Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1889-02-22
THE SOUL OF WORK.
why Labor Without Spirit Is Virtually
Body without Life.

Why Labor without Spirit Is Virtually q
| Body without Life.
There is a certain man of business
in this city whose first and constant
demand of all his employees and CO.
workers is that their spirit shall be
| right; so long as their hearts are in
the work he cares little for details.
Not every man of action is so keen
sighted; most men of this stamp are
eXacting in matters of discipline, and
care little for the spirit in which the
work is done. The spirit is, neverthe-
less. the main thing; If the spirit is
right there viii be no Sinking, no in
efficiency, no procrastination. Where
n mans spirit leads him, there will his
feet walk willingly and his hands do
gladly. He will need neither urging
nor watching; no one will demand so
much OF him as he will demand of HIM
self; no one will be half so critical Of
his manner and method as himself
When the motive power is right the
machinery will look after itself; il the
motive power Is defective or unregu-
lated, the finest machinery is useless.
| Now, one OF the secrets of success is
getting ones spirit into ones work;
getting behind all ones activities the
full force of ones motive power This
| Is by no means so common as one
would think; it is, in fact, so uncom-
mon that when man puts his whole
force into his work he soon attracts at
tention because by that very fact he
separates himself from the crowd
A great deal of the work of the
world Is done in n perfunctory manner;
done to get through with it; done to
get it off ones mind; done to secure
the return which it promises. 1t is
done without enthusiasm originality,
contagious zeal. Stores. shops, offices,
factories are full of men whose chief
desire is to get their work off their
hands as quickly and with as little
expenditure of strength us possible.
They put as little of themselves as pos
sible into it. These are not the men
who invent new methods, perfect new
processes, secure rapid and honorable
advancement; they are not the men
upon whom every body relies, whom
every body trusts, who turn the re-
luctant face of fortune towards them
| selves
The men who give their work char
acter, distinction, perfection, are the
men whose spirit is behind their
hands. giving them new dexterity.
There is no kind Of work, from the
merest routine to the highest creative
| activity, which does not receive all
that gives it quality from the spirit in
which it is done or fashioned. Work
without spirit is a body without soul;
here is no life in it. Flawless work.
nanship is tinsel unless touched by
ome influence of the spirit; imperfect
craftsmanship is often redeemed by the
Dover of spirit lodged in it. Every
hing that lacks spirit is mechanical,
no matter how high the grade of it's
execution; every thing that contains
-pirit possesses life. To put spirit into
ones work is to vitalize it, to give it
force, character, originality, distinc-
ton. 1t is to put the stamp of ones
nature on it, and the living power OF
ones soul into it. When Mr. Arnold,
in one of his brief speeches in this
country, urged young writer's to put
their hearts into THEM business, he
disclosed one of the sources of his own
influence His technical skill was great,
ais sense Of beauty delicate and almost.
faultless. his instinct for form unerring,
but all these qualities, though they
gave his work great charm, did not
give that work it's peculiar influence
upon m any of the finest minds of the
day. That influence came from the
fact that Mr.. Arnold put his spirit into
every line he wrote, charged his work
with his own personality. 1t is the
quality of spirit which gives his verse
It's beautiful meditativeness, and his
prose its peculiar sincerity and audaci-
'y That which imparts life to the
highest artistic work imparts it to
every kind of activity to which men
set their hands. 1t is always the man
Who puts his spirit into his work who
makes his work tell for his own sue
cess and advancement - Christian
| Union.
A Canal Across Italy.