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THE OPTIMIST CLUB, SYDNEY.

At the opening of a branch of the Optimist Club in Manly, Sydney, Lady Ppore,' in the course of a delightful speech, said: "I often wonder whether it is harder for a man or for a woman to be an optimist. The man has the grave responsibility of ,the breadwinner, but is the responsibility of the bread-dispenser lighter than his? Iu every man's life there must he more than one crisis, but many a woman lives hanuted by some anxiety for years together. It may be a question of health, of her own or another's; it may be by tho domestic problem of making both ends meet, or by the. possession of a skeleton ' in the family cupboard. And it takes some heroism to go on smiling when something keeps clutching at her heart, some l/ogey keeps standing between' her and the sunlight. How many such heroines live and die undiscovered, save by • tho '■(piv— of. the daily round and common task; 'the Mrs. Wigjs of many cabbage p;itchi)s, in maiiy countries, who have suffered, and been helpful and strong, anil smiled. Do not think that I claim for our sex a monopoly of such 'heroism; but are, at least. I believe 'so;-the weaker vessels. Ou'r fibre is less tough, our nerves are nearer the surface, and. for some of .'us .bur work is always with , .us, out a certain liabit of being' pleasant and courageous nnd of tackling difficulties skilfully can undoubtedly he nco.uired, nnd one of the great points-in. being a, professed optimist is that it puts, us on pur honour, as it were, to avoid grumbling, or carping, or whining. ."I feel I have told'j'ou nothing of tho objects of our club or the wide scopo of its moral and intellectual aspirations. That optimism is a great spiritual force is undeniable. Doctors will tell you that a patient who makes up his mind to live aids his own recovery in a way nothing short of miraculous. Pluck and perseverance and a determination to hunt through the folds of the darkest cloud till ho comes, to the silver lining, make ■the subjective optimist; and to these qualitios.:must be, added kindness, tact, and sympathy for objective purposes, such as the conversion of pessimists, and oiling the wheels of life's machinery. Somewhere I read these lines the other, day:—

You aro ueaten to earth? Well, what of that? . : " Rise up with a smiling face. .It isn't against you to fall down flat, •'•But to Hβ there, that's disgrace.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19100827.2.83.3

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 906, 27 August 1910, Page 10

Word count
Tapeke kupu
422

THE OPTIMIST CLUB, SYDNEY. Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 906, 27 August 1910, Page 10

THE OPTIMIST CLUB, SYDNEY. Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 906, 27 August 1910, Page 10

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