The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1904-10-29
SMILING At THE FOE
FATE ITSELF HAS TO coNCEDE
A GOOD MANY THINGS TO
THE CHEERFUL MAN"
Success from Good C~heer--Joy in
Work Helps Enduranoe--Little
Success Where There's
Little Laughter.
By orison SWEET Marden, A. M, M.
d. PHI. B.

n n of Goethe's stories there Is a
| description OF a rude tishermau's hut,
which was glorihed by the light from a
little silver lamp, The logs, the floors,
the doors, the roof, the furniture
everything in the hut was transformed
into silver by the magic of the little
lamp. So does a cheerful optimist ra-
diate brightness In the %gloomiest en-
yironment. Under the most depressing
circumstances, he sees something to in
spire hope and courage. While others
fall down by the wayside, disheartened
and defeated, he pushes on to victory.
We sometimes see morose. pessimisttC
people succeed In a material way, but
their lives are, In every other respect,
failures, Even looking at the question
OF success from a merely commercial
standpoint, a man who faces the world
with II smile has ten chances to one,
compared with a man who faces II with
n frown. The world invariably pays us
back In our own coin. 1t we glover and
snarl at 1t, it will glover and snarl at
us in turn
Jay Cookies Advice.
Il owe such measure Of success as has
come to me- says Jay Cooke, ITO the
fact that | have ever been Of a hopeful
temperament, and have always taken
men and their acts at a better estimate
than harsh criticism gave them, ! be
lieved that this country Of ours tecmed
with wealth, and that all that was need
ed was to 90 to work and find 1t. The
best advice | can give to any one start
Ing out in life Is to always look on the
bright side"
Mr.. Cookies advice will hold good as
long as the world lasts, Whether a
youth Is In school or In college. In count
inghouse or courtroom, in business or
In a profession-whatever his trade or
o~ceupation--he can have no more potent
success quality than q buoyant, sunny
temperament.
The cheerful man, the Mark Tapley,
who meets every obstacle, every annoy
ance or defeat with q serene optimism
and a determination TO make the best
Of it, can no more be baked of ultimate
triumph than the course of nature can
be changed.
Nothing truer has been said than that
"Fate itself has to concede a good many
things to the cheerful man" How
many brave souls have wrung victory
from seeming defeat by smiling in the
face of danger and pushing on in spite
of every difficulty.
Columbus, in an unknown sea, at the
mercy of a mutinous crew, bated not a
lot of courage or cheorfulness, but still
sailed westward to the discovery OF a
continent.
Heroes Of Good Cheer.
Francis Drake, the bold adVenturer,
who sailed around the world In a vessel
described by q historian as hardly as
big as a channel schooner" sustained
his followers in the midst Of the greatest
perils by his smiling composure, His
c~heerfulness increased In proportion tc
the dangers which beset them. ut mat
ters not, God hath many things In store
for u.s." he would say with a smile
which terminated the dropping spirits
Of his crew and carried with 1t assur.
ance of ultimate victory.
Amid what seemed to be the ship
wreck OF all his hopes, Charles LIANT
maintained a buoyancy of spirit which
might well put many a modern pessimis'
to shame. Fearful that the seeds Of In
sanity which had developed in his sister
Mary might also be lurking In his blood
, he gave up his promised wife, and there
after devoted himself to his sister
:, Poverty, sorrow, disappointment
!, nothing could cast a permanent shadow
! over that sunny soul. How could hi
have given us the immortal Essays o.
i, Eliaf" how could he have risen superior
! to his sorrows, but for the mantle o.
cheerfulness in which he habitually
clothed himself?
All the heroes have not led armies o.
commanded fleets. Some Of them have
done their work so quietly, SO uDcom
pIainingly, that we who enjoy the frni
of their labors seldom, If at all, thinE
Of them as heroes,
Joyous and hopeful in spite of almoB
lifelong physical suffering, Robert LoulI
Stevenson, quietly at work in his study
. displayed greater heroiam than man!
a famous military leader riding to bat
c tie. He believed that 1t was a man
duty to be cheerful, and that 1t was thu
, part Of a coward and a weakling to III
= down and let the body master the soul
J Constantly struggling with disease, ye
! he was a dispenser Of happiness to al
: whose lives touched his.
} Pessimism from Ignorance.
Nowadays pessimism has become
+ fad with certain classes. Many younl
men think 1t RS smart, a sign Of in
\ tellect and culture, to doubt everything
to have no faith In the here or the here
after. They assume a blase air, a ques
, tIoning attitude or one Of utter disbe
lief toward the highest and best thing
In life.
! with few exceptions, pessimism, rea
y or assumed, but betrays the Limitation
OF ignorance, the narrowness of mind
7 incapable OF grasping the glorious mean
d ing Of life. The young man who want
! to succeed will keep himself clear Of il
q The world is gradually waking up Il
r the creative power OF thought. "As
man thinketh In his heart so Is he" is
n literal truth. Our thoughts, In larg
measure. create our success or failure
They enter into the quality OF our work
they make US happy or unhappy, health.
or unhealthy, morbid or cheerful, jus
as we choose.
1t is now q we'll established fact tina
every brain and nerve cell, in fact ever!
( naI1 lp tha hpdv re1acts tho etptp nj IN,