The University of Hard Knocks

ge of Nee

That Bum

ot bump into. They bump into us. They are the gui

healed. Maybe you think it never will heal. You wondered why you w

t you knew how-and yet some blow came c

broken more times than I care to talk about now. Your home was darkened

anybody else. I have never known anyone wh

ts good after we have been killed a fe

se blows are lessons in The College of Needful Knocks. They

hat raw material is-material that needs more Ne

all have to have the Needful Knocks to become useful. And so

the ones who have known the most of these knocks-who have faced the great crises of life and have been

ows of t

o. I am glad to see you. You are so shiny, beautifu

You were bumped here. This is no reflection upon t

a tree-a tall, green tree. You were green! Only green things grow

ung tree. You got your lessons, combed your hair, went to

d for the best trees there to bump. He bumped you-hit you with the ax! How it hurt you! And how unjust it w

eeding to the sawmill and they bumped and ripped you mo

ked, dissipated, cigaret-stunted t

this stage. You were bumped here. All the b

rings of

and came to a hole in the ground. It was a big hole-about a half-mile of hole. The

owing that red mud out of t

's iron ore, an' it's the

is it

n' here; that's why th

that "hain't worth nothin'" until you m

ud. It had been moved over the Great Lakes and the rails to what they call a blast fur

stone, charcoal and other textbooks. Then they corked it up and

d that they always stop when anything is done roasting?

. The red mud squirted out into the sand. It was not red mud now, because it had been r

big teakettle, where it was again roasted, and now it

sted yet again and rolled thin into a junior. Some of that went on up a

e me away from my happy hole-in-the-ground? Why do they pound me and break my heart?

world, labeled "Made in America." They hung it in show windows, they put it in glass cases. Many people admired it and sa

tch-springs or razor-blades, the price

the green trees, the red mud. The Needful

d and the chunk of soft coal are exactly the same material, say the chemists. But the diamond

tallized in the crucibles of affliction. There i

Taught

wheeled into the tent and brought right down to the foot of the platform. The subject was The

about t

thank you for coming here. I have the feeling that

have been in pain most of my life. But I have learned all that I know sittin

an was the sweetest-spirited,

all and stately. She was well-gowned. She lived in one of the finest homes in the city. She ha

e? Why is my daughter happy and why am I not happy? My daughter is always happy and she hasn't a si

d, "Madam, I don't want to be unkind, but I really think the r

nd selfish and people don't us

of her jealous mother. For selfish

s of S

patience, sympathy, love, faith and courage. They are getting the education in the humanities the world needs more than tables of logarithms. Only t

ilver

periences come to us are truly new chapters of

ars we put it in our pockets. In lean years we put it in our hearts. Material and spiritual prosperity do not often travel hand-in-hand. When we become materially very

me is burning just now. A conflagration might sweep your town from the map. Your business might wreck. Your fortu

sorry for you. You are down and out." Do not believe that you are down and out, for it is not true. The old enemy of hu

eal education has been opened. Will you

k, an epidemic or other public disaster brings sy

lining to every

War come nations chastened by sac