>>497
Human nature has two sides, the one personal and individual, the other public and social. The personal and individual side, each man must live alone, the public and social side, he must share with other man. Then there is an ideal of life corresponding to each side, self-culture and self-sacrifice, respectively. And though they sound mutually exclusive, these ideals are not merely not contradictory, indeed, they are complementary. For neither is complete of itself, nor independent of the other. Self-culture pursued for its own sake is selfishness, and self-sacrifice as the only rule of life is weakness. But self-culture is justified only as its fruit is seen in self-sacrifice, and only on the basis of self-culture can self-sacrifice be truly effective.
Now these two aspects of our nature are implied in our college motto, "Mastery for Service." We do not desire to be weaklings. We aim to be strong, to be masters of knowledge, of opportunity, and especially, to be masters of ourselves. We will not be slaves, whether to others, to circumstances, or to our own passions. And the purpose of our mastery must be the service of humanity. In England, public officials are called civil servants, implying that their duty is not to command, but to serve. Here is the true conception of the nature of the work of the public official. In fact, a man is great only to the extent that he renders service to society.
This, then, is our ideal; to become strong, effective men who will be recognized as masters. But having become (strong, effective) masters, we desire, not to enrich ourselves, but to render some useful service to humanity, in order that the world may be the better for our having lived in it.
Our ideal businessman is neither gambler nor miser; he is the man who succeeds because he is a master, understanding the fundamental principles of business, succeeding, through industry and honesty, where other men fail, and whose highest aim in life is not to increase his wealth endlessly, but to use his financial power to improve the condition of society.
Such a man, public-spirited, and having a keen sense of social obligation, will be revered by his employees, and respected by his customers.
Our ideal of the scholar is not a kind of intellectual sponge that always takes in, but never gives out until it is squeezed. No, our ideal scholar is the man whose desire for knowledge is a desire to equip himself to render better service to humanity.
To be a man, a master man, and at the same time, a true servant of humanity, this is our ideal.
>>497
Human nature has two sides, one individual and private, the other public and social. There is a life which each man must live alone, into which no one else can enter. That is his personal individual life. But a man's life is more than that. It has another side, which it shares with other men. And it is our duty and privilege to keep before our minds these two sides of our nature. There is an ideal of life corresponding to each side. One is self-culture, the other, self-sacrifice. These ideals are not contradictory, however, but complementary. Neither is complete by itself, nor independent of the other. Self-culture pursued for its own sake produces selfishness. Self-sacrifice as the only rule of life leads to weakness. But self-culture as a basis for self-sacrifice is not only justifiable, but necessary. And self-sacrifice on such a basis is truly effective.
Now these two phrases of our nature are implied in our college motto "Mastery for Service". We do not desire to be weaklings. We aim to be strong, to be masters - masters of knowledge, masters of opportunity, masters of ourselves, our desires, our ambitions, our appetites, our possessions. We will not be slaves whether to others, to circumstances, or to our own passions. But the purpose of our mastery must be not our own individual enrichment, but social service. We aim to become servants of humanity in a large sense. In England the officials are called civil servants, and the highest officials Ministers of State. That implies a true conception of the nature of the work of an official. His duty is not to command, but to serve. In fact, a man is great only to the extent to which he renders service to society.
This then is our college ideal, to become strong, effective men, not weak incompetents; men who will be recognized as masters. But having become masters we desire not to inflate, and enrich ourselves for our own sake, but to render some useful service to humanity in order that the world may be better for our having lived in it.
Our ideal businessman is neither a gambler nor a miser, but a man who succeeds because he is a master, a man who understands the fundamental principles of business, who knows what to do, and who by industry and honesty is able to succeed where other men might fail - a man whose object in life is not merely to increase his credit balance in the bank, but to use his financial power to improve the condition of society; a man who has public spirit, and a keen sense of social duty. Such a man will be revered by his employees, and respected by his customers.
Our ideal of the scholar is not a kind of intellectual sponge that always takes in, but never gives out until it is squeezed; but it is a man who loves to acquire knowledge not for its own sake, much less for the sake of his own fame, but whose desire for knowledge is a desire to equip himself to render better service to humanity.
It is said that on the monument of a certain man there were cut the words "Born a man and died a carpenter. " We desire no such a fate. For such an end is failure. Nor would it be any greater success if it were written "Born a man and died a merchant" - or "a millionaire" - or "a politician." To be a man, a master man and a same time a true servant of humanity is our ideal.
