Los Angeles herald., 1907-02-17
Success

In the February Phllistine Elbert
Hubbard tells us that IL we fail at
most everything we should not be dis
couraged, but should prepare paper
on Success" and barn-storm the
Chautauquas You may think II
sounds funny, or that he of East
Aurora does not know what he Is talk
ing about, but to me It sounds neither
funny nor do 1 entertain the least
doubt that he is right.
Most people have notion that the
measure of success depends upon the
balance to ones credit in a bank, but
such is not at all the case. Nay
speaking broadly, the greater the bal
ance to ones credit in bank the less
| Is his or her success. Success, be IL
remembered, is not quantitive but
qualitative character. II / may be
permitted to coin a new branch OF
science, namely, chemlc- economics. In
other words, you cannot weigh sue
cess, but must feel It's quality
True, money Is a great convenience
but 1t is hardly essential from more
than one standpoint. Money. for in
stance, may build a three or more mil
lion dollar mansion, but everyone
knows that one can sleep as well In
| less pretentious house. 1t Is even
said that those who sleep In unpre-
tentious quarters feel better on arls-
ing mornings than most millionaires.
| This can be accounted for easy
enough moneyless individual has
nothing to fear from burglars, NOT
even from day burglars, such as tax
gatherers, people with hard luck
stories, degenerate nephews, etc.
Be that as 1t may, however, have
never been a millionaire and hence
am not at liberty to judge. 1t Will be
time enough when 1 get there, al
though all the chances l can think OF
are against me.
If anyone is inclined to ask how
can one talk about success when he
himself has been a failure, consider
ing the subject from worldly stand
point? l will answer by saying that
the most successful preachers are
those who cannot always practice what
they preach. Moreover, the genus
homo is so constituted that while he
may be the best teacher, yet he Is not
always the best learner. And here
one would do we'll to bear in mind the
meaning of words; for a single misin-
depreciation will convey an entirely
different meaning from that which 1t
| Is my intention to convey.
There are thousands of individuals
who, from the standpoint of worldly
success, are utter failures, but that Is
not due to their lack of ability to
gather the shekels. 1t Is due to the
fact that there are not enough shekels
to go around, or that the individuals
who went after them got there too
late: rather that others got there first
and corraled them. On the other
hand, among these so-called unsuc-
cessful people there are any number
who, from the standpoint of true sue
cess have secured their share of
laurels from the vast fields of human
| endeavor.
1t must be remembered that there
are two kinds of success; one kind has
reference to the number of dollars one
has been able to accumulate during a
lifetime and the other has reference to
the number of good deeds one has
done during the same time. An indi-
vidual who has done the former can
hardly be called a success, even
though he may have given away al
certain percentage of his accumula-
tions for philanthropic purposes
whereas one who has done good
deeds has been successful in every
sense of the word for the reason that
his deeds are bound to live forever.
Everyone must admit that Jesus was
greater success than Rockefeller or
Carnegie.
There resides in Waverly, Iowa, a
man of the name of A. Simmer. You
may or may not have heard of Mr..
Simmer. At any rate Mr.. Simmer .las
been a successful man in every sense
of the word, in fact ne Is one OF the
greatest philanthropists of this age for
more reasons than one, more especially
because one seldom hears Of his good
deeds.
Some time ago, a youth addressed a.
letter to Mr.. Simmer in which he asked
how to make life a success, and l can
do no better than to give you Mr.. Slim
mer's reply:
ITO make life a success a few car
dinal principles should be adopted ana
strictly adhered to. First of all, inn
bibe the principle that nothing can be
had for nothing, and to obtain some
thing of value you must give In all
cases an equivalent for the same. This
principle will carry the thought with
| itself that you can fool no one; but II
person believes himself smart enough
to think that he can fool many for any
length of time he will Unexpectedly find
to have been fool enough to have fooled
no one but himself.
"In choosing your course remember
the old adage that birds of a feather
| flock together to be an expression of
great truth very much simplitied, as 1t
| is incompatible to mans nature to asso-
ciate with those who cannot either rise
to their lofty ideas Of life or be de-
graded to their level.
Make punctuality to meet all your
obligations one of the most sacred of
duties, as no class of business can with
stand the injurious effect of Indifference
to this rule. To labor as long as we are
able is the mandate OF nature, and by
receiving a fair compensation for SER
vices rendered we can accumulate
enough during the term of our activity
to provide for our needs in old age. AS
this is all there is to life, the ceaseless
struggle to accumulate fortunes at the
expense of either honor, health or hap
piness and perhaps at the risk of all,
should appear to the rational mind as a
species of insanity for which no good
reason can be given.
always reciprocate for smallest
favors received, for to wound every
fiber of human susceptibility with the
poisonous fangs of ingratitude is the