Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1903-11-13
MAKING THE MOST OF LEISURE.
Man of Force Knows What Can be
Done with Time at his Command.

Too much cannot be said Of the value
of the hours which most men waste.
One of the prime qualities of a man of
force and ability is his clear under
standing of what can be done with the
time and tools at his command. Such
a man wastes no time in idle dream
ing Of the things he would do if he
could go to college, or travel, or have
command of long periods of un:nter-
rupted time He is not guilty of a
feeble evasion of mo responsibility
for his career by getting behind adj
verse conditions, If the conditions are
adverse, he gets in front of them and
so gets away from them. Condition ;
look very solid and formidable, but d
plucky man often discovers that their
portentous show of strength is a sham
and that the great guns which frown
upon him are merely wooden imit2-
tions. Everything yields to a strong
hand.
The question for each man to settle
is not what he would do if he had the
means. time, influence and educational
opportunities; the question is what he
will do with the things he has. The
moment young man ceases to dream
or to bemoan his lack of opportunities
and resolutely look his conditions in
the face. and resolves to change them.
he lays the corner stone of a solid and
| honorable success.
\ young man who ceases to dream
about things he would do if he had
plenty of time, and plans the things lie
will do with the time that he has, may
go slow, but he viii go far.
Such a young man, thirty years ago.
suddenly discovered that, by using in Il
continuous way the time he spent on
| ferry boats and railway trains he m'ght
| have a good deal of leisure The leisure
was made up of half and quarter hours
at the beginning and end of the day
the odds and ends of time which most
| people regard as of no account. Taking
| them separately they are of little ac-
count; putting them together, by treat
| ing them as a whole they Furnished q
fine opportunity for the liberal educa-
| ton CT a young man of business. This
| young man saw the use of these odds
and ends OF time if he could treat them
as q whole. That was really a very
I simple matter, though rnultitudes of
people have never found IT out. To
utilize these hours and make them as
valuable as if they formed a continu-
Gus period of time, it was only neces-
| sary to make a little plan of work, and
to have the material in hand so as to
turn every quarter of an hour to ac-
| count.
This young man wanted to know
! German. He bought an elementary
| grammar and phrase book and some
/ simple German stories. He kept a book
/ in his pocket, and when a square quar-
/ ter or half hour came, he studied thu
! book. 1t Yves not difficult, and in a
| little while it became very interesting,
/ He was soon reading simple German,
and from that point his progress was
rapid and the pleasure of the occupa-
\ ticn steadily increased. In les than a
| year he had German o well in hand
! that he began to study Spanish. He
! became engrossed in the study of lang
uages as am occupation for his leisure
| hours; he found it very enjoyable, and
every language learned was an open
! door to more enjoyment. In a few
years he was reading German, Span
| ish, French and Italian easily and with
| keen enjoyment. In the meantime his
! business advancement had been rapid
and he had secured d very important
| and lucrative position in a great or
ganization. His studies not only had
given him an education, but they had
! also conducted to his success in prac
! tical affairs by the quickening and
training of his mind. This is but one
among thousands of similar achieve
4ments.