The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1890-03-13
WHAT WINS SUCCESS.
Concentration of Purpose the keystone
of All Advancement.

| Concentration of Purpose the keystone
of All Advancement.
Concentration of purpose is the Archi-
| medean lever by which men have been
raised from the mediocrity of the masses
and caused their fellow-beings to call
! them great. No matter how abundant
| the natural talent of the man if he does
not use persistency with his talent,
science will be stranger to him. Now
adays it matters little how wild project
man may conceive. If he but concen-
trates his energies to that one thing,
and let all else be secondary to the ac-
| complishment of his design, his efforts
will probably be crowned with success.
| Some of the most useful inventions and
discoveries of the age are proof of this.
The inventors of the steam engine and
the telegraph were derided, but they
toiled on unmindful of the jeers and
jokes of the world, and mark the
glorious result. Columbus proved to
the world the faIlibility of human
prophesies. His was considered the
widest scheme on record. Even little
children pointed to him on the street as
one bereft of reason. And the discoverer
of a continent was bound in chains and
imprisoned as an impostor because he
persisted in carrying out his project,
and his concentration of purpose led to
the new world. A great writer says of
Columbus that he is not to be admired
so much for having discovered world
as for having gone to search for it on
the faith of an opinion.
Any young man or woman who selects
vocation in youth and makes diligent
application to it may rise to prosperity
and happiness and oftentimes to fame
and fortune. But those who start out
with no definite purpose in life will get
stuck deep in the mud. Those who are
constantly turning from point to point
with the alacrity of unsettled minds
soon lose hope, their courage fails, am
bition sinks out of sight and old age
finds them no nearer the goal of their
ambition than when the flush of youth
was upon their cheek. They have lived
in vain. In the lives and history of all
great and good men and women can be
found no swerving from their purpose.
No difficulty was allowed to hinder
They persevered until every obstacle
which debarred their onward progress
was removed. They believed that the
greater the difficulty the more glory in
surmounting it, that skillful pilots gain
their reputation in times of storm and
tempest rather than on peaceful seas
and under smiling skies.
Hope must always be companion to
persistency. In all inventions and dis
coveries, in all concentration of purpose,
hope is the standby. Though there may
not be absolute knowledge, a belief in
the success of an undertaking there is
always hope. In every stage of exist
ence there are disappointment and suf-
fering, which could not be met and
borne by persistency were it not for
hope. 1t is implanted in the hearts of
all uncivilized nations on the globe. De-
prive the human soul of hope and it Is
Invested of all that makes life desirable.
To those who have worked with all dill
gence, their highest enjoyment is that
hope-the contemplation of life well
spent. Hope never becomes extinct.
The anticipation of freedom lightens
the chain of the prisoner and the bond
age of the slave. The hope of restored
health brightens the eye OF the invalid.
The belief that virtuous industry will
surely bring rich harvest inspires the
humble laborer to renew his daily toll.
The ''starry Calico, with his woes" and
hands in irons, sought redress in hope
while he persisted in declaring that the
earth was round. Hope, hand in hand
with concentration of purpose, warns
and cheers by its mild and constant light,
making all objects surmountable and all
disappointments supportable.
All is concentrated in a life intense,
Where not a beam, nor air, nor leaf Is lost,
But hath part of being
Albany IN. " Argus.
The o9ossum is said to have practi-