Let’s take the instant by the forward top. – Shakespeare.
I have generally found that the man who is good at an excuse is good for nothing else. – Franklin.
I feel and grieve, but, by the grace of God, I fret at nothing. – John Wesley.
As a matter of fact you are preparing to start on an extended and important journey. You are going out into the big world, by and by, to do business. You are going into partnership with the world, after a fashion. You are to put into the business your honesty, industry, integrity, and ability, and in return for your contributions, the world is to bestow upon you all the honor, fame, goodwill, and happiness of mind that your manner of living your life shall merit. The world is only too willing to bargain for the highest and noblest and best products of the human mind with any one who can
We can sing away our cares easier than we can reason them away. – Beecher.
The world will buy largely of any one who
Can deliver the goods.
It is ready and eager to barter if you
Can deliver the goods.
But don’t take its order and make out the bill
Unless you are sure you’ll be able to fill
Your contract, because it won’t pay you until
You deliver the goods.
Trifles make perfection, but perfection is no trifle. – Michael Angelo.
The world rears its loftiest shafts to the men
Who deliver the goods.
With plow, lever, brush, hammer, sword, or with pen
They deliver the goods.
And while we their eloquent epitaphs scan
That say in the world’s work they stood in the van,
We know that the meaning is, “Here lies a man
Who delivered the goods.”
Anxiety never yet successfully bridged over any chasm. – Ruffini.
And rude or refined be your wares, still be sure
To deliver the goods.
Though a king or a clown, still remember that you’re
To deliver the goods.
If you find you are called to the pulpit to preach,
To the grain-fields to till, to the forum to teach;
Be you poet or porter, remember that each
Must deliver the goods.
CHAPTER II
“AM I A GENIUS?”
True merit is like a river, the deeper it is the less noise it makes. – Halifax.
You hope, and perchance believe, no doubt, that when you have a full opportunity to show the world what sort of timber you are made of that it will look upon you as being a “genius.” Almost every boy cherishes some such aspiration. And why not? Such a trend of thought is to be encouraged. It is proper and commendable. We would all be geniuses if we could.
We know what we are, but not what we may be. – Shakespeare.
The world admires a genius. If he is the genuine article it seeks his autograph, prints his picture in books and newspapers, and when he passes away it is likely to build a monument over his remains.
Vacillation is the prominent feature of weakness of character. – Voltaire.
And can we all be geniuses? Some say we can and some say we cannot, quite. Some say geniuses are born and some say they are self-made.
When Mr. Edison, the famous electrician and inventor, was asked for his definition of genius he answered: “Two per cent is genius and ninety-eight per cent is hard work.” On another occasion when asked: “Mr. Edison, don’t you believe that genius is inspiration?” he replied, “No! genius is perspiration.”
Conduct is three-fourths of life. – Emerson.
This definition of genius quite agrees with that given by the American statesman, Alexander Hamilton, who said: “All the genius I have lies in just this: When I have a subject in hand, I study it profoundly. Day and night it is before me. I explore it in all its bearings; my mind becomes pervaded with it. Then the effort which I make the people are pleased to call genius. It is the fruit of labor and thought.”
We must not yield to difficulties, but strive the harder to overcome them. – Robert E. Lee.
Helvetius, the famous French philosopher, says: “Genius is nothing but a continued attention,” and Buffon tells us that “genius is only a protracted patience.”
Through every clause and part of speech of a right book, I meet the eyes of the most determined men. – Emerson.
Turner, the great landscape painter, when asked how he had achieved his great success, replied: “I have no secret but hard work. This is a secret that many never learn, and they do not succeed because they do not learn it. Labor is the genius that changes the world from ugliness to beauty.”
All your Greek will never advance you from secretary to envoy, or from envoy to ambassador; but your address, your air, your manner, if good, may. – Chesterfield.
“The man who succeeds above his fellows,” says Lord Lytton, “is the one who early in life clearly discerns his object and toward that object habitually directs his powers. Even genius itself is but fine observation strengthened by fixity of purpose. Every man who observes vigilantly and resolves steadfastly grows unconsciously into genius.”
“Am I a genius?”
’Tis the mind that makes the body rich. – Shakespeare.
Now that you have asked the question, why not carefully think it over and determine what the answer should be? Have you patience and determination? Are you cultivating the habit of sticking to it?
To read without reflection is like eating without digesting. – Burke.
O prim little postage-stamp, “holding your own”
In a manner so winning and gentle.
That you’re “stuck on” your task – (is that slang?) – you will own,
And yet, you’re not two-cent-imental.
I have noted with pride that through thick and through thin
You cling to a thing till you do it,
And, whatever your aim, you are certain to win
Because you seem bound to stick to it.
I learnt that nothing can constitute good breeding that has not good nature for its foundation. – Bulwer.
Sometimes when I feel just like shirking a task
Or quitting the work I’m pursuing,
I recall your stick-to-it-ive-ness and I ask,
“Would a postage-stamp do as I’m doing?”
Then I turn to whatever my hands are about
And with fortified purpose renew it,
And