Grandchildren do good when they make their grandfathers find new answers, and Robert Frost experienced this example of it:
Some girl said to me - granddaughter of mine, graduating from Smith, a year or two ago - she said to me, “Don’t you think that it’s everybody’s duty to do good in the world?” And I said, “I’d rather do well than good.”
But she thought - (Wait till you hear.) - she thought a minute or two - (Sweet thing that she is.) - and she said, “But wouldn’t it be possible to do good well?”
It’s a long time - (We see each other now and then.) - and there’s something to settle there. I let her have the field that day. She won, saying it would be possible “to do good well.” But there’s more to all that, isn’t there?
For instance, all the ways of doing good are human. They’re determined by the race, way back through the years. One way to do good is to be a doctor. Another way to do good is to be a preacher. Another way to do good is to be a teacher. Another good way is to be a plumber. You see, and go on.
I needn’t go on. There are all sorts of ways. And those have all been found by the race.
And one of the ways is to do charity. That’s what she’s talking about. But to make that the only one of the ways to do good, you see, that’s what I have to settle with her, still.
Some girl said to me - granddaughter of mine, graduating from Smith, a year or two ago - she said to me, “Don’t you think that it’s everybody’s duty to do good in the world?” And I said, “I’d rather do well than good.”
But she thought - (Wait till you hear.) - she thought a minute or two - (Sweet thing that she is.) - and she said, “But wouldn’t it be possible to do good well?”
It’s a long time - (We see each other now and then.) - and there’s something to settle there. I let her have the field that day. She won, saying it would be possible “to do good well.” But there’s more to all that, isn’t there?
For instance, all the ways of doing good are human. They’re determined by the race, way back through the years. One way to do good is to be a doctor. Another way to do good is to be a preacher. Another way to do good is to be a teacher. Another good way is to be a plumber. You see, and go on.
I needn’t go on. There are all sorts of ways. And those have all been found by the race.
And one of the ways is to do charity. That’s what she’s talking about. But to make that the only one of the ways to do good, you see, that’s what I have to settle with her, still.
(Quoted from page 103 of Robert Frost: Speaking on Campus: Excerpts from His Talks, 1949-1962, Edward Connery Lathem, ed. W. W. Norton & Company, 2009.) For a brief biography of Robert Frost, click here. For images of and relating to Robert Frost, click here. For a brief biography of Edward Connery Lathem, click here.
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