Report on the Last Competition

THE Editor offered a prize of £5 for the best philosophy of life which could be written on the back of a postcard, and we are glad to find that the majority of the entries are original compositions. Many hundreds of quotations, however, some of them not at all relevant, have also been submitted, and whilst we award the prize to a competitor who has formed his own philosophy of life rather than to one who re-echoes the wisdom of the Prophet Micah, Goethe, or Mr. Bernard Shaw, we are bound to admit that, on the whole, the best philosophies are not the original ones. A great number of entries were disqualified as being definitions of life rather than philosophies.

Here is a selection from the more outstanding original efforts, necessarily brief :-

"Make life worth living for itself. Make life worth living for others. Make life worth living for ever."

"The Philosophy of Life involves, a particular set of values by which we endeavour to obtain the development and enrichment of life : bringing thereby into complete harmony the facts of the spiritual and material world of which we are a part, eo that neither the one nor the other should preponderate to the detriment of our intellectual balance."

" What's the end of life ? A halter, said the criminal. What's the end of life ? Death, said the fool.

What's the end of life ? The beginning of wonder, said the wise man."

" Swim with the stream of life."

"Forget the past, make the best of the present, and don't worry about the future."

- "I accept life's task humbly and gratefully. I strive to discharge it faithfully : thereby preparing myself to lay it down, without re- sentment, and without fear." .

One competitor sent in between thirty and. _postcards each inscribed with, a separate philosophy, but he. was ruled out on the ground that to take so many chances in life was the reverse of philosophical : another submitted very_ pretty illuminated text in blue and gold, and a third provided us with a chart proving beyond all doubt that, however we may look at it, all life is an illusion, and means nothing. This may or may not be so, but at any rate, it is undoubtedly, beyond our scope at present.

At least one-fifth of the entries arc in verse—perhaps the best of which is Miss Jocelyn C. Lea's, which we quote

A WOMAN'S PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE. To guard my doors--yet welcome all who come ;

Stick to my job—not poach on other people's ; Forget my self and soul—be priest of home, Since roads to heaven climb stairs as well as steeples. To live my life—and leave my children theirs, Exacting nought that is not freely given ; To laugh at life--not think that preference shares In gloom on earth can earn me joy in heaven.

Messrs. John Cook, G. Rostrevor Hamilton, and D. M. II. Evans also achieved distinction in combining philosophy with metrical competence, the former's last verse being so good that had the whole poem been up to the same standard we should not have hesitated to award him the prize. A number of excellent essays have also been received, together with the proof that they may be compressed on to postcards —to be read, if necessary, with the aid of a strong magnifying glass—most notable among them being the " Philosophe- thegms " of Lieut.-Commander Brotherton, R.N., and an essay on " the perspective of truth," by Mr. Stanley A.

Mantin. Mr. Hugh M. Longden's story of the Prince, the blue bird, the silver fish and the golden flower is very good if not, perhaps, quite practical enough for this world. On the whole, we award the prize to Mr. E. Dalzell for a

simple philosophy of life which seems to us to have just the right proportion of ease and brevity, while being at the same

time workable and sincere :-

"LOVE, TRUST, DARE, AND GO ON DOING IT."

Altogether nearly a thousand entries were received.