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About The united American : a magazine of good citizenchip. (Portland, Or.) 1923-1927 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1925)
THE UNITED AMERICAN Page Eighteen Suceess By Prof. JOSEPH ROLLINS, Patchogue, New York pportunities for young men to will wake up in the night with a leg achieve success, are now easier than bitten off by a wild animal. ever. Conditions may change; oppor Just remember, young man, that every tunities change in character; but human thing we possess today, from the wheel barrow to the steam shovel, was worked ability remains the same. What is then the factor that makes out by the fertility of the brain of that man succeed? It is force and unwaver primitive man, who had no other weapon ing energy. Force is the power within to defend himself, but a stone sharpened man—call it soul, will, intellect or what spear. Think what we have to work you please—that enables him to conquer with today. The telephone, the telegraph, his invironment, brush aside all difficulties the mail, the public schools, that give obstructing his path and push him to us an education free; the libraries, that make an effort. give us knowledge, if we have only the Force helps a man to control himself, brains, the heart and the will to accept and that is the beginning of success. A it and digest it. Under the circum man whose energies, health and money stances, has a young man who does not leak away like water from a sieve can attain success any excuse whatsoever for not succeed. He has not the force to his failure? stop the leak. Force within a man is the There will always be failures among faculty, that enables him to fix his mind, men, as there are with articles of an to concentrate his power of understand inferior quality, but such are attribut ing upon the problem that confronts him, able to our work, or to our lack of effort and move on until he finds its solution. in trying to develop more perfect speci Success is concentration, plus imagi mens. No young man, even of average nation. That mysterious and complex moderate power, no one need be a failure power that works within us is imagi unless he chooses so to be. nation. That is the biggest power of If you save a part of what you earn all, because it enables man to see in his instead of gambling or risking it, in. time, brain, the thing that he cannot see with you cannot help becoming independent. If you are careful with your health, his eye. - An architect is great when in his brain, which is a real capital, be regular with he can see the building of his own crea your sleep, moderate in eating, temperate tion finished. Michelangelo was one of . in habits; if you use your brain power the greatests painters of his age, because to move forward in the world, instead the power of his imagination showed him of using such good qualities for wasting in his mind, the wonderful Dome of St. purposes, you will surely succeed. You Peter’s, and the magnificent statue of may not accumulate millions, or become the Virgin with her dead Son upon President of the United States, but you can, if you choose, attain success. For her lap. What we need today is what was real success means a mind free from worry, and free from the slavery of being wanted in Michelangelo’s days. We need first power, and then how to under another man’s orders. Success is use it adroitly, wisely and persistently also the action of doing the very best in solving our problems and realizing our you are capable of. ideals. So whatever the position or the A great genius who stops working, or rank one wishes to attain, he needs force, steeped in dissipation, does only one-half concentration, self-denial and imagi of what he is capable of doing is a failure, when compared with a man of modest nation. The opportunities for young men are ability who does his best persistently, today better than in the past, because works faithfully and deals justly with men have more and better tools with his fellow men. Some are driven to work which to work. The man of the Stone by the earnest desire to have their Age had a right to be discouraged. It children happier than they were. It is was then a very difficult task indead, and a praiseworthy act to permit men to perilous in the extreme to attack a tiger, hand down money to their children, al or a big tusked mammoth with a sharp though in a great many cases, is unwise stone in hand. Let a clerk in one of pur so to do, as it may prove the ruination of stores, who pities himself, and wonders their offspring, if they are prone to spend how he can get anywhere, ask himself their father’s inheritance in dissipation how he would like to be standing up to and vice. That men should do right, is an in his waist in a pond of cold water, with a wounded lion on the edge, waiting for tegral part of the just man’s character. The ordinary decent n an behaves him him to come out, and he having a sharp stone in his hand with which to defend self, deals justly and honorably, not himself; is it not reasonable to believe because he is afraid of Hell or to lose that the primitive man, would have gladly Heaven, or because he runs the risk of changed place with the disgruntled clerk being hung, or fears to go to jail, but standing behind the counter in his light because he cannot live without his own suit of clothes, with his trousers turned respect, and because he is beginning to up at the bottom, and his bedroom nicely be under the influence of that inner ego warmed up at night? which leads to that humanity, which in The young man of today little knows future will govern us absolutely. how lucky he is, with a roof over his head, The day is coming when all men will a soft mattress for him to rest on, and do good because they are impulsed by an no need of asking himself whether he imperious duty to do good and for no O OCTOBER 1925 other reason. When that time arrives, then true civilization will be at its begin ning. Let me repeat then, that it is just as easy to succeed now as it ever was, and perhaps easier. Man has more weapons to succeed with or to gain power, if he wishes to wield power. Finally, we must not endeavor to succeed for the hope of a reward or for fear of punishment, but we must do right in succeeding for right’s sake, and because it is just as easy and pleasanter to do right than to do wrong. We must not live for ourselves as some beings do, or with the idea that by our forging our way to success we leave a footprint on the sands of time. Old Father Time will surely laugh in his sleeve if we mean to succeed in order to perpetuate our memory with the coming generations. Let us do good for humanity’s sake, and let us face death with the Spartan cqurage of men who have fought the battles of life to succeed, not for the promotion of personal interests only, but for the good we could do for those less lucky than ourselves. Overlooked Difference.—The returned missionary who is • shocked to find there isn’t much difference between the dress of American woman and that of the savage, must have overlooked the price tags. Times Change, People Don’t.—In some towns where it used to be part of the day’s program to go down to the station and see the train go past, the natives now have the habit of waiting around for the bus to come in. Was Not Asleep.—The late Lord Northcliffe was a great believer in work. He made work his mistress. She killed him in the end, but she granted him his heart’s desire, too. Once, at a dinner, a lady said to Lord Northcliffe: “Thackeray awoke one morning and found himself famous.” “When that morning dawned,” Northcliffe answered, “Thackeray had been writing eight hours a day for fifteen years. The man who wakes up and finds himself famous, madam, hasn’t been asleep.” A Narrow Escape.—A. school teacher had a great deal of trouble in making a boy understand his lesson and when he finally succeeded he drew a long breath and said, “Well, if it wasn’t for me you’d be the biggest donkey in the state.” Answered!—A man received the follow ing note from his actor son, who had joined a touring company: “I have made a great success. Will you lend me £5 to pay landlady? Your devoted son,»Algy.” “P. S.—Since writing this letter, I am ashamed to ask you, so I ran after the postman and tried to get it back. I pray it does not reach you.” The son was surprised when he re ceived this reply: “Dear Algy, your prayer was enswered. The letter did not reach me.”—Tit-Bits.
