smoothness rough, Each sting that bids not sit nor stand, but go Be our joys three- fourths pain Strive, and hold cheap the strain; Learn, nor account the pang; dare, never grudge the throe! Perfection is a word of transcendent meaning, of infinite scope; one can aim as high, but no higher. In it, as Shakespeare thought, "Ail's Well," All that life can rate, Worth name of life, in thee hath estimate; Youth, beauty, wisdom, courage, virtue, all That happiness and prime can happy call. No, if a "Mormon," the word is not too grand for you. God is Perfection personified; and, as Whitney, in his masterly epic has said, you are, man, a divinity in embryo. Because you know yourself to be imperfect now, is it impossible that you are potentially perfect? Because your mind is feeble, weak, your body sick, is it hard for you to understand that this is only the mundane part of you, and that you have a higher self? In reality, your mind manifests itself in three planes: the subconscious, the conscious, the superconscious. Subconsciously, the — mind expresses itself in all involuntary actions dreaming, digesting, and jumping from pain: consciously, the mind thinks, reasons, reflects and determines; superconsciously, the mind perceives that which is above the flesh — does not reason or it reflect, but knows. It is from this superconscious state that all our testimonies as to the gospel's truth emanate; there the mind and the soul become one. OUR GOAL AND SELF-INSISTENCE. 849 Sometimes one is "carried away" by a book, sometimes, unexpectedly, one experiences a moment of exquisite, almost divine happiness with the being whom one loves; again, for a moment just for a moment — one is perhaps enchanted by a preacher's ecstatic eloquence; or for another thrilling moment, transported by the beautiful harmony of music. What does this mean? It means that in these cases a chord is struck, which vibrates in unison with the soul. From the soul is reflected one little dulcet note; and this reaches the mind. What rapture! What ecstasy! What gladness it is! How far beneath one seem the earthly pleasures of the senses, which, Hedonistically,we had thought embraced all the joys of life. Ah, there is something infinitely more delightful than bodily gratification — the fruition of one's soulpower! From this one passing glimpse at the region beyond reason, what do we see? This: the mind is in a position midway between — two realities one is the soul, illumining with comforting and inspiriting light every concordant opening of the mind; the other is the physical self, coarse, wilful, and selfish, radiating a welcome to sensuous pleasure. There is the force that lifts, elevates beautifies; and the force that darkens, weakens, wounds, drags down. The mind is between, and can mold itself conformably to either influence. The mind is its own place, and of itself Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven. This suggestion brings one to the consideration of the method of fashioning the inner man. It is all involved in the words "self- mastery." Vice is only another name for laxity and decay. Permeating the superconscious state are certain laws, which, if the mind desires bliss, it must learn to obey; and in this case man is his own preceptor, his own teacher. To comply with divine law is to enjoy celestial ecstasy; to be master over all, not only one vice, is to bear obedience to that law. It seems, the more one thinks of it, that not this world alone, but the universe itself, is set toward the production and perpetuation of the aspiring and virtuous man. Now, that the building of the soul-body in the flesh is gradu- 850 IMPROVEMENT ERA. ally accomplished is obvious when we consider that all great reforms are deliberate, and even: Nature, in her productions slow, aspires By just degrees to reach perfection's height. Where there is abrupt zeal, there is too often abrupt backsliding; so, in insisting on self-improvement, one must go slowly, a step at a time, a little more each day, onward ad infinitum. The secret of self-mastery is attractive concentration upon the desired reform, the reason for this being, that by concentration you harmonize the mind with the soul. Suppose that you have some pain; by concentration of the thought upon its opposite, the suffering sometimes ceases. It is the body that is sick, not you, not even the mind. Happiness you only compel it. is in the mind, if I realize that there is a sect of philosophers who support an erro- neous doctrine, i. e., that there is no such thing as sickness; all is mind. Now those who have been ill, know that it is absurd to maintain that twitches, cramps and throbbing aches are only so many turns of the imagination; so, if exponents of the sophistry do alleviate suffering, it is because the mind gets it under control, not because the twinge is not there. Just so with moral habit; we can rise above or acquiesce; we can, with resolution, concentrate or use not the emendatory powers of the will. This is thoroughgoing Optimism, ' 'Mormonism, " or Eudaemonism; indeed, it is characteristic of any system which dares to think of the word "' ' 'Perfection. One day, when a boy, David G. Farragut boastingly summed his vices: "I can swear like an old salt; can drink as stiff a glass of grog as if I had doubled Cape Horn, and can smoke like a locomotive. I am great at cards, and love gambling in every shape." Subsequently, piqued from his father's severe rebuke of this gasconade, the lad, at once, entered a course of compulsory reclamation. Many years afterward, when his body had learned to submit to the fiat of his will, he said, that youthful act of selfinsistence ' 'settled my temporal as it settled my moral destiny." That grand, permanent reformation was accomplished by a constant saying of "I will not." This article would demand that OUR GOAL AND SELF-INSISTENCE. 851 one not only say "I will not," but also "I am not;" thus changing the inward desire as well as its outward gratification. II. One of the first applications of these views should be toward happiness in general, for, as Epictetus said: "If a man is unhappy, this must be his own fault. God made all men to he happy." Think how much you have to be thankful for, and then, remembering that it is your duty to be cheery, assert, maintain, "I am happy!" — Say it, and mean it when you say it realize it "I am — happy!" Insist on your happiness, even though at first it seem but a delusion. When you have concentrated on happiness for some time, you will notice that it is easier to put your sorrow out of your thought. If you find your trouble no longer usurps your attention, dominates your mind, or darkens the light of your soul, then you will indeed have proved the strength of these words. Keep saying it to yourself every time you are melancholy, and make the expression of your face correspond. Try it, for you, perhaps, have seldom thought of the power of mental self-command. That this is not mere Utopianism, and that we can really coerce both mind and body, will appear from the following most extraordinary circumstance. It must not be considered in the light of "Spiritualism," or anything of the sort; but as evidence of the complete physical control of which normal man exercises but a part. Many a criminal has died because he was told that in the bed in which he must sleep, there had just expired a victim of the plague, whereas, in reality, the bed was clean; the following case is, perhaps, the most remarkable on record, being supported by unimpeachable authority, and related by Dr. Cheyne in his English Malady (pages 308-310): Hon. Gomel Townshend, who for many years had suffered from an organic disease of the kidneys, was attended by three of the most eminent men in England — Dr. Cheyne, Dr. Baynard, and the great surgeon, Dr. Skine. These physicians being sent for early one morning, their patient told them ttiat, lately, he had found that by composing himself, he could almost expire, and, by an effort, resuscitate. He being weak, the medical men were loath to witness the experiment, but he insisted upon it. Following is Dr. Cheyne' s own account: 852 IMPROVEMENT ERA. We all three felt his pulse first; it was distinct, though small and thready, and his heart had its usual beating. He composed himself on his back, and lay in a still posture some time; while I held his right hand, Dr. Baynard had his hand upon his heart, and Dr. Skine held a clean looking-glass to his mouth. I found his pulse sink, gradually, until, at last, I could not feel any by the most exact and nice touch ! Dr. Baynard could not feel the least emotion in his heart, nor Dr. Skine see the least soil of breath on the looking-glass. We then each of us held to his lips the glass several times, examined his pulse, heart, and breath, and could not by the closest scrutiny discover the least symptom of life in him. We reasoned a long time on this strange, odd appearance, as well as we could; and all of us confessed it unaccountable and beyond our power to explain. He still continued in that condition, and we concluded that he had indeed carried the experiment too far; and, at last, being quite satisfied he was dead, we were about to leave him. He had continued in this situation about half an hour, it being then nine o'clock, when we observed some motion about the body, and upon further examination found his pulse and the motion of his heart gradually returning; he then began to breathe gently and to speak softly. We were all astonished to the last degree at this unexpected change in a man we confidently believed to be dead, and after some further conversation with him among ourselves, went away fully satisfied as to all the particulars of this astonishing case, but confounded and puzzled, and unable to form any rational scheme by which to account for it. The doctor goes on to state that several months after, being afflicted with melancholia, Mr. Townshend made his will, called his friends to his bedside, and calmly and composedly expired in one of those extraordinary influences of the mind over the physical system. A post mortem examination revealed perfectly healthy viscera with the exception of a diseased kidney. Now, if one was thus almost able to control his destiny, is it Utopian for you to feel that by the exercise of will power, you can enforce a mere habitual state of mind? — insignificant, indeed, in comparison with the wonderful self-mastery of the man. Especially if, in any, animalism be paramount, take heart, hold the respect of your friends by following this appeal to mental exaction upon the appetites. Thousands of cases of severe intemperance are today being cured by the exponents of suggestive therapeutics; but avoiding extremes, there is not a degrading habit, from occasional smoking or mere vulgar gluttony, down to drunkenness, that cannot be checked and cured by the conjunction of the will of God and the will of man. As happiness is of great comprehension, let us come to more specific considerations. There is one thing over which we seldom take too many precautions — conversation. Emerson says: "A man cannot speak but he judges himself: he draws his portrait to the eye of his compan- OUR GOAL AND SELt-INSISIENCE. 853 ions by every word. " Ask yourself if the perfect man's conversation would not be refined, elevating, and as refreshing as a pearly bead of water in the hot desert; if so, "be thou perfect," by the co-action of will and body. One of tie most distressing characteristics of any personality is a bad temper, whether emanating from discontent, lassitude, trouble, or inherent, wilful irascibility. A perverse, "thinskinned, " querulous person will depress a home and be as forbidding as a scorpion radiating its warning: "Handle with care." Surely the presence of a perfect man would not be disagreeable; he would be inviting and cheery. Remember, then, there must be no weak point in you, and that your mood is under your own volition. Say: "For this next day I will be pleasant. I will greet everyone kindly and take no notice of any hurt. In fact, I am as pleasurable as anyone, and am anxious to prove it." Keep repeating the words, and the exercise is sure to be salutary. You may be about to meet someone who has hurt you —brace up — deter- ! mine to be affable and to radiate love, not habe, from your presence. Do not be touchy, but, like Dryden, listen silently to a personal detraction, thinking only of love during the ordeal, and then, with a sweet, forgiving smile —the smile of love and a big soul — walk away. This power may surprise you; but as sure as you are reading this, its joy is true. Nothing bewilders the defamer so quickly, nothing exonerates the victim so suraly, as forgetfulness and a heart too taken up with love to be conscious of a hurt. Try it, and you will win every time, for you are molding the perfect man. Say to yourself, "My mind is in a sweet joy of its own, and no crossness in my environs can lower its happy plane." You are missing half of life if you do not practice these things. The world has many a "Sir Fretful Plagiary," and many a man, like Socrates, is wedded to tetchy Xantippe; so, there are plenty that arejcontentious and sour, buckle on your motto, and devote yourself to perfection. Entirely unconformable, also, to the mold of a perfect soul is the habit of tale-bearing. When a person's character is being beiaubed, some scandal-mongers delight in besmearing and exaggerating of their own account, before passing on the distortion. Faugh! would you, an aspirant to perfection, condescend to do that? 854 IMPROVEMENT ERA. No! Calumny and backbiting of any nature, whether proceeding from jealousy, envy, or habitual malevolence, are unjust and painful, often leaving, forever, a lamentable blemish upon the unfortunate victim. Ask yourself: "What would the perfect man do?" and the answer comes something like this: ''The perfect man never speaks ill against anyone, unless it is a greater evil to leave it unsaid." So iust as you repeated: "I am happiness; I am good nature;" say insistently: "I am justice." Very often you will hear those about you ruthlessly criticizing an acquaintance, perhaps a friend, while you listen in misery or silence. To retaliate, to exonerate the absent sufferer, only provokes more caustic remarks. Of course you, yourself, will never be guilty of evil speaking; so, always quietly rebuke the word-catchers who do, by saying: "He of whom you speak, at least j would not bespatter anyone with his odium; whatever his faults, he does not sadden the world by publishing the faults of others. " If you cannot bear more, quietly walk away, thus showing that slanderers are of your world a thing apart. Yours is the world of love, respect, equity, and right — perfection! If people defame you, try loving them, try speaking kindly to them, try not noticing the hurt — try, or you would never know the happiness and the truth in these words. Others may not reciprocate, this may discourage; but if you try to love everyone, you can nearly do so. There is another sort of defamation that cuts a very deep, cruel way —the surreptitious lampoon. If a preacher be reprehending a certain class of meritricious individuals, and A writes C's name on a hymn book and with a wink passes it to B, B understands, and that little virulent germ soon spreads to disease a whole personality. We are too ready to condemn, too slow to exonerate. Say constantly:'! am above such underhanded littleness." Not only say it, but be it — be perfect; for if there is anything we ought to despise, it is a man with a 'little" soul. ' Another thing: Is the perfect man he who shines in the telling of obscene stories or smutty jokes? No! Of course you, yourself, are not addicted to this habit; but how many men are there whose every-day thought is on libertinism, and whose every breath is saturated with the carnality of their hearts! So when indecent OUR GOAL AND SELF-INSISTENCE. 855 stories are being told, look down, be silent, and busy yourself with something till you are able to join [the conversation on an undefiled road. The greatest men in the world today would regard it as an insult did one attempt to tellthem a suggestive joke; so do not think it is smart, for it isn't. Look down upon it. I have known a man who, without uttering a word, could by mere will power, suddenly silence a party engaged in cheerful conversation. Nay, he could also introduce a tone which would make everyone feel uncomfortable. Thus a positive thinker of good thoughts influences all minds, passive to good impressions, while a positive thinker of evil thoughts sways, sometimes, the minds of those who are passive to evil thoughts. Will that your companions may know that you do not like their bawdy jokes, and you will soon have them silent. Try it, but never forget to subjugate self by repeating constantly in your mind: "I am a positive thinker of good. My thoughts are pure, and I am as incapable of an equivocal joke as of a loose action." You will find that you can mold yourself to about what nature you desire. One of the few regretable inclinations of our own people is ostentation and caste, based entirely on wealth. They that have money sometimes inadvertently brandish it; and even in our smaller villages, envy causes everyone to enter the rivalry of display. How many boys have been laughed at, who, when there was no bread for mother and father, have bought brand new buggies! This is wrong: a lack of modesty and reserve. What, in the town, is petty enviousness, becomes, in the city, a desperate fight for "the best," ending disastrously for some of our most promising young men. Let no rich foppery deceive you, for probably our greatest men today — greatest the sense of character and achievements in of lasting worth — are only comfortably or at situated, they least have gained their station through no assistance of wealth. It is a noteworthy fact, also, that the most eminent authors and deepest scientists one chances to meet, evince the most modesty. Probably foremost in his line in America today, is Dr. Barker, of Johns Hopkins Medical College, yet he often, with the sweetest esteem possible, appeals to some student for help, just as if he did not know three times as much about the problem as the assistant! True greatness is unpretentious and deferential; so follow not the 856 IMPROVEMENT ERA. imperfect man's deceptive star — ostentation. Say each day: "The perfect man is modest, not conceited; respectful, not supercilious; reserved, not forward ; aspiring to goodness and worth, not to wealth and vain glory — will be the perfect man!" I To continue with illustrations of the practical applicability of willpower Were but cumulative; its utility is sufficiently indicated. To one accustomed to much sickness, its clinical use is often wonderfully demonstrated, and, indeed, the leading medical men today are recognizing more and more the true position of the psychical factor in therapeutic application; but this article has aimed to point out its commanding assistance in moral regeneration. Generally speaking, then, whether it be in business, on the sick bed, or in social life, two questions are asked: "What do I want?" and "How shall I attain it?"The former is answered by the gospel: "I want all things that lead to perfection;" the second, by the mind: "I shall will always to do only such things and to think only such thoughts as are conformable with my idea of a perfect man." From the very first effort, the Spirit of God will instruct you how to work; soon the mask of your old self will be cast away, and revealed within will be the molded character, still beautifying, still growing, onward, upward, unto perfection! University of Chicago.