Everything bores us which does not bring us more business, or more money, or which does not help us to attain the position for which we are striving.

Instead of enjoying our friends, we are inclined to look upon them as so many rungs in a ladder, and to value them in proportion as they furnish readers for our books, send us patients, clients, customers or show their ability to give us a boost for political position.
Before these days of hurry and drive, before this age of excitement, it was considered one of the greatest luxuries possible to be a listener in a group surrounding an intelligent talker.

It was better than most modern lectures, than anything one could find in a book; for there was a touch of personality, a charm of style, a magnetism which held, a superb personality which fascinated.

For the hungry soul, yearning for an education, to drink in knowledge from those wise lips was to be fed with a royal feast indeed.
But to-day everything is "touch and go." We have no time to stop on the street and give a decent salutation.

It is: "How do ?" or "Morning," accompanied by a sharp nod of the head, instead of by a graceful bow.