To the parent or the teacher who lacks a sense of humor
and cannot enter into the little girl's conception of life, a dress is
of more importance than the spirit of the child. But the teacher or the
parent who has the "aptitude for vicariousness" that enables her to
enter into the child's life in her fun and frolic with the playful
water, and can feel the presence of the nymphs among the wavelets,--such
a teacher or parent will adorn the school or the home and endear herself
to the child.
=Lincoln's humor.=--The life of Abraham Lincoln affords a notable
illustration of the saving power of humor. Reared in conditions of
hardship, his early life was essentially drab and prosaic. In
temperament he was serious, with an inclination toward the morbid, but
his sense of humor redeemed the situation. When clouds of gloom and
discouragement lowered in his mental sky, his keen sense of humor
penetrated the darkness and illumined his pathway. He was sometimes the
object of derision because men could not comprehend the depth and
bigness of his nature, and his humor was often accounted a weakness. But
the Gettysburg speech rendered further derision impossible and the
wondrous alchemy of that address transmuted criticism into willing
praise.
=Humor betokens deep feeling.=--Laughter and tears issue from the same
source, we are told, and the Gettysburg speech revealed a depth and a
quality of tenderness that men had not, before, been able to recognize
or appreciate.
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