American Traits from the Point of View of a GermanHoughton, Mifflin, 1901 - 235 pages |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
æsthetic Ameri American aristo aristocratic arly Atlantic Monthly average become believe bring certainly chance character civilization classes Coeducation coöperation course cracy criticism culture demand democracy democratic desire docents duties elective energies equality Europe European factors feel German ideals German-American girl graduate school gymnasium higher highest ideal idealistic individual industry influence inner institutions intellectual interest knowledge less lower instincts marriage masses means ment merely mind monarchy moral movement nation natural never ocean pedagogy philosophy political practical prejudices privat-docents problem productive scholarship professional psychological psychology question realistic reform reinforce Russia salaries scholar scholarly selfish side social social philosophy social psychologist spirit stand studies talent tastes teach teachers tendency thing thought tion tive scholarship to-day true universal suffrage wealth whole woman women yellow press young
Popular passages
Page 131 - ... open fires, has danced and bicycled and golfed with them, has seen their clubs and meetings and charities, — he finds himself discouragingly word-poor when he endeavors to describe, with his imperfect English, the impression that has been made upon him ; he feels that his vocabulary is not sufficiently provided with complimentary epithets. The American woman is clever and ingenious and witty ; she is brilliant and lively and strong; she is charming and beautiful and noble ; she is generous...
Page 196 - ... more civilized forms of vulgarity." "The result is not necessarily, as Europeans often wrongly imagine, a general moblike vulgarity : but a bumptious oratory, a flippant superficiality of style, a lack of aesthetic refinement, an underestimation of the serious specialist and an overestimation of the unproductive popularizer, a constant exploitation of immature young men with loud newspaper voices and complete inability to appreciate the services of older men, a triumph of gossip, and a crushing...
Page 147 - But the American girl has not only no new powers to expect; she has in marriage a positive function before her, which she, again unlike her European sister, considers, on the whole, a burden; the care of the household. I do not mean that the German woman is enraptured with delight at the prospect of scrubbing a floor; and I know, of course, how many American women are model housekeepers, how the farmers' wives, especially, have their pride in it, and how often spoiled girls heroically undertake housekeeping...
Page 163 - American intellectual work will be kept down by the women, and will never become a world power. How differently, when compared with that of men of the same class, the female mind works, we see daily around us when we turn our eyes from the educated level down toward the half educated multitude. Here we are confronted with the woman who antagonizes serious medicine through her belief in patent medicines and quackery; the woman who undermines moral philosophy through her rushing into spiritualism and...
Page 57 - I do not mean that we were helped in our work, but the teachers were silently helped by the spirit which prevailed in our homes with regard to the school work. The school had the right of way; our parents reinforced our belief in the work and our respect for the teachers. A reprimand in the school was a shadow on our home life; a word of praise in the school was a ray of sunshine for the household. The excellent schoolbooks, the wise plans for the upbuilding of the ten years...
Page 66 - The logical fallacy of this ought to be evident. All instruction which is good must be interesting ; but does it follow therefrom that all instruction which is interesting must also be good ? Is it not possible that there are...
Page 138 - And, finally, does any one who has obtained even a glimpse of German civilization need any further proof that the whole public culture there is stamped by man's mind ? No reasonable German considers the function of woman in the social organism less important or less noble than that of man, but the public questions, he wishes to have settled by men. Man sets the standard in every public discussion, for politics and civil...
Page 166 - There was never before a nation that gave the education of the young into the hands of the lowest bidder." He might go farther. I'll do so for him and say, that in all the trades, in all the commercial transactions, the employment of teachers is the only one in which the employer selects the goods and sets the price. " Mr. , we have this day selected you as a teacher in our schools, and you will receive...
Page 131 - ... Academic Woman." And when I sat down to furnish my own contribution to this subject, there appeared before my grateful imagination the lovely pictures of the college yards which I had seen from New England to California ; I saw once more the sedate library halls where the fair girls in light colored gowns radiated joy and happiness ; I saw before me the Ivy procession of the Smith College students ; I saw again the most charming theatrical performance I have ever enjoyed, the Midsummer Night's...
Page 179 - ... numerous denominations have been profoundly modified by political theories and practices, and by social customs natural to new communities formed under the prevailing conditions of free intercourse and rapid growth. The constitutional prohibition of religious tests as qualifications for office gave the United States the leadership among the nations in dissociating theological opinions and political rights.