Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-01-18

thing, but not as the thing itself.
If these definitions are correct
what shall we say Of the man Or
woman without fixed ideas2 And YETI
there are many such. They are ships
without rudders cruising aimIessIyg
about and ruthlessly tossed BY the
high seas Of adversely, almost certain
to be dashed upon the rocks of failure
and despair. Many of these wrecks
were well equipped with ideals, con-,
stant1y spreading the sails OF hope
and displaying the lights Of faith.
Many we're beautifully arrayed and
fair to look upon, but all these things
were unavailing In the voyage of life.
It is this absence of aim, of direction,
of steadfast perseverance, on a fixed
course, that has strewn the shores Of
the commercial world with SO many
wrecks Of failure. No great work was
ever accomplished without steady,
central idea to furnish the motive
force. Christ. had one all absorbing
idea, that Of overcoming evil with
good Columbus, that Of discovery;
Shakespeare, the analysis Of nature;
Edison, that of invention. In lesser
degree the same may be said of all the
worlds heroes and reformers. To
the man whose head is employed more
constantly than his hands, an unceass
ing panorama of ideas must come and
go or there will be no progress; and
these ideas must be original, to GER
tain extent, if he would lift himself
above the common order. Every man
should ask himself, first of all, on
entering upon his career, whether he
wants to be man among men or
simply common human being; if his
choice is the latter, then what I have
to say will be no message to him.
Now, understand me, common
human beings are not to be dis
paraged; they are necessary, the
world must have its hewers of wood
and drawers of water, but when adj
dressing a body of business men +
take it for granted that everyone of
them has the ambition to be a great
deal more than a mere worker with
;sedthe hands. And even though no
sessed Of special skill and with what
we may consider good ideas, the race
for the goal of success is long and
difficult. Success is the accomplish.
ment of that which most people think
can't be- done. This statement proves
itself, because if most people thought
1t could be done then most people
would do that thing and succeed. 1t
is for this reason that it is not well to
take much advice on entering upon an
undertaking, which after mature de
liberation and investigation appears
to be a good thing, for we shall Ger
tainly be discouraged by most OF
those whom we consult, and the
greater the idea, the harder it seems
OF accomplishment, the less encour
agement we will get from those whose
advice we seek. Christ was scorned
prosecuted, and ridiculed by the SO
called philosophers of his time
Columbus was told that his grea
scheme of discovery was visionary
and impossible; Gallileo's thumbs
were screwed beneath the torture
press until he should deny his grea1
idea of the mobility Of the sun, anG
Cyrus Field was scoffed as dreamel
when he announced
His pretty notion,
| That he could lay the telegraph
| Across the Atlantic Ocean"
| But someone might say: what has
all this to do with the retail grocer OF
general merchant? It has everything
to do with him. venture to say there
is not a successful merchant any
where but who will attribute his sue
cess to the working out of many ideas
which caused him numerous hours Of
thought, aye and many sleepless
nights.
"The heights by great men reached
and kept,
Were not attained by sudden flight;
But they while their companions SLEPT
Were toiling upward in the night"
Successful men do not find the in
struments of success ready to hand
they do not initiate; they create; they
do not dream and hesitate, they act
They are doors Of things. All this i'm
plies work, hard, constant work, with
out which nothing ever was or ever
| will be done that is worth doing. Dc
you find conditions about you un
| favorable to your success, then sci
about changing those conditions OF
move away to a place where they are
more favorable. Don't follow the
beaten path, be a path blazer. Dc
Z .