We Must Believe in Dreams

Guy de Larigaudie died on the field of honor on May 11, 1940. He was an adventurous young man: he was the first to cover by automobile the distance between France and Indochina.

Guy was a source of radiance to his family, to his circle, and to all humanity. In his book "The Shining Star" there is a ringing glorification of the life of the spirit and the life of the heart, in which he tries to give us, in a few brief lines, a complete and splendid picture of the girl of his dreams. He says: "Lord... grant our sisters, the girls, harmony of body, a smile in the heart, and taste in dress...

"Lord... let them be pure, with limpid souls, that they may perfume our harsh, dry lives... Let them live among men with simplicity and naturalness, and let them be far from affectation and hateful evasion... And do not permit, my God, evil to creep in among us... And let us be, men and women, a wellspring of enrichment and abundance for one another, not a wellspring of evil and corruption."

And Madame Marcelle Auclair, one of the French women journalists, adds to this picture a word in which she says: "What can we add to this beautiful picture? Happy are they who can find themselves in it! And perhaps it is well to point out that the writer did not neglect to mention beauty and elegance." The truth is that however richly a girl may be adorned with fine qualities, she must not neglect herself and forget her femininity, behaving like a boy in her movements and her gait and neglecting the matter of her toilette.

Look to nature, my girl — is there anything more beautiful than she? Anything more beautiful than her adornment? The Creator who granted us the fruits did not forget to grant us the flowers.

Someone may object to me and say: but the writer has drawn a picture of the girl of his dreams that is nearer to perfection than to the world of reality, and perfection is not among the attributes of this world. To which I say: and why not? Why should perfection not be among the attributes of this universe? And the reality that we touch and see — was it not first a dream among our dreams, then a desire among our desires, and then a realized fact among the facts of the universe? Know, my girl, that fear possesses as much of the creative power as will and desire: our fear of ugliness, sickness, and old age brings on ugliness, sickness, and old age. So keep gaiety alive, and keep beauty and sweetness alive, and perfect happiness will one day be at the tips of your fingers.

And I do not know whether I may be permitted, in my turn, to comment on this delightful talk with a word, and so I ask: are there many girls who could apply these useful counsels to themselves? And if Guy de Larigaudie could draw this beautiful picture of the girl of his dreams, is there among us the believing, sincere girl who could draw a true and complete picture of the boy of her dreams?