The Saunterer

E. Y. “Yip” Harburg on searching inward

    As Yip Harburg tells in his poem, we should be focusing on what really matters:

"On a Clear Day from Mount Wilson"

With magic gear through stratosphere
   Beyond the stars we grope,
But there’s more to be found
   In the drop of a tear
Than there is in a telescope.

    And again in his poem:

"Oh Solar Mio"

The world would be a safer place,
If someone had a plan,
Before exploring Outer Space,
To find the Inner man.

    (Both poems are quoted from page 357 of Who Put the Rainbow in The Wizard of Oz?, by Yip Harburg. The University of Michigan Press, 1995.)
    For a brief biography of Yip Harburg, click here. For images of or relating to Yip Harburg, click here.

Leta Stetter Hollingworth on why women are under-represented in prominent positions

    Writing almost a century ago, Leta Stetter Hollingworth explained:

Why do we not consider first the established, obvious inescapable fact that women bear and rear the race, and that this has always meant, and still means that nearly 100% of their energy is consumed in the performance and supervision of domestic and allied tasks, a field where eminence is impossible. No one knows who is the best housekeeper in America. Eminent house keepers do not and cannot exist. If we discuss at all the matter of sex differences in achievement, we should consider first the most obvious conditioning factors. Otherwise our discussion is futile scientifically.

    (Quoted from page 285 of An Introduction to the History of Psychology, 4th edition, by B. R. Hergenhahn. Wadsworth, 2001.)
    For a brief biography of Leta Stetter Hollingworth, click here. For images of or relating to Leta Stetter Hollingworth, click here.
    B. R. Hergenhahn is Professor Emeritus of psychology at Hamline University.