Fred S. Lincoln

“ Kent replied.
"I fear you are quite hopeless then," Harvey said, and both men laughed, partly at their own frank confessions, but more because each felt called upon to accept the other unseriously. Their mirth soon waned, as their minds would not relinquish the subject where their conversation had ended, and in its continuation there was much to reflect upon.
Men seldom if ever attempt to read their fellowmen by physiognomy, as women often do. A man may be aware that his neighbor has an unusually square jaw, but he only looks at it as being different from the ordinary jaw. ”

“ Let us suppose that we be left a race of men only, and, in the interchange of ideas among ourselves, is it not highly probable that long before we became extinct we would have lost the effect of what is oftenest termed the 'refining influence,' and in the competition for each other's possessions an unholy rivalry would soon exist which, in the absence of that better influence, would degrade us. ”

“ He does not say, "Now, that fellow has a square jaw, so he is a prize-fighter with a bull-dog disposition," for he knows that there are persons in other occupations with jaws that indicate tenacity, while there are fighters without this particular kind of jaw, and since he has never noticed the kind of ear a musician has, or the eyes of a poet, in fact any of the features of people whose disposition or inclinations are daily before him, he does not judge by these things. ”

“ At times this seeming lack of knowledge comes to him with regret, and he resolves on the spot that, at the first opportunity, he will take secret lessons from some of his feminine friends, whom he has heard reading character like so much print. It is a resolve in keeping with the feeling that he will some day read up on art, because someone has in his presence been talking art to someone else, and he could not understand ”

“ Harvey replied, "for she will sway them irresistibly."
"Did you ever know a woman to possess the magnetism that she has? Women are naturally attractive, but it seems always in a small degree. Their scope is usually limited to a smaller field, say their home circle, or perhaps a circle that includes their relatives and a few friends, but for them to accomplish anything, that is, so far as humanity is concerned, is quite an unusual thing," said Kent, the subject leading him on to other observations. ”

“ I am afraid that, in the order of circumstances, you have failed to grasp the exchange between the two, as it lies hidden beneath the achievements of the man, and yet is most often evidenced in his achievements. Of course we make offerings, and why should we not? We, as men, have these things to give. ”

“ They exert an influence that lacks publicity, for it rather seeks retirement, and is lost in the home circle of which you speak, while it may be that theirs was the head that planned and carried to a successful issue the very achievement their masculine relative or friend receives the credit for, which easily accounts for the uneven percentage. ”