Sir Edward Beatty: "Seek a Crown of Laurel, Not Gold"
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Published December 20, 2020
Updated December 2, 2021 |
"What of the world now? ... When we are not preaching hate of nation for nation, we stir up hate of class for class. Because in the turmoil of war and postwar booms, men piled wealth on wealth; because in the crash of the world’s industry and commerce some were beggared and others not, we see the poor crying for the destruction of the power of the rich, and the rich proclaiming that revolution is upon us.
"As between nations, so between classes—fear breeds hate. Hate makes war."
"As between nations, so between classes—fear breeds hate. Hate makes war."
Sir Edward Beatty, 1935
This is as true today as almost nine decades ago. This is an amazing Baccalaureate Address.
McGill University's 1935 Baccalaureate Address by Sir Edward Beatty
- Seek a Crown of Laurel, not Gold
- My Generation's Defect of the Soul
- Treat Others as You Would Family and Friends
- Wisely Temper the Emotions of Youth
- Peace Will Not Be Found in Treaties and Laws
Seek a Crown of Laurel, not Gold
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"Learn early in life not to despise the symbolism of ceremonies. What may seem to you, mere empty pageantry often has in it a deep and serious lesson. It is with such meaning that we name you “baccalaureate”—crowned with laurel. The crown we give you is but a mimic one. Will you at life's other end wear one of laurels which will not fade?
"Some few of you will claim your crown for some single deed done early in your life—a book, a play, a picture; the finding of some new method of adding to human wealth or ease; perhaps a glorious death, be it in peace or war, to save others. Some of you will fall early by the wayside—I hope but few. Most of you will look back on long lives, and measure your achievements, not in some single deed, but in a slow growing sum of little things—of good work done daily; of little kindnesses, and of those simple acts of duty, trivial in themselves, whose total is the march of man to better things. |
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"Believe me when I say the crown must be of laurel and not of gold. It must be the crown of what you do—not that of what you gain. I say this since never in human history was it more needed that men and women should understand this."
My Generation's Defect of the Soul
"The world of which you are the heirs is one of bitter strife and turmoil.
"We—your elders—inherited a world of growing wealth. We carried on the task of widening its bounds. We spread our ploughed lands to the edge of the desert, and to the line where good soil ends in the rocky wilderness of the North. We built railways from sea to sea. We linked the continents with ships. We destroyed the barrier of space to human speech. We split matter into its final fragments—even to the point where matter ceases to be matter and seems to be force. We opened the storehouse of knowledge to all. We broke down the bars of caste. We gave the plain man the luxury of ancient kings. We widened liberty and increased leisure.
"We risked all this in the hazard of war, and in a mad race for profit and pleasure. The war which ended the greatest period of human progress came from our failure to control our worship of the material by loftier standards.
"Do not tell me that it was no more than the outcome of German greed of conquest; of British imperialism; of French militarism; or of capitalistic lust of profits. Britain gave the world order and material civilization. Germany and France adorned the world with art and music, enriched it with science and with letters. The war profits of capitalists were an incident—not the cause of the war. We must look deeper.
"The madness that plunged the world in the bloodshed and horror of the Great War [World War I] was a defect of the soul—not of the mind."
"We—your elders—inherited a world of growing wealth. We carried on the task of widening its bounds. We spread our ploughed lands to the edge of the desert, and to the line where good soil ends in the rocky wilderness of the North. We built railways from sea to sea. We linked the continents with ships. We destroyed the barrier of space to human speech. We split matter into its final fragments—even to the point where matter ceases to be matter and seems to be force. We opened the storehouse of knowledge to all. We broke down the bars of caste. We gave the plain man the luxury of ancient kings. We widened liberty and increased leisure.
"We risked all this in the hazard of war, and in a mad race for profit and pleasure. The war which ended the greatest period of human progress came from our failure to control our worship of the material by loftier standards.
"Do not tell me that it was no more than the outcome of German greed of conquest; of British imperialism; of French militarism; or of capitalistic lust of profits. Britain gave the world order and material civilization. Germany and France adorned the world with art and music, enriched it with science and with letters. The war profits of capitalists were an incident—not the cause of the war. We must look deeper.
"The madness that plunged the world in the bloodshed and horror of the Great War [World War I] was a defect of the soul—not of the mind."
Failing to Learn from Experience, We Stand Divided
"The wild boom of postwar days came from man's failure to learn the lesson of the war. We should have emerged from that appalling misery chastened in spirit. We did not. Victors could think only of turning their victory into wealth; vanquished, of how to avoid loss. Soldiers too often thought only of the years of comfort and of profit which they had missed; civilians of how best to increase the wealth which the war seemed to have brought them. In the end greed resulted in disaster.
"What of the world now? ... When we are not preaching hate of nation for nation, we stir up hate of class for class. Because in the turmoil of war and postwar booms, men piled wealth on wealth; because in the crash of the world’s industry and commerce some were beggared and others not, we see the poor crying for the destruction of the power of the rich, and the rich proclaiming that revolution is upon us. As between nations, so between classes—fear breeds hate. Hate makes war.
"An ancient adage has it that “If each before his own door sweeps, the village will be clean.” In these days of complex life, we are in danger of forgetting this. It may no longer be worth what it once was as a guide in our common life in things of the body and the mind; it still remains the only rule in matters of the soul: the conscience which guides a people is but the conscience of the men and women who make the nation."
"What of the world now? ... When we are not preaching hate of nation for nation, we stir up hate of class for class. Because in the turmoil of war and postwar booms, men piled wealth on wealth; because in the crash of the world’s industry and commerce some were beggared and others not, we see the poor crying for the destruction of the power of the rich, and the rich proclaiming that revolution is upon us. As between nations, so between classes—fear breeds hate. Hate makes war.
"An ancient adage has it that “If each before his own door sweeps, the village will be clean.” In these days of complex life, we are in danger of forgetting this. It may no longer be worth what it once was as a guide in our common life in things of the body and the mind; it still remains the only rule in matters of the soul: the conscience which guides a people is but the conscience of the men and women who make the nation."
Treat Others as You Would Your Family and Friends
"I do not need to tell you how to bear yourselves to those who immediately surround you—your family, your fellow workers. As civilized men and women you will know precisely what you should do. You must be wise but modest, sincere but tolerant, slow to anger and ready to serve. I have not to stress this law to you. You will apply it daily in your contacts with those who are closest to you, because it is the law which makes a civilized society possible.
"Can you be the same to those less close?"
"Can you be the same to those less close?"
Wisely Temper the Emotions of Youth
"You may perhaps be wise. How are you to know if the plans which seem so simple to set the world aright are wisdom, or the eager folly of youth rushing in where age fears to tread? I do not ask you to be timorous. I do not urge that you should cramp your minds within bounds set only by custom and by precedent.
"What I tell you is that your faith in your own wisdom must be tempered by modesty ... Strive for what you know is right but be certain that its rightness is reality and not merely the product of your own mind, inflamed with faith in your own wisdom.
"Speaking to the United States Chamber of Commerce last year a great American business leader said:
'In the Bible we are told that Jehovah said unto Abraham that, if there were ten righteous men in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, He would save those cities. The world seems to have reversed this judgment and to a certain extent has decided that, if ten unrighteous men can be found in the business world, it will be destroyed.
'Verily, there is a difference between God's judgment and man’s.'
"Remember the truth of this. Because one man of business or finance betrays a trust, do you need to believe that all men are dishonest?
"Just anger at wrongs easily seen must be controlled by wise tolerance if it is not to become mere madness. Be slow to anger. Be ready to believe the best. Be slow to condemn. Take the time to examine patiently the facts of the case and the arguments on both sides before you pass judgement. This world which you must set aright is an ancient organism growing slowly through the centuries. It is not perfect.
"Beware lest in trying to make it so you disturb the balances which make life possible."
"What I tell you is that your faith in your own wisdom must be tempered by modesty ... Strive for what you know is right but be certain that its rightness is reality and not merely the product of your own mind, inflamed with faith in your own wisdom.
"Speaking to the United States Chamber of Commerce last year a great American business leader said:
'In the Bible we are told that Jehovah said unto Abraham that, if there were ten righteous men in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, He would save those cities. The world seems to have reversed this judgment and to a certain extent has decided that, if ten unrighteous men can be found in the business world, it will be destroyed.
'Verily, there is a difference between God's judgment and man’s.'
"Remember the truth of this. Because one man of business or finance betrays a trust, do you need to believe that all men are dishonest?
"Just anger at wrongs easily seen must be controlled by wise tolerance if it is not to become mere madness. Be slow to anger. Be ready to believe the best. Be slow to condemn. Take the time to examine patiently the facts of the case and the arguments on both sides before you pass judgement. This world which you must set aright is an ancient organism growing slowly through the centuries. It is not perfect.
"Beware lest in trying to make it so you disturb the balances which make life possible."
Prove Your Education to the World
"Never in human history have young men and women entered life so trained and taught as you of 1935. Yours is a great responsibility. Weigh it well. The world which you now enter is one of clamor and of turmoil. Think well before you speak. Learn to limit eagerness with a sense of responsibility. The whole future of that great system of education and of training which we once held to be the finest of all human achievements is at stake.
"Do you know that the world today, skeptical of almost all the things we once held sacred, is doubtful of the worth of education? Do you know that men say it has failed? That they cry that in all the stress of the time our universities have not given us the leadership which we need?"
"Do you know that the world today, skeptical of almost all the things we once held sacred, is doubtful of the worth of education? Do you know that men say it has failed? That they cry that in all the stress of the time our universities have not given us the leadership which we need?"
Peace Will Not Be Found in Treaties and Laws
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"All the effort to cure the troubles of the day seems to concern itself with material things. What the world lacks today is happiness, which springs from peace. Peace between nations will not come by treaties. Peace between classes will not be the product of laws.
"Human happiness is the product of the human soul not of machines nor of systems for the better distribution of wealth. "I am not telling you to seek happiness by an end of effort to make this a richer world. I do not suggest that we should accept the ills of our present system of society because they are material, or that we should seek refuge from them in spiritual contemplation." |
Seek a Crown of Laurel, not Gold
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"Material and intellectual progress are as important to man today as they ever were. All that I am saying is that more is needed than progress in wealth and skill.
"If these are to make happiness, they must be governed by the soul as well as by the body and the mind."
"If these are to make happiness, they must be governed by the soul as well as by the body and the mind."
Sir Edward Beatty, McGill University's, 1935 Baccalaureate Address