By George Matthew Adams (1913)

Take the Chip off your Shoulder.

One of the surest evidences that this is a time of great Progress is that we are beginning to dig out with great zest from the trunks in our garrets the old-fashioned, dust-covered principles that used to keep us mighty happy before we began to get prosperous.

The package labeled “Arbitrate,” for instance. The meanest human being likes to pride himself on his sense of fairness. It is a fundamental and primitive principle. It was not until somebody got unjust and unfair that Wars and Fighters and Disagreements started.

It has always been true that those who “talked it over” in the open soon had things settled and all went back to work. Arbitrate means to Weigh and Divide. That is, to Weigh the Dispute and Divide the Blame — and then to forget the Dispute.

Fools always fight. Wise people always Arbitrate. Because to fight is to Waste and to Arbitrate is to Save. Sometimes it is money saved, sometimes human beings — but always Character, whether the dispute is between you or somebody else or between a dozen nations. Arbitrate. Always Arbitrate.

It always pays to Arbitrate. Here’s something important. Disputes can never be without Individual Consent. If every person concerned — if YOU — refuse to fight, and the other or others take your “cue,” it has to be — Arbitrate.

If people would only just think before they get ready to dispute, they would not dispute. Try out this suggestion YOURSELF.

Take the Chip off your Shoulder.

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