Kitabı oku: «Boy Wanted», sayfa 4
THE ONE WITH A SONG
Our greatest glory consists, not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. – Goldsmith.
The cloud-maker says it is going to storm,
And we’re sure to have awful weather, —
Just terribly wet or cold or warm,
Or maybe all three together!
But while his spirit is overcast
With the gloom of his dull repining,
The one with a song comes smiling past,
And, lo! the sun is shining.
A noble manhood, nobly consecrated to man, never dies. – William McKinley.
The cloud-maker tells us the world is wrong,
And is bound in an evil fetter,
But the blue-sky man comes bringing a song
Of hope that shall make it better.
And the toilers, hearing his voice, behold
The sign of a glad to-morrow,
Whose hands are heaped with the purest gold,
Of which each heart may borrow.
It is easy finding reasons why other folks should be patient. – George Eliot.
The one who thinks the world is full of good people and kindly blessings is much richer than the one who thinks to the contrary. Some men live in a world peopled with princes of the royal blood; some in a world of want and wrong-doers. Those whom we distrust are likely to distrust us. To believe a man is a man helps to make him so at heart. To think him a rascal is a start for him in the wrong direction. The world smiles at us if we smile at it; when we frown it frowns. It is the armor of war and not that of love that invites trouble. He who carries a sword is the most likely to find a cause for using it. The man who remembers it was a beautiful day yesterday is a great deal happier than he who is sure it is going to storm to-morrow.
Sympathy is two hearts tugging at one load. – Parkhurst.
Though life is made up of mere bubbles,
’Tis better than many aver,
For while we’ve a whole lot of troubles,
The most of them never occur.
In the thousand and one little everyday affairs of life the man who is disposed to take things by the smooth handles saves himself and those about him an endless amount of worry. The pessimist is an additional sorrow in a world that holds for all of us some glints of sunshine and some shreds of song. It was of one such sorry soul that I penned the lines —
What folly to tear one’s hair in sorrow, just as if grief could be assuaged by baldness. – Cicero.
He growled at morning, noon and night,
And trouble sought to borrow;
On days when all the skies were bright
He knew ’twould storm to-morrow.
A thought of joy he could not stand
And struggled to resist it;
Though sunshine dappled all the land
This sorry pessimist it.
Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man. – Franklin.
Occasionally we meet a person well along in years who has not yet acquired sufficient wisdom to understand that without some of the elements of a storm in the sky we could never look upon that most marvelously beautiful spectacle – a rainbow.
Give us to go blithely about our business all this day, bring us to our resting beds weary and content and undishonored, and grant us in the end the gift of sleep. – Stevenson.
Without hunger and thirst, food and drink would be superfluous; without cold, warmth would lose its grateful charm; without weariness, rest were of no avail; without grief, gladness would lose its delight. The thoughtful, thankful soul will keep the lips from complaining and the hands from wrong-doing by always supplying them with
A SMILE AND A TASK
Teach your child to hold his tongue, he’ll learn fast enough to speak. – Franklin.
Keep a smile on your lips; it is better
To joyfully, hopefully try
For the end you would gain, than to fetter
Your life with a moan and a sigh.
There are clouds in the firmament ever
The beauty of heaven to mar,
Yet night so profound there is never
But somewhere is shining a star.
There is no use arguing with the inevitable; the only argument with the east wind is to put on your overcoat. – Lowell.
Keep a task in your hands; you must labor;
By deeds is true happiness won;
For stranger and friend and for neighbor,
Rejoice there is much to be done.
Endeavor by crowning life’s duty
With joy-giving song and with smile,
To make the world fuller of beauty
Because you are in it a while.
A young man cannot honestly make a success in any business unless he loves his work. – Edward Bok.
“Of all virtues cheerfulness is the most profitable. While other virtues defer the day of recompense, cheerfulness pays down. It is a cosmetic which makes homeliness graceful and winning. It promotes health and gives clearness and vigor to the mind; it is the bright weather of the heart in contrast with the clouds and gloom of melancholy.” These words from the writings of one of our sunniest philosophers are worth much gold to one who will ever keep them in mind.
There is a great deal more to be got out of things than is generally got out of them, whether the thing be a chapter of the Bible or a yellow turnip. – MacDonald.
Sydney Smith says that “all mankind are happier for having been happy; so that, if you make them happy now, you make them happy twenty years hence by the memory of it.” This being true we should do all in our power to turn men from gloom to gladness; from the shadows to sunshine. With this purpose in mind I have written
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PESSIMIST
The boy who does not go to school does not know what Saturday is. – Babcock.
Brother – you with growl and frown —
Why don’t you move from Grumbletown,
Where everything is tumbled down
And skies are dark and dreary?
Move over into Gladville where
Your face will don a happy air,
And lay aside your cross of care
For smiles all bright and cheery.
A faithful friend is a strong defence, and he that hath found him hath found a treasure. – Ecclesiasticus.
In Grumbletown there’s not a joy
But has a shadow of alloy
That must its happiness destroy
And make you to regret it.
In Gladville we have not a care
But, somehow, looks inviting there
And has about it something fair
That makes us glad to get it.
The three things most difficult are, to keep a secret, to forget an injury, and to make a good use of leisure. – Chilo.
’Tis strange how different these towns
Of ours are! Good cheer abounds
In one, and gruesome growls and frowns
Are always in the other.
If you your skies of ashen gray
Would change for sunny skies of May,
From Grumbletown, oh, haste away;
Move into Gladville, brother.
CHAPTER VII
DREAMING AND DOING
The talent that is buried is not owned. The napkin and the hole in the ground are far more truly the man’s property. – Babcock.
“Hitch your wagon to a star!”
Such is the advice Emerson gave to ambitious youth. He meant well, no doubt, and indeed, his words are all right if taken with a pinch of salt. A boy should dream great dreams, of course, but he ought to set his dream-gauge so as to have it indicate a line of endeavor it will be possible for him to follow.
That which some call idleness I call the sweetest part of my life, and that is my thinking. – Felsham.
“Hitch your wagon to a star,”
Sounds eloquent, of course,
But it might prove more prudent, far,
To hitch it to a motor-car,
Or a steady-going horse.
We must learn to bear and to work before we can spare strength to dream. – Phelps.
The type of boy the world counts on to do it the most lasting good is the youth that does not permit the wings of fancy to carry him so far into the blue empyrean that he cannot touch the solid earth with at least the tiptoes of reason.
As Wingate truly says: “There is no use in filling young people’s minds with vain hopes; not every one can make a fortune or a national reputation, but he who possesses health, ordinary ability, honesty and industry can at least earn a livelihood.”
Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond; cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education. – Mark Twain.
If you are striving to be a level-headed boy you will understand that if you keep your eyes fastened on the stars all the while you are likely to overlook a thousand opportunities lying all about your pathway.
Let’s not despise just common things,
For here’s a truth there is no dodging,
The bird that soars on proudest wings
Comes down to earth for board and lodging.
Success comes only to those who lead the life of endeavour. – Roosevelt.
Some of the poets and others advise you to aim at the sky or the sun or something of that sort, for by so doing you will shoot higher than you would if you aimed at the ground.
I would advise you to aim directly at the target you wish to hit. Don’t shoot over it or under it; shoot at it.
The most certain sign of wisdom is a continued cheerfulness. – Montaigne.
Dreaming great things is good but doing simple things may be better. There ought to be, and there will be more dreams than deeds, just as there are more blossoms on the tree than can mature and ripen into perfect fruit.
Wisdom is ofttimes nearer when we stoop than when we soar. – Wordsworth.
We shall always have to divide our attention between the things we can do and the things we should like to do. Dreaming is an interesting pastime but we should not devote too many precious moments to
THE PLEASURES OF “IFFING”
“If” this or that were thus and so,
Oh, wouldn’t it be clever!
But “ifs,” alas! won’t make it so
Though we should “if” forever.
Yet, while “ifs” cannot help a mite,
We’d all be less contented
And life would hold far less delight
“If” “iffing” were prevented.
Our business in life is not to get ahead of other people, but to get ahead of ourselves. – Babcock.
When the time arrives for a boy to cease dreaming and to begin doing he should seize upon the highest duty that comes to his hands and waste not a moment in dilatory uncertainties. “Thrift of time,” says Gladstone, “will repay you in after-life with a thousandfold of profit beyond your most sanguine dreams.”
Have the courage to appear poor, and you disarm poverty of its sharpest sting. – Irving.
Hopes are good, but patiently worked-out realities are better. Hope is for to-morrow. Work is for to-day. The hope that lulls one into a dreamy inactivity, with the promise that all will be well, whether or no, is sometimes a hindrance in the path toward success. We must not succumb too fully to
THE POWER OF HOPE
Hope is the real riches, as fear is the real poverty. – Hume.
Hope’s a magical compound
To increase our strength, we’ve found,
It can charm our bars and barriers all away.
With its impulse, which we borrow,
We can always do to-morrow
Lots and lots of things we never do to-day.
Small pleasures, depend upon it, lie about us as thick as daisies. – Jerrold.
Hope is the architect but brawn is the builder. An architect’s most elaborate design for a mansion, on paper, cannot protect one from the elements as well as can the crudest little cabin actually built by hands. Those who spend much time in dreaming wonderful plans and waiting for a ready-made success to come and hunt them up may be interested in learning about
HANK STREETER’S BRAIN-WAVE
Go after two wolves, and you will not even catch one. – Russian.
Hank Streeter used to sit around the corner grocery store,
A-telling of the things he’d like to do;
“But, pshaw!” said Hank, “it ain’t no use to tackle ’em before
Fate settles in her mind she’ll help you through.
And ’tain’t no use to waste your time on triflin’ things,” said he;
“The feller that secures the biggest plum
Is the one that thinks up something that’s a winner, so, you see,
I’m waitin’ for a brain-wave to come.”
In all God’s creation there is no place appointed for the idle man. – Gladstone.
“The men that make the biggest hits,” so Hank would often say,
“They ain’t the ones, or so I calculate,
That get their everlastin’ fame a-workin’ by the day;
No, sir! They sort o’ grab it while you wait.
They spend their time a-thinkin’ till they strike some new idee
That’s big enough to make the hull world hum.”
“And that’s my plan for winnin’ out,” said Hank; “and so,” said he,
“I’m waitin’ for a brain-wave to come.”
Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry. – Mark Twain.
And there he sat a-waiting: in the winter by the stove,
In summer-time he sat outside the store;
And, while his busy neighbors all about him worked and throve,
He just kept on a-talking more and more;
Kept on a-getting poorer, and, while time it hauled and tacked,
Hank had to make a meal off just a crumb,
Till death it had to take him, – caught him in the very act
Of waiting for a brain-wave to come.
Labor is the genius that changes the world from ugliness to beauty, and changes the great curse to a great blessing. – Opie Read.
The man that’s born a genius, – well, I s’pose he’s bound to win,
But most of us are born the other way;
And, after all is said and done, the man who pitches in
And works, – well he’s a genius, so they say.
If he can’t win a dollar, why, he tries to earn a dime;
If he can’t have it all he’ll capture some:
For doing just the best we can is better, every time,
Than waiting for a brain-wave to come.
I have seldom known any one who deserted truth in trifles that could be trusted in matters of importance. – Paley.
There are many echoes in the world, but few voices. – Goethe.
Consequences are unpitying. – George Eliot.
But it is to be remembered that the youth who does not think well of himself is not likely to do well. “Ability, learning, accomplishment, opportunity, are all well,” says Mathews, “but they do not, of themselves, insure success. Thousands have all these, and live and die without benefiting themselves or others. On the other hand, men of mediocre talents, often scale the dizzy steeps of excellence and fame because they have firm faith and high resolve. It is this solid faith in one’s mission – the rooted belief that it is the one thing to which he has been called, – this enthusiasm, attracting an Agassiz to the Alps or the Amazon, impelling a Pliny to explore the volcano in which he is to lose his life, and nerving a Vernet, when tossing in a fierce tempest, to sketch the waste of waters, and even the wave that is leaping up to devour him, – that marks the heroic spirit; and, wherever it is found, success, sooner or later, is almost inevitable.”
They who wish to sing always find a song. – Swedish.
The youth who will start out in life’s morning with a well-defined idea of the goal he wishes to gain, and who will keep going in the right direction need have little fear that his journey will finally end in
THE VALLEY OF NEVER
Whoever in the darkness lighteth another with a lamp, lighteth himself also. – Auerbach.
The city of Is sets on top of a hill
And if you would learn of its beauty
Take Right-Away street and keep going until
You pass through the gateway of Duty.
But some miss the way, though the guide-board is plain,
And leisurely wander forever,
Sad-hearted and weary, down By-and-By lane
That leads to the Valley of Never.
Every year of my life I grow more convinced that it is wisest and best to fix our attention on the beautiful and good, and dwell as little as possible on the dark and base. – Cecil.
If you start in the morning and follow the sun
With a heart that is earnest and cheery,
The way is so short that your journey is done
Before you have time to be weary.
But wait till the day is beginning to wane
And then, though you rightly endeavor,
You are likely to wander down By-and-By lane
That leads to the Valley of Never.
A little integrity is better than any career. – Emerson.
Habit is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time. – Mark Twain.
Sweep first before your own door, before you sweep the doorsteps of your neighbors. – Swedish.
When we come to observe life very closely we learn that the law of recompense is always in operation, and that when all things are considered, one man’s lot does not seem so much better or another’s so much worse than the fortune of those about him as a superficial glance might lead us to think. Says Hamerton: “I used to believe a great deal more in opportunities and less in application than I do now. Time and health are needed, but with these there are always opportunities. Rich people have a fancy for spending money very uselessly on their culture because it seems to them more valuable when it has been costly; but the truth is, that by the blessing of good and cheap literature, intellectual light has become almost as accessible as daylight. I have a rich friend who travels more, and buys more costly things than I do, but he does not really learn more or advance farther in the twelvemonth. If my days are fully occupied, what has he to set against them? only other well-occupied days, no more. If he is getting benefit at St. Petersburg he is missing the benefit I am getting round my house, and in it. The sum of the year’s benefit seems to be surprisingly alike in both cases. So if you are reading a piece of thoroughly good literature, Baron Rothschild may possibly be as well occupied as you – he is certainly not better occupied. When I open a noble volume I say to myself, ‘Now the only Croesus that I envy is he who is reading a better book than this.’”
If you wish success in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counsellor, caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius. – Addison.
There is many a boy who is quite sure the neighbor’s boy has an easier time and a better prospect of success. Grown-ups, too, are frequently of the opinion that they could do so much better if they were in somebody else’s shoes. Between the success which others attain and that which we achieve, we can very readily distinguish
THE DIFFERENCE
Calmness is a great advantage. – Herbert.
When the other fellow gets rich it’s luck,
Just blundering luck that brings him gains,
But when we win it’s a case of pluck
With intelligent effort and lots of brains.
Man becomes greater in proportion as he learns to know himself and his faculty. Let him once become conscious of what he is, and he will soon learn to be what he should. – Schelling.
The country boy is sure that if he could get into the large city where there are more and greater chances for doing things he would make a great success. The city boy is quite as certain that if he could get out into a country town where the competition is not so fierce and where there is more room to grow he would do something worth while. In discussing this subject, Edward Bok says: “It is the man, not the place that counts. The magnet of worth is the drawing power in business. It is what you are, not where you are. If a young man has the right stuff in him, he need not fear where he lives or does his business. Many a large man has expanded in a small place. The idea that a small place retards a man’s progress is pure nonsense. If the community does not offer facilities for a growing business, they can be brought to it. Proper force can do anything. All that is needed is right direction. The vast majority of people are like sheep, they follow a leader.”
Men must know that in this theater of man’s it remaineth only to God and angels to be lookers-on. – Bacon.
It is no man’s business whether he is a genius or not; work he must, whatever he is, but quietly and steadily. – Ruskin.
For the solace and enlightenment of those who think they are the victims of an unkind fortune and that conditions are better elsewhere I herewith offer Deacon Watts’s remarks concerning
“YENDER GRASS”
The talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do well, without a thought of fame. – Longfellow.
“This world is full of ‘yender grass,’” says Deacon Watts to me;
“When I’m a-mowin’ in the field, the grass close by,” says he,
“Is short and thin and full of weeds; but over yender, why,
It looks to me as if the grass is thick and smooth and high.
But sakes alive! that ain’t the case, for, when I mow to where
The grass I saw from far away looked all so smooth and fair,
I find it’s jest as short and thin as all the rest, or wuss;
And that’s the way the things of earth keep on a-foolin’ us!
Be not simply good, be good for something. – Thoreau.
Progress depends upon what we are, rather than upon what we may encounter. One man is stopped by a sapling lying across the road; another, passing that way, picks up the hindrance and converts it into a help in crossing the brook just ahead. – Trumbull.
“’Bout every day you’ll hear some man complainin’ of his lot,
And tellin’, if he’d had a chance like other people, what
He might have been! He’d like to know how he can ever win
When all the grass that comes his way is all so short and thin.
But over in the neighbors’ fields, why, he can plainly see
That they’re in clover plumb knee-deep and sweet as sweet can be!
At times it’s hard to tell if things are made of gold or brass;
Some men can’t see them distant fields are full of ‘yender grass.’
Greatness lies, not in being strong, but in the right using of strength. – Beecher.
Great is wisdom; infinite is the value of wisdom. It cannot be exaggerated; it is the highest achievement of man. – Carlyle.
“I’ve learned one thing in makin’ hay, and that’s to fill my mow
With any grass that I can get to harvest here and now.
The ‘yender grass’ that ’way ahead is wavin’ in its pride
I find ain’t very fillin’ by the time it’s cut and dried.
Hope springs eternal, so they say, within the human breast:
Man never is, the sayin’ goes, but always to be, blest.
So my advice is, Don’t you let your present chances pass,
A-thinkin’ by and by you’ll reap your fill of ‘yender grass.’”
