9S
A VOICE FROM
change in color of the human complexion ob¬
servable along any meridian, which ranges
from black at the equator to blonde toward
the pole. In like manner the sense of self
grows more intense as we follow in the
wake of the setting sun, and fades steadily as
we advance into the dawn. America, Europe,
the Levant, India, Japan, each is less personal
than the one before. . . . That politeness
should be one of the most marked results of
impersonality may appear surprising, yet a
slight examination will show it to be a fact.
Considered a priori, the connection is not far
to seek. Impersonality by lessening the in¬
terest in one's self, induces one to take an in¬
terest in others. Looked at a posteriori, we
find that where the one trait exists the other
is most developed, while an absence of the
second seems to prevent the full growth of the
first. This is true both in general and in de¬
tail. Courtesy increases as we travel eastward
round the world, coincidently with a decrease in
the sense of self . Asia is more courteous than
Europe, Europe than America. Particular
races show the same concomitance of charac¬
teristics. France, the most impersonal nation
of Europe, is at the same time the most polite."
And by inference, Americans, the most per-
Permalink: http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/npt1n
