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.