The progress., 1905-03-04
'GET THERE SPIRIT
MIGHTY POWER OF ENTHUSIASM
AGAINST OBSTACLES IN THE
PATHWAY TO SUCCESS.
"Dead-in-E Earnest" Men--What Some
Of Them Have Accomplished
Talent Of Less Impor-
tance Than Zeal.
Rv orison SWEET Marden.

tance Than Zeal.
BY Orison SWEET Marden.
fFounder ann Editor of Success" Maga.
zine. author Of 'Pushing to the Front, :
Rising in the World or Architects Of
| Fate Etc.)
stIIoW is it, Mr.. Garrick," said a
learned bishop to the famous
actor. "ttat you can, byyour acting, per-
suade people that a made-up story is
true. while l have difficulty in making
them believe the real tTfh?' fIs it not
nv lord" was the reply, that you
preach the truth as if you did not believe
It, while act that which is not true as II
did believe it?"
The enthusiasm for his art which
made David Garrick the greatest actor
of his time, is absolutely essential to
high achievement in any field OF en-
deavor You will search in vain, in all
the wide range of history or biography,
for any record of balf-hearted or in
different worker who ACCOMPLISHED any
thing for himself or for humanity The
martyrs, the inventors, the artists. the
musicians, the poets, the great writers,
the heroes, the pioneers OF civilization,
the movers of every great enterprise
those of every race and cline who have
led the world upward from the dawn OF
history to the twentieth century-have
been enthusiasts, epnsecrated, dead-in-
earnest, people.
Enthusiasm Clears the Way.
Successis often due less to unusual tai
ent or ability than to enthusiasm. No
barrier, however formidable, no obsta-
Gle, however insurmountable it may
seem to the timd or faint-hearted. can
bar the way to a determined youth filled
with enthusiasm for high ideal.
Lincoln was consumed with desire
for an education. He walked six miles
to borrow a grammar, and after return
ing home with it studied it's intricacies
BY the light of pine knots. lie worked
out problems in arithmetic on a wooden
shovel by the glow Of log fire. He did
rot dream of high Office in those toll
some days and nights, when his love of
learning urged him to keep book in
the cracks Of the logs in the loft, where
he slept, so that he might have it al
hand at peep of day; but who shall say
that this early enthusiasm in pursuit
of knowledge did not lead to the white
house and make him the liberator Of
race?
n yrCS, y,oa a1yoc frr n y,,o q n w b,,
believes in his mission. No matter what
objections may be raised or how dark
the outlook may be, he believes in his
power to transform into a reality the
vision which he alone sees Enthusiasm
makes him proof against every discour-
agement.
Falissy's Long Struggle.
Palissy, toiling in the face Of poverty
and failureto discover the secret Of the
white enamel, was so intoxicated with
enthusiasm that men thought him
fool. Gods fool he was with great hope
in his heart, for the realization of which
he gladly suffered the loss of all things.
1t was only his burning zeal in the pur-
suit of his ideal that kept him alive dur
ing the long years of toll and privation
that preceded his triumph. Writing Of
thic period, ho eaid, himself: ~
wasted ia person that there was no
form nor prominence of muscle on my
arms or legs. also the said legs were
Of one size, SO that the gar
ters with which tied my stockings were
nt IIh 40 I
heels. with the stockings. too. | was
despised and Knocked by all
1t was enthusiasm which enabled Cy-
rus w. Field, after 13 years of effort and
defeat, to lay the Atlantic cable. 1t was
in spite Of carping critics,
that sped Stephenson S locomotive to its
triumphant goal. II was enthusiasm
that sent Fulton's Polly on its sue
cessful way up the Hudson. to the dis
may and CONSERVATION of his croaking
detractors.
Whether we turn our eyes to the past
Or TO the present, we find no great or
useful achievement which is not the re-
suit of this master passion. Whether It
be the ordering of a house or the law
making of statesman for nation, the
of business CT the teach
ing of school, the painting ola picture
Or the perfecting of an invention, this |
element must be present CT
the result will be either total failure or
)nly half a success.
High Requirement from All.
The man who feels no thrill of joy III |
his daily labor who is only driven to il |
by the spur of necessity, who goes |
through it conscientiously, it may be, |
,ut merely as the performance of a dis
agreeable duty. is almost sure TO fail in |
life. When young men or young women |
work in such a spirit there is ssomething |
atally wrong. Either they have mis-
aiken their calling and are wearing |
heir lives away in afruitless attempt to |
10 that well which they should never
have undertaken, or they need inward |
They want to be reused |
o the fact that the world needs their
pest work; that no half-hearted. indif-
,erent efforts will justify them before
lot to be folded in a napkin,and re-
urned TO Him intact in the final render
ng of accounts, but TO be put out at in
crest, to be increased ten-fold, twenty
old, hundredfold. according to each
mes ability and opportunity.
There is in every one the power to do
rood work of some sort, work that will
.ount for the benefit of humanity.
Every man is born TO do some particular
hing in which he can excel if he will.
4et him find what that thing is early IN
ife, give himself TO it heart and soul.
With all the enthusiasm of which he is
,apable. and no power on earth. no one
ave himself can put limitations upon
lis achievement. Out otfhe place to
which nature has assigned him, no man
an be enthusiastic; in that place there
hould be no bounds 10 his enthusiasm
~