The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1889-07-18
LOVE OF EXCELLENCE AND
LOVE OF EXCELLING.

LOVE OF EXCELLENCE AND
LOVE OF EXCELLING.
BY MISS NELLIE GILLETT.
For every action in life there must
be some motive. This, as the action,
may be either good or bad, but there
must certainly he q motive Of some
kind to influence the actor. Every
kind OF motive may influence one;
such a. social influences, love Of pow
er, love Of gain, love Of excellence,
the highest Of them all, and emula-
ton, or love Of excelling.
It il difficult to tell just what this
last motive is; it is sometimes given
as self-love in act, which is not satis-
fed with the advantages it already
has, but wishes to acquire new ones.
1t is q feeling based on self-love, q
sort Of ambition, which, although
aiming at success, aims at it not for
the success itself, but with the design
OF surprising others. This, however,
need not necessarily be m evil mo-
tive; when it Is q noble sentiment, as
1t ought to be, there IL always min
gled with it an aspiration for excel
lence. All emulous people wish,
above all things, to equal or surpass
their competitors, but they also
ought to pursue some ideal good. 1t
has been said that:
Emulation il not exactly the de-
sire to do the best that Is possible
that would be . pure virtue; but it is
the desire to do better than others,
which approaches vanity. Notwith-
standing this defective side, it isnone
the less the source Of the most beau
tiful things In society. Superiority is
general inclination. The most act
i've pleasure is that Of glory; the thing
Is to present to 1t estimable objects;
and self love will always be the great
est resource in = civilized land"
In olden times emulation was al
ways used in the education and train
ing Of young people. It was pushed
even to fauaticism at Sparta, and
Bossnet made the Dauphin compete
with children Of his own age in order
to counteract his natural Incidence.
Ones motive at the beginning of
any work may be simply q desire to
excel, but through the effort put
forth In excelling they may acquire q
love for genuine excellence. II one
work hard for . prize offered in school
and at first be induced by nothing
else, it il quite probable that at last
he will acquire liking for that par
ticular branch; or at least he will
have had the training, which some
times amounts to about as much.
No better example Of this can be
found in history than Sir Bulwer Lyt-
ton. Although q man OF fortune, he
worked his way up step by step, dis
dainful Of ease, and melted only by
an ardent desire to excel. His first
effort was poetical, and q failure; his
second, novel, and 1t proved q fail
ure too. Others might have dropped
authorship after these disappoint-
lnents, but he persevered and after
ward achieved distinction as q novel
list, poet, dralnatist, historian, essay
list, orator and politician. Surely he
attained excellence.
Those who used to take part in the
Olympic games were required to train
for months before hand, although OF
course in the end only one Of the
many could wear the laurel crown.
But for all that, who can say that the
rest, while training, were not spend
ing their time to good advantage.
They had gained strength and disci-
pline which would last them or.life.
A young person sees the honor in
which knowledge il held by those
about him, and this serves as an In
ducement to give up every present
qualification that he may.also deserve
honors. Some think that the praise
layished upon eminent men and mon
uments erected to their memory are
all foolishness. But this il a narrow
view to take Of the matter, for they
will often act as stimulus to those
who come after them, will impel
young minds to do their best work,
give them control over their present
passions, accustom them to severest
tolls, and determine them to leave a
lasting memorial behind them.
Were it not for this, man would
make no progress in life, so he has
been given . sense Of ambition and a
satisfaction arising from the thought
Of his excelling his fellows in some
thing deemed valuable by them. 1t
even goes 80 far az sometimes to give
q miserable man some comfort in
thinking himself supreme in misery;
and certain it il that when there is
nothing in which we are excellent,
we take some pride in the fact that
we have at least excelled some of our
friends.
You may say that this will lead to
conceit. 1t probably will, but this
need not necessarily mar ones char
acter. OF course too much self con-
ceit Is always disagreeable in per-
son, but, as Hollnes says:
Talk about conceit rs much as
you like, it is to human character
what salt is To the ocean; it keeps it
sweet and renders it endurable. Say,
rather, it il like the natural unguent