ON ADVICE

Evening Star, Issue 18809, 6 December 1924, Page 20

ON ADVICE

DRUG OH THE MARKET. A Scot on consulting his doctor was advised to give up whisky. In duo course came a bill to which tho patient paid no attention. The doctor, meeting him some time afterwards, gently reminded him .that lie owed him half a guinea for his advice. “ But I’m no itakin’ yer advice,” was tho answer. Herein without tho Scot’s knowledge Jay a whole philosophy. Advice is a drug on the market (says a writer in tho Melbourne ‘ Age ’). Everybody gives it, and but few wish it. Handing round advice, however good, is like carting merchandise tpj, ships when ■wharf laborers are on strike! And when one thinks of it, the output of advice con tin no. growing in bulk. The world would not hold it were it not that moat oi a volatilises in delivery, and the remainder is buried in tho capacious storoimu.Mja jf sub-conscious minds. All sermons, all newspaper propaganda, all moral literature, and oven the Bible itself, are but multitudinous and kaleidoscopic forms of advice lor erring mortals. Of course, the giving of advice shows an interest in human affaire, and an aversion to lolling a foolish world go its foolish way. Befusnl to give advice lias an aspect of selfishness, as if one said ne ban enough to do to look after himself, and was afraid of being blamed if tho advice miscarried. they may chafe and sneer at the amount of advice given, but it must be remembered that it is badly needed, and t.uu me. giving of it may bo only a subtle form of self-flattery. It assumes a certain superiority in the giver, and creates a pleasing frame of mind, such as is experienced when we make our first attempt at teaching. It is a gratification of Lae sentiment of power, followed by the appropriate emotion. A somewhat analogous result is secured when wc are acKcti xor advioe. Tho man who offers advice may bo a boro, but the person who seeks it may bo a flatterer. Indirect flattery, sometimes camouflaged as compliment, is by no means displeasing m the average human. Nor is it singular that the worst of men can frequently give good advice. It is on retord that a Jew on his death bed counselled his son : “My boy, I want you to remember that honesty is the best policy. 1 can assure you that is true, lor I have tried both ways.” And here is Burns warning all future generations that— Cautious, prudent self-control Is wisdom’s rout. Again the psychology is obvious. When men who have made a failure of life set

i 1 ’ l l to rdvDe others, the effort raises in them a feeling of reformation. It creates a.i uijiinsp.iere of repentance and the t>h'-i.--!inl .-■•■’iis.ilion of the new leaf. .So timid people love to counsel boldness, thereby atoning in some measure, as they Dun. 1 ;, (heir own Jack of it. And if the advice succeeds and (he receiver secures tho Victoria Cross, the timid soul wears >t n.-ght ami day.

There is no inferiority suggested in accepting advice from lawyers, (lectors, engineers, or other specialists, hut we are eonsemns of a certain inferiority when advice is ottered on matters with winch we are familiar, and particularly eu points of conduit, Tim given of it thereby keens on gin o erms with himself, but we receive it with reluctance, not a’ways >•,'< cossfully concealed, and sometimes with indignation at, the impertinence. In such a situation we recall with deep satisfaction .lolinsnu’s icmark about a person who had made himself obnoxious : ‘‘ Don't let liim go (,o the devil where he is known.” And, like one of Shakespeare':! characters, we tire tempted to say to our adviser : “ Thy counsel falls into mine ears as profit less as water in a sieve.” Amiol with sure touch warns us to be careful (hat (lie mind is prepared for tho advice we are about to tender. A certain shrewdness in spiritual diagnosis will guide us here. Great men can seldom take good counsel. It is no use advising conceited people. Good seed needs mod soil, and to scatter it anywhere else is to ensure it being choked with weeds or nec v'ivd hv Dm fowls of the air.

Old Montaigne, Dimly and self-suffi-cient, made it a practiie to receive little advice and give little. lie seldom eonsuited others, ho says, and was seldom believed. He knew no concern, public nr private, that had boon mended or helped by Jus advice. Other men's reasons wen; but f'.'es and atoms that -cnnl'minded and distracted his will. One may fairlv rejoin that .Montaigne’s complacency is rarely justified, and meeds a corrective from Pacon'e saying : “There is as much difference between the advice a- friend gives and what a man gives himself as (•atween the counsel of a friend ami of a flatterer. There is no such flatterer as a man's self.”

History abounds in illustrations of good and bad advice. The legend of the serpent in Eden is the first recorded instance. Tho person advised was a woman, the advice was bad, mid its consequences irretrievable. It was handed on by the woman to her husband and followed by him, and ever since that far-otf unhappy day mankind lias followed the habit of accepting bad advice. The man blamed the woman, and tho woman the serpent; and the poor serpent was the only creature who did not try to shift tho guilt from himself to another.

llehdboam, Holomon’s foolish son, asked advice from tiio old men and from the young men; and, being himself a fairly young man, ho naturally accepted ilio bold, thorough policy recommended by hot-hoaded youth. Lord Bacon pronounces in favor of old men for counsel and youth for enterprise, and the whole world knows that enterprise is safe only when directed by wise counsel. Those young men carried the day, smashed the kingdom, and spread red ruin over all the land. And even now, when the generations arc hoary, there is a clamor for the policy of youth and the scrapping of men over sixty. Here is Horace advising us that whatever advice wc give to be short; and certainly ho practised what he preached. Who does not remember his “ make money by all means, honorably if you can, but by all means make money”? This is counsel, which is being followed every day by the majority of our race, and would have been followed had Horace never penned a line. His counsel on making money reflected the spirit of his age, and was therefore sure to bo acceptable. Nevertheless, it remains true that agreeable advice is seldom useful advice. There are occasions, and many of them, on which advice, even when asked, should never bo given. People frequently ask it after they have made up their minds what to do. A young man head over ears in love may inquire with an affectation of indifference what his friend thinks of the lady of his choice. He may even go through the form of asking the opinion and advice of his father and mother; but all the while his resolution is formed and unshakable. The best course, is to tell him (hat he is at the, stage at which advice, is quite superfluous. Lord Shaftesbury, in too sweeping fashion, said no one was ever the belter for advice, ami giving it was only showing our own wisdom. If that were universally true it, would be a poor compliment to mankind. While advice is disregarded in the great majority of cases, we must remember (hat even a man who treats it with contempt may secretly bike it, follow it, mid claim the credit of the, success it brings. Ho. is guilty of a. kind of hypocrisy and plagiarism, which lie might dignify by the name of diplomacy; but it is a contemptible and unmanly procedure, Coleridge says advice should bo like snow : the softer it falls the longer it dwells upon and the deeper it sinks into the mind. Tito first business of one who would successfully advise his friend is to create an atmosphere favorable to the reception of counsel. An angry man is incapable of receiving advice. Nor must the adviser seek to impress bis friend with his superiority. Nothing will so quickly bang and bolt the door of the mind. The advice must bo given with some diliidcnce, with assurance of fallibility, and consequent hesitation. Those who enjoy the safety of the shore are likely to give some foolish advice to the sailors on a laboring vessel. If wo have never been in the

same difficulty wo are but ill-fitted to advise. The final responsibility rests with (he individual, and all the good advice in the world will not relieve him from it. Even kings need privy councillors, and we are all kings in respect of personal duty. And among the best of such councillors are good books, and in the conduct of daily affairs there is no book like the Book of Proverbs. We cannot argue with a, book or insult it, and this shines with wise counsel like the sky with stars. Be humble enough to listen to advice, and wise enough to use your own judgment. And bo not wise in your own conceits.