Exit!

People who write plays often pull themselves out of predicaments by the use of “exit lines.” With a good exit line an actor can extricate himself from the most difficult dilemmas. But the need for exit lines is by no means confined to the theater. In real life exit lines may save many situations also; for example, we could often use one for the person who has time to waste, and who wants to waste our time while he is wasting his own for the person who supposes that his leisure is everyone’s leisure. But there are numerous needs for exit lines in more serious circumstances. Often young people are faced with unpleasant alternatives, such as a choice between principles and so-called popularity. But popularity with people who offer only this alternative isn’t ever worth the price. And when we are dealing with people who won’t understand any other language, often the only adequate exit line is a definite and determined “No!” and if an emphatic “No” isn’t accepted, exit by action may be called for a determined exit without lingering or looking back. Doing just that has saved many a man from many a mistake, and Joseph in Egypt was one of them. One of the most unforgettable exit lines of all time is the one that terminated the temptation of Jesus the Christ when “the devil…sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world…And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan.” In social situations, in business bargaining, and in many other matters, all of us meet many proposals. But when a proposal passes the limits of propriety and principle, then it is time for an exit. There isn’t enough money in the world, there isn’t enough profit or popularity or social prestige to justify anyone’s doing anything contrary to conscience and conviction. Our safety and self-respect suggest that we adopt principles within which we will conduct our lives and beyond which we will not be moved principles by which we can immediately decide what will be our final answer our exit line to any proposal. “Let men decide firmly what they will not do, and they will be free to do vigorously what they ought to do.”