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Fremont Older (1856-1935) http://tinyurl.com/CLP-Older

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Mercy

From My Own Story, 1919. Read Online Download PDF

Reader: Kevin Hearle

We're used to thinking of California as "the great exception," but that only applies if you subract the dark emotions shared by all human beings.

San Francisco journalist Fremont Older often railed against the corruption, vice, and violence that marred city life; but after decades of crusading, he ultimately placed his hopes in human mercy.

I have said before I am not at all sure about remedies. An intelligent, economic readjustment will help, but I cannot resist the belief that the ill-working of our social system is due to causes that are deeply rooted in ourselves. Malice, hate, envy, greed and hypocrisy, and a desire to get even for wrongs—real or fancied—are deep-seated qualities that make it impossible for us to achieve a higher and a finer life. The task of overcoming these persisting traits of character is a discouraging one, and it is a task that belongs to each one of us. . . . If we undertook this struggle in real earnest we should soon discover in ourselves the same attributes we had condemned in our neighbor, and we should no longer judge, "leaving justice to God, who knows all things, and content ourselves with mercy, whose mistakes are not so irreparable."

Fremont Older's memoir My Own Story appeared in 1919.