The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1883-01-17
Success In Life.

There are people who seem fcrordained 10
fail, SIS there are those who seem foreordain-
ed TO succeed. Whatever one man touches
turns to cinder; whatever another man
touches turns TO gold. One man fishes sll
day without getting moro than nlbble;
another fishes in the same stream, and
catches more than he can carry home. Oar
good friend whom we all respect, gets into
Parliament, and gives promise of becoming
great orator and statesman; but in few
months we hesr Of him no more. Esquire
G. buys green bag, and shows himself at
the courts, but gets no cases. The Reverend
Mr.. d. closes his courte Of study, and is or
dained, but there Is no place for him In the
vineyard. Professor E. tries to get living
by his pen; but whatever he writes no one
cares to read. Mr.. + opens shop, but he
does not get custom enough TO pay his rent.
1t is a sad thing TO fail, but there Is no recipe
which will insure success. There are, how
ever, certain conditions, upon our comph-
ance with which success or failure may be
contingent.
A radical mistake in the choice cfa pro-
fession generally proves fatal. A man
ought to find out what he is fit for before ne
starts. II he enters upon vocation that
is above his capacity, he is sure to fail. No
|
defect. Some people will tell you That II
you will only stick to it, no matter what
| line of life you have chosen, you are certain
to succeed in the end. Many poor, dIsap-
pointed, over worked man will tell you thi:
is not true. He has done his best and failed
| In every profession there is a large per.
centage Of failures, simply because there are
80 many who strike higher than they car
/ oh Ia hat ma
tell what he is fit for until he has tested hi
powers. There may be some truth in this
but in many other cases people can tell be
forehsnd what we are fit for. 1t require
no great amount of fol- esight to predict tina
certain persons whom we know can neve
be artists, or poets or good public speakers
On the other hand, if one has C real geniu
for any particular profession, it will mani
fest itself soon enough. Ifthe are is in him
it will soon blaze out of itself.
But Whatever profession we choose, sue
cess is impossible without labor. A forum
is not made without toll. Money seems 1
come very easy to few favored people
but the world may not know how hard the
had to work in the beginning. Newto
said that all he had ever accomplished wa
the result of industry, but 1t was his geDiu
that made him industrious. With the i'm
pulse that lay behind he could not bel
working. The wind blew, and the mi
must turn. A man Of good parts may hav
his lazy fits, but he loses just so much be
cause Of this. His success Is determined b
the time be gives to his work, and the degre
in which he concentrates his faculties upo
t, what is before him.
The habitual ioiterer never brings AM
! thing to pass. The young men whom 20
see lounging about waiting for the weath'
to change before they go to work, brea
! down before they begin-get stuck betol
A they start. Ability and willingness to labc
: are the two great conditions Of success.
is useless TO work an electrical machine In
vacuum, but the air may be full of electric
!, ty, and still you can draw no spark unit
J YOU turn the machine. The beautiful staff
9 may exist in the artists brain, snd it ms
also be said in certain sense to exist in Il
marb block that stands before him, but
= must bring both his brains and his hant
c TO bear upon the marble, and work hal
. and long, in order to produce any practic
/ result.
L Success also depends in good measu
upon the mans promptness and skill
Y seize opportunities, and take advantage
= the rise Of tue tide. A great deal of VII
o we call luck, is nothing more nor less th'
% this. 1t is the man who keeps his ey
q open, and his hands out of his pockets, tn
succeeds. 81 missed my chance" exclsir
Q the disappointed man, when he sees anoth
) catch the ball and ego in" If he had be-
q ss alert as the other he might not hs
? missed. But something more than slertne
If is needed; we must know how to avail GU
selves of the emergency.
n An elastic temperament, which new
= seems to recognize the fact of defeat,
y forgets it at once and begins the work ov
= again, is very likely to insure succei
y Many great orstor has made terrib
= breakdown in his maiden speech. Many
merchant loses one fortune only TO build !
another and larger one. Many an invent
. fails in his first efforts. and Is at last rewar
, ed with splendid triumph. Some OF {
. most popular novelists wrote very po
;, ;, stuff in the besinni--..: They were lesrnil
= !beIt trade, and could not DO espAataJ
. turn out first-class work until their appre
. ticeship was over. One great secret of gu
cess il not to be discouraged.