--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Smith, Joseph F. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 12 number: 9 published: 1909-07 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Joseph F. Smith, "Editor’s Table—What the Purpose?," *Improvement Era* 12, no. 9 (July 1909): 744–746.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1209unse 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: improvementera1209unse start_page: 744 end_page: 746 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1909-07) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1209unse publication_year: 1909 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 1909, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Editor’s Table—What the Purpose? EDITOR'S TABLE. WHAT THE PURPOSE? In order that young man may make up his mind what a course in life to take he must pay some thought on where he is going in the long run; what shall be the condition he would like to enjoy through life, and particularly the end towards which he would like to work. Otherwise it will be hard for him to steer his ac- tions from day to day towards the goal of his ambition. Van Dyke, writing on this subject, in Counsels by the Way, to which my attention has been called, says that there are really only four practical ends for which men and women can work in this world, and he names them as Pleasure, Wealth, Fame and Usefulness. Whether or not these are all, we need not discuss, but granting his statement is correct, I am inclined to conclude with him that of these Usefulness will serve man the best and bring the greatest happiness. But Pleasure, or the immediate gratification of our physical senses, appetites and inclinations, is made the main end of life by many people. There is no end or purpose to their lives outside of pleasure-seeking, and this terminates in itself; it accomplishes nothing in the long run, there is no purpose or object in it — "it leads nowhere and leaves nothing behind it," as is truly said by the author referred to. He says further, "A pleasure-seeking life is a living death, because its object perishes even while it is attained, and at the end nothing is left of it but dust and corruption." Charles Wagner, author of Courage, says: "Woe to him who is possessed by the ideal of an effeminate and enervating exist- ence which is to consist only in strange sights, disturbing sensa- EDITOR'S TABLE. 745 tions and excitement. Moral gangrene has set in, and -ar/11 devour slowly, undermining all the living forces that are in him." Robert Burns wrote: But pleasures are like poppies spread, You seize the flower the bloom is shed Seneca, the old Stoic philosopher, is quoted as saying: "Those who have permitted pleasure to lead the van * * * lose vir- tue altogether; and yet they do not possess pleasure, but are possessed by it, and are either tortured by its absence or choked by its excesses." Referring to the Bible to obtain the religious view of the question, we find that St. Paul, on several occasions spoke of the unsatisfactory condition of the pleasure-seekers, "whose end is destruction, whose God is tneir belly, whose glory is their shame, who mind earthly things." Again he declares, "Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and have been wanton, go to now, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you." And again as to women, "She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth." Calmly viewing these sayings, and hundreds of others of a similar nature to be found in other good books, and hearing also the experiences and warnings of many more wise men who live in settlements, who are exemplary shepherds of the our time and people in our many Church organizations, and who are constantly excessive pleasure-seeking, the thoughtful giving warning against that he youncr man must confess that Pleasure is not the goal would seek,— that the man would seek who desires to make the best out of life. The wise man is, therefore, going to steer his course away going into bond- from the living death of pleasure-seeking. He is not equipages to keep age or debt to buy automobiles and other costly in this respect. pace with the rash of fashionable pleasure-seeking, popular craze for He is n >t going to borrow money to satisfy the or in our own country with no purpose in traveling in Europe view but pleasure. He is not going to grow nervous and gray in a his wife and daughter, for mere pleasure, stru^le for means that fashionable resorts, or in distant mayTpend the summer at costly, true that there are many in our Community who do ia nds. It is not appear to be wise, and who are doing just these and other fool- ish acts for so-called pleasure. It has been said by good authority that no other city in the United States in proportion to population spends so much in amusements as Salt Lake City. The time and money wasted in the kind of pleasure-seeking which "leads nowhere and leaves noth- ing behind it" is appalling, and the number of people who are "choked by its excesses," and who "live in pleasure, and yet are dead while they live," must fill the sober citizen with consternation. Go into these streets after the close of business and remain until one o'clock in the morning, and behold the thousands of peo- ple hurrying to and fro in the wild rush for the resorts and thea- tres. See both the well-to-do and the poor, both those who can afforj it and those who cannot! Whole families who cannot meet their legitimate obligations for a living, but must run into debt for the necessaries of life, are knosvn to go week after week to this or that theatre, or to this or that resort; to spend their means in the mad rush for nowhere, and in the thri lling excitement of some new pleasure device, having neither peace nor purpose. The restlessness of it all is something to be wondered at, and the peo- ple to be pitied. The result of this hunt for pleasure and excitement and for keeping pace with what only the very wealthy can but ought not to do, is that many are forced to undertake all kinds of illegiti- mate schemes to obtain money to gratify the tendency. Hence the growth of financial immorality. Many underhanded methods are adopted to obtain means, and even cheating and lying and deceiv- ing friends and neighbors are frequently resorted to in order that money may be obtained to gratify this inordinate desire for pleas- ure. The story is told of one good lady who got flour at her grocer's on credit, and sold it for cash at a bargain to get money to go pleasure-seeking. Thus the morals are corrupted. This applies to rich and poor alike. You men whj are sensible fathers, is this course worth while? You young men who have a goal in sight, is this the course to take to fit your purpose and to get the best results out of life? Without discussing wealth and fame, shall we not call a halt in