THE VALUE OF SMILES

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXXII, Issue 2803, 20 November 1931, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE VALUE OF SMILES

PHILOSOPHY FOR TO-DAY. An incalculable number of diverse musical effects can be obtained within the compass of the seven notes which constitute the scale. A corresponding number of emotions can be expressed through the' medium of the human smile. Smiling is a monopoly of humanity; it is another of those lines of demarcation between human and sub-human. Smiles are very largely the currency of the emotions, and an enormous number of false coins are in circulation. There are far more smiles than there are descriptive adjectives, and such adjectives are plentiful enough. Although nowadays smiling seems natural and spontaneous, it is not quite clear how or when it started. "The antediluvians and the patriarchs seem to have known nothing about it: In the Scriptures theie i no single llision to a smile. L ughtei there w s in plenty, from the exultant l the su 1 me. Laughtor whs nil riP-nt. but as the human I I 1 laughter i j t 1.-red sonieiit ci de lie mil cime into use s an cm ition il h ilf way house. It i ctd nm be nievei nt li wonder if, i eicl m e it least i i f the twelve 1 Xjo 11 t lit fa wag. In g K I i i n there is 1 i v,l oc q t i umour reiil j panions to I j e li i the saints mi vc i 1 e i Ida higher j tel i i Ii n t) n i smile, and i Uat il v I 1 niy wanly. The XI i i I i 1 is 1 rvedly re- ( I \ j cmu cleat persons there is general agreement that the lady's expression has an irresistible, enigmatical fascination. And yet there arc' many people, not all of them in the artistic sense anarchial, who insist that the smile of the Duchess of York is infinitely sweeter and just as significant as that of Mona Lisa. They refuse to be shaken out of their preference, or to acknowledge that their taste is degenerate. They consider that Mona Lisa’s smile has neither special mystery nor beauty. The smiling art is obtruded upon us early. The average baby is ushered in under showers of smiles. If he were capable of the process, he would receive a most extraordinary impression as to the contour of human features. No properly-constituted person approaches the baby’s pram for the first time without assuming what he or she believes to be u beautiful smile. The greater the facial distortion the warmer is supposed to be the baby’s welcome. From tho recesses of its carriage the* infant sees streaming down a succession of smiles so exuberant in their geniality as to be terrifying to the elderly, much more so to a helpless baby. If physiognomy bo an exact science, it is permissible to assume that somo faces were never designed for smiling purposes. That, of course, would be a kindly arrangement on the part of Nature. A certain sternness sits fittingly on the visages of criminal court judges; smiling features would constitute a poor ousiness asset for undertakers. England has immortalised Wellington as her Iron Duke; if he had allowed his cold expression to dissolve into a smile he would have been disqualified for the role. Lord Kitchener had the wisdom not to allow himself to be presented to the British people photographically with any suggestion of looking on life smilingly. The broadness of his smile would have contracted the area of his influence. It would seem, therefore, that in moulding human faces Nature presciently tries to make provision lor a measure of compatibility between facial expression and daily occupation. Tho streets of every great city provide abundant scope for noting the prevalence or absence of human smiles. Never since the war days has smiling been at such low ebb. The great mass of passing faces bear traces of excessive strain or of tho lethargy of despair. Rarely is tho sombre procession relieved by a face bearing some faint resemblance to a smile. Eloquent though so many faces are of secret tragedy, their expression is to be preferred to the smile that is insincere. Few things are more disconcerting and repelling than the smile that is raised with an obvious effort, and that dies almost as soon as it is born. The supreme essential in a smile is spontaniety. Lacking that, any exercise of the facial muscles designed to produce merely the visible effect is sheer hypocrisy. And yet smiling is an art—an art that ought to be cultivated. As an art it has admittedly been brought into disrepute by film stars and actresses of all sorts. Even certain politicians seem to regard a stereotype smile as part of their stock in trade. To feign a smile is not at all so easy as it may seem. The penalty attaching to the attempt is that those who imagine they are smiling are seen to be smirking, and nothing is more irritating. America, unfortunately, has done much harm to wholesome human smiling by making it, like so many other things, a matter of mass production. For years her facile poets and philosophers flooded the world with recipes for producing “ miles of smiles,” until people shuddered at the prospect. Despite such debasement, however, it still remains true that there is a large place in life and in human relations for the spontaneous kindly smile. What wonderful things woman has in all ages done solely by the witchery of her smile, whether it played round her lips or shone in her eyes. Reputedly hard men occasionally surprise their acquaintances by breaking into a smile almost angelic in its sweetness, a smile which discloses the natural tenderness masked by the assumed sternness. The value of the genuine, heart-warming smile has never been fully estimated, its power has never been fully tested. But we are living in days when it is specially a duty to meet, our fellows bravely, cheerfully, smilingly, realising that every honest, friendly smile is a sunlit wave on tho ocean of humanity. A crumb will feed a little bird, A thought prevent an angry word, A seed bring forth full many a flower, A drop of rain foretell a shower; A little cloud the sun will hide, A dwarf may prove a giant’s guide, A narrow plank a safe bridge form, A smile one cheerless. spirit warm,