If a thing is old, it is a sign that it was fit to live. Old families, old customs, old styles survive because they are fit to survive. The guarantee of continuity is quality. Submerge the good in a flood of the new, and good will come back to join the good which the new brings with it. Old-fashioned hospitality, old-fashioned politeness, old-fashioned honor in business had qualities of survival. These will come back.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the value of enduring qualities in traditions and customs that have proven their worth over time.
Eddie Rickenbacker suggests that the longevity of certain traditions, families, and customs indicates their inherent value and quality. He argues that while new ideas and styles flood society, the fundamental, quality aspects of the old will eventually resurgence, as they possess the qualities essential for survival and continuity. Traditions like hospitality, politeness, and honor are examples of qualities that withstand the test of time and will reemerge even amidst the influx of new trends.
In practice
During a family gathering, one might quote this to emphasize the importance of maintaining family traditions.
When I was racing, I had learned that you can't set stock in public adoration or your press clippings. By the time I was 26, I'd heard crowds of 100,000 scream my name, but a week later they couldn't remember who I was. You're a hero today and a bum tomorrow - hero to zero, I sometimes say.
That's one form of magic, of course." "What, just knowing things?" "Knowing things that other people don't know.
Speaking personally, you can have my gun, but you'll take my book when you pry my cold, dead fingers off of the binding.
Like a beautiful flower that is colorful but has no fragrance, even well spoken words bear no fruit in one who does not put them into practice.
The real pleasure of one's life is the devotion to a great objective of one's consideration.
Do not repeat after me words that you do not understand. Do not merely put on a mask of my ideas, for it will be an illusion and you will thereby deceive yourself.
He that would fish, must venture his bait.
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