Page:The Art of Helping People Out of Trouble (1924).pdf/193

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of his ability to provide for himself and his family. The instinct of self-preservation has made it the first, the most primitive, and the most widely recognized criterion of success—witness the satisfaction with which a wage-earner will remark as he looks back over the years, "I've always been able to support my family," or the manner in which a worker, now come upon hard times, will exclaim by way of describing past achievements, "Those were the days when I had money in my pocket."

Correspondingly great is the humiliation of the man who is obliged to confess his failure to meet this age-old test of manhood by taking as a gift the livelihood that other men are earning for themselves. It matters not whether the amount of money involved be great or small. His self-respect has been invaded. He has been obliged to yield his independence, and in its place there often comes a feeling of futility and of inferiority. He ceases trying to do things for himself and weakly allows others to carry his burdens.

When financial difficulties appear as part of a man's trouble, every possible measure should be taken to make it unnecessary for him to accept money as a gift. Perhaps he can be aided to find