Through his
books he comes to know Quasimodo and Sir Galahad; Becky Sharp and
Penelope; Aaron Burr and Enoch Arden; and Herodias and Florence
Nightingale.
=People.=--But his world would be incomplete without people, and here,
again, he is free to choose. And, since he wants people in his world who
will be constant reminders to him of qualities that he himself would
cultivate, he selects Ruth and Jephthah's daughter to represent
fidelity. When temptation assails him he finds them ready to lead him
back and up to the plane of high resolves. To remind him of indomitable
courage and perseverance he selects William the Silent, Christopher
Columbus, and Moses. When his courage is waning and he is becoming
flaccid and indolent, their very presence is a rebuke, and a survey of
their achievements restores him to himself. As examples of patriotic
thinking and action he invites into his world Samuel Adams, Thomas
Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton. They remind him that he is a product
of the past and that it devolves upon him to pass on to posterity
without spot or blemish the heritage that has come to him through the
patriotic service and sacrifice of his progenitors.
=Influence of people.=--That he may never lose sight of the fact that it
is cowardly and degrading to recede from high ideals he opens the doors
of his world for Milton, Beethoven, and Michael Angelo. Their superb
achievements, considered in connection with their afflictions and
hardships, are a source of inspiration to him and keep him up to his
best.
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