I Read for You

...and is he right in behaving so? — No; he wants to live like any other man. Thus does the woman who works outside her home disfigure the face of married life: her own ability is forever in the forefront, and her talk of it never ceases.

It is woman's duty to stand up against the economic side of life, to soften its influence if it threatens to rob her of her femininity, her gentleness, and her simplicity. The first lesson she must learn is conversation; for how many a wife wounds her man's pride and throws herself into a predicament by a slip of the tongue?... Seize every occasion to praise him, without mockery or exaggeration, and the bonds between you will remain strong and firm.

The world confronts us with a dry face; and if woman gives up her charm and her femininity, all perfume and adornment, all radiance and idealism vanish from life. And what a grievous loss would follow if woman and man became equals in manliness! She has the same right to life as he; yet however far the contrivance of science may go in ordering her life, it will never attain the harmony that nature intended. No harmony of souls comes about except through woman's submission — not abasement, God forbid, but through the showing forth of femininity, the loftiest of God's gifts to her...

The same magazine published this valuable piece, for the importance it holds in our everyday life. The writer convinces us that we can conquer our own pettiness; for we turn our thinking upside down when we boast of what should make the brow bead with shame, or feel ashamed of things we ought rather to grasp and understand. How many times have we busied ourselves with the trivial side of things instead of with things that would lift our thinking, our judgments, and our character! Let us do away with our selfishness and our pettiness, and show understanding toward our brothers among mankind, giving up rancor against them, and giving up that deceiving of ourselves which no deceiving of the whole world can equal...

The world needs women and men who set apart a portion of their time every day for reform and building, in the cause of elevation and stability; such people are beyond the reach of pettiness, for they stand above its cesspools. Many practice deceit by pilfering what does not belong to them, or by falsifying certain sayings; these things may be hidden from the public, yet they are a destructive agent in the building of the state and of society. Those who love a life of honesty and uprightness do not stoop to the depths of these trifles, which lower their worth in their own eyes.

If your husband or your children annoy you with their insistence and rouse your anger, a strong feeling stirs within you, driving you to attack them and shout in their faces; but wisdom lies in lifting your mind above vexation and retort, resisting calmly, and not exposing your nerves to exhaustion. The world looks toward broader and deeper ambitions and hopes; the nations are crying out for expansion, liberation, and stability, that they may live a life stripped of fears and of doubt about the future. So widen your heart to welcome others, that they may live as you do. You doubtless prefer greatness to meanness and smallness: then add one virtue to your character every day, and life will seem a delightful experiment the further you advance along its course.

And from the magazine 'Woman & Beauty' I have gleaned what will serve you in your beauty care after thirty — that is, the age at which your personality ripens. In this period the first wrinkles of the face appear, and so you need to repair your beauty; and since the natural oil is drying up, you can replace it with a kind of cream that contains this substance. If you are one of those who adore clothes, this is the age of display, for now you can adorn yourself with whatever pleases you; and changing the style of your hair sends a hidden, pleasurable feeling through you, and you sense yourself the better for a change in your life. Watch your weight, for when a woman marries and settles down, her enthusiasm for physical exercise slackens and her weight increases. Walk, if only a short distance, every day, keeping as far as you can from vexation, mental exhaustion, and the dread of worries, for these tell upon your spirits, and their trace appears in a hardness of the eyes, a stiffness of movement, and affectation, so that you become difficult to live with and many of your companions draw away from you. To this is added jealousy, which grows the further a woman passes beyond the age of youth. So shun these fears, including the fear of losing your husband's love, for that is the very heart of the error: a man does not desert a wife because the beauty of her face has changed; what causes separation is the clash of outlooks and the difference of opinions between husband and wife. Care for the beauty of your neck with exercises and massage, so that it may keep its luster; and do not forget that your lips affect the look of your whole face: use a light lipstick if they are smooth, but if wrinkling begins to show in them, wipe them from time to time with an emollient cream.

If gray streaks your hair at an early age, it is best to use a suitable dye by which you can conceal the gray so long as it is only beginning; but what are you to do when it overspreads the hair? That depends on the state of your face: if your skin is smooth you may dye it; but remember that gray above a mature face has a luster and beauty all its own.

And finally, your inner self is the foundation of your appearance; if you still have enthusiasm and zest for life, how can care find its way in to you?... Thus you see, Madam, that man's struggle is unceasing for the bettering of his life and the raising of his thought. Reflection helps us — as do inner calm and confidence in oneself — to pass through stages we never dreamed of before. So by the light of modern science let us walk always in the path of truth and right guidance!