Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1895-01-31
Labor the Price Of Success.
Men are continually seeking sb,

Men are continually seeking short
cuts to fortune, fame or other kind
or success in life, but seldom, if ever
succeed in their quest. Fortune, in.
deed, may be won by some lucky
turn of the wheel, but without the
preparatory training involved in
earning it the supposedly "lucky''
gam bier is not fitted to use or retain
1T. So that, even i'm the matter OF
fortune-huntiug labor is in the long
run the price Of success. For sue.
cess in other fields labor is indispen.
BILE.
Easy roads to learning are pre-.
pared by educational quacks, but
they all prove delusive, and in the
nature of things must be so, for an
art or calling that can easily be &C.
quired must be Of little value. The
economic law of supply and demand
applies even to learning, and where
the supply of any kind of knowl.
edge exceeds the demand, as is sure
to be the case when it can be ac.
quired by anybody in few weeks,
the knowledge itself becomes of lit.
tie commercial value.
Moreover, knowledge easily ac.
quired is easily lost, like the win.
nlngs Of gamester. There must be
certain amount of labor devoted
to study if that which is acquired is
to remain in the mind and be of SER
vice. This is perhaps the reason
that the brilliant pupils in school arc
rH nT ~, nF a., 4
why the supposed dullards become
famous. The brilliant fellows do
not study. They manage to get
through examinations almost by in
tuition or with tho merest hint from
the books, and forget a lesson as soon
as it has been recited. Not so with
the dull fellow, who has to tax his
brain to acquire knowledge. He
may be slow, but ne is sure. Hav-
ing fixed thing in his mind by
hard labor, it becomes part Of him
self; he never loses it. And by con-
slant accretion he builds up fund
of knowledge sufficient to make him
successful if not famous.
1t is the labor, however, that has
brought success. Young people who
do not see the value of training try
to find some means of avoiding
study or plodding exercise. Their
only aim is to "get through" the
present task, and this they may do
by some short cut, such as a key to
mathematical problems, or a trans.
lation from foreign language, hut
1t is at the expense of knowledge.
They have expended little labor on
their studies and they achieve little
success. 1t is as though the princi-
Piles governing physical forces ex-
tended to the mental processes, so
that men should be limited to get
ting out of his miud only that
amount of energy which he had ap-
piled in storing it.
Without taking such radical
view of The subject, it would be
well for young people to recognize
the general truth of the proposition
that labor is the price Of success,
and the other fact that anything
which can be easily acquired must
be of little value. Substantial
knowledge of the kind that the
world pays for literally is acquired
only by long study, and it is the pur.
pose of education not merely to i'm.
part information, but chiefly to train
the faculties so that they may ac.
quire and use knowledge. The
mental exercise is as necessary as
the scale exercise which young musi
clans seek to avoid. But without
labor of this kind real success ir
life can never be attained. BdUi
more San.