Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1906-06-15

Too poor to live with the proud,
Too nice to work as chore-man
And mix with the common crowd;
Too great for the constable's office,
Too small for the governors chair,
Not vet exactly novice,
Nor yet OF professional air.
Too brilliant to work for a living.
Too foolish to live without work,
Too mean to be wholly forgiying.
To good to ayenge with the dirk;
And SO like the pendulum swinging,
Or boat on half-angy wave, |
To gravity's force he is clnging,
Midway 'twixt cradle and grave.
The common class beckon him over,
He swings to the opposite side;
The weather. ones soon discover
He hasn't a thing but his pride;
So then back thru the arc he must travel.
With no constant bearing, wis
Not heaven, nor man nor the devil,
Has use for fellow like this
The world has no use for man like
this, a halfway man, a man who has
no energy, no perseverance, system, or
will-power, who falters in every de.
termination, who has no ambition to
climb up to his new ideal and aspira-
tions, and above all, man who has no
especial aim in life.
But most men, even tho they be
halfway men, have some kind of an
ideal, and this is necessary for advance
never be SO highly placed that it will
attain IL; altho it is said that no man
ever comes up to his ideal Standard;
for it is human nature to raise that
standard higher and higher, as it goes
from strength to strength.
The halfway man fixes his eye upon
a certain round in the ladder of life
and says, 81 will do we'll if I reach
that and when / reach it | can't be ex-
pected to climb further" His failure
should not be q surprise or disappoint-
ment. A man with such an idea will
never be overwhelmed with success:
for no man can ever rise above that at
which he aims.
The man who is satisfied when he
has reached certain height, is not so
much man as he who is never content
with the knowledge or success he has
already gained, but has the zeal to at
tain more and more. Napoleon waited
nine weary years before he secured
recognition and an appointments. Dur
ing his enforced leisure he supple.
mented what was considered a
thorough military education by further
intense study-by research and reflec-
tions which enabled him TO teach the
art OF war to veterans who never
dreamed of his novel combination.
A lofty character does not require
exalted circumstances for its develop
ment. A good life may be lived amid
poor surroundings. Tho character is
in part formed by circumstances, our
own, desires can do much toshape those
circumstances. Look at Abraham
Lincoln, one of the greatest men our
country has ever produced. He did
not sit down and sigh, and say, IT
would like to make something of my
self II but had the opportunity; but
| have no advantages and must be
content with my present life." The
great secret of success in life is for q
man to be ready when his opportunity
comes. Lincoln made the best OF those
opportunities that he could grasp. 1t is
told Of him how after a hard days
work, when everyone else was asleep
and resting, he lay before the fire.
place and figured with charcoal on the
back OF q shovel. He did not think
twenty miles was too far to tramp after
a coveted textbook in arithmetic or
grammar.
He who wishes to fulfill his mission
must be man with one idea-that is
LOT one great over-mastering purpose
overshadowing all his other aims and
lguiding and controlling his entire life.
Did not John Milton, while yet q child
dream OF writing an epic poem which
the world would not willingly let die?
The dream of the child became the
fixed ideal of the youth. In his studies
his travels, through the stormy years
OF manhood, the vision never left him,
Blind and old, the poet realized the
dream of the child, and his immortal
Paradise Lost was the result Of his one
overshadowing desire to do something
| in life.
The man with too many ideas is no
better than the man with too few
SIT is better, - said Gladstone, "to write
one word upon the rock than thous-
and on the water and sand" 1t is bet
ter to know how to do one thing we'll
than to have an imperfect knowledge
of many things. The men who have
risen to the highest places in life have
kept close to single line Of effort
II man will just learn how to do one
thing that is useful better than anyone
else can do that one thing, he will
never be out OF a job.
He is the best who fnds out the one
thing for which he is the most fitted,
then makes it the rule OF his life under
all circumstances, to do that thing
carefully, conscientiously; thoroughly
be 1t ever so trihing; for he only who
is painstaking in small things will be
entrusted with large responsib ilities.
If a man puts his whole heart into his
work, hlls his position as 1t was
never filed before, he makes himself
abundantly worthy of better things
and is following the path that leads to
greater achievements; for only by do
ing his best in the position he now oc-
cupies will he ever attain to anything
better
But some men are not satisfied to do
just one thing and do it we'll. They
think it is too commonplace to be
skilled in only one thing; they aspire
to do something different and greater
than other men, something beyond
their power. They have SO many ideas
that they cannot successfully put them
all In execution, there are so many
things they want to do, but cannot find
the time or means to do them all.
Therefore, when they fail to realize
their expectations they often get dis
gusted and give up the struggle.
| When the day is DONE and the sun sinks low
And there seems no hope of winning
Your cherished goal-take heart, fear not
| Tomorrow's new beginning.
Many man has begun life, risen to
q certain degree of success, and sud-
denly failed. Many a man has gone
down under his failure and never risen
again; but, TOO, some have taken heart
Il 4 - g.. = - ~.