The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-08-28
"Strive On; Fare Forward"

Failure. In some sort or other. is the
lot Of most OF us who travel the great
highway Of life. There never could have
been a man so dull and senseIess but that
he had some aspiration. some goal-which
he fel short Of reaching. It would seem
at times as II Providence wantonly dan
gled the bait before our eyes. The great
thing. though, is that we be not utterly
cast down or discouraged, but learn TO
bear a spirit that can find some hope in
even the most disc0uraging aspects Of
life. It is well to know that TO be con-
scious Of ones failure is TO be alive and
10 have within us the courage 10 admit
defeat, and, at the same time. the desire
To fight again. In the face Of failure We
may find comfort in Kingsley:
80 I am content to have failed
have learned IN the experiment of price
less truths concerning myself, my fellow
men, and the city Of Cod"
Perhaps a thought that will be helpful
TO most Of MS facing defeat after honest
and worthy striving and endeavor Is
that after all, it matters so little 10 the
world whether we fail or not The main
thing-the one hopeful and helpful thing
IS that we should have striven in sin
certify OF soul and honesty Of purpose.
keeping our eyes fixed on high ideals. II.
then. in spite of all our struggles and
striving. we have faileu to arrive let US
be confident, at least. that all our effort
and worthy ambition have not been
wasted Every hopeful thought sends an
impulse out into the world which is not
lost It may take root on some soul
which would otherwise be barren-in the
years to come; somewhere beyond our
ken it may take root and flourish.
We can. If we willard have the cour-
age-take up the fragments Of our fail
ures and out of them build I'D new hopes.
new energy. new aspirations. And the
example we may set by marching steadily
forward not sitting down amid the wreck
OF our hopes, bewailing our ill-luck, is
bound TO be another force for good in
the world and may spur on weaker souls
70 heights which they had thought It i'm
possible to attain. AS Dean Farrar said.
"A man must have made very small
progress In the true estimate Of life If ne
has not learned that what most men
regard as failure may he the most splen-
did success. and what they regard as
enviahle success may he the most abject
Of failures The worst Of failures for
any human being IS not to be poor or
insignificant. or outwardly unfortunate
but 20 be the slave OF HIS lower nature"
The greatest thing i'm life Of course, IS
the work that a man is able to do. All
real EFFORT tends in the direction OF ac-
romplishing something tangible, and work
that is done. or that is attempted TO be
done. for the works sake Is, in a way.
about the highest and most sincere praise
that one can tender to the God who made
him
Forth from the easement. on the plain
Where honor has the world TO gain
Pour forth and bnycb do your part,
o knights of the uushieded heart!
Forth and forever forward out
From prudent uirret and redoubt.
And in the melee charge amain,
To fan. but yet 20 rise again
Captive? An. still. 10 honor bright.
A captive soldier q the rirht
Or free and lighting good with ms
Unconqucring. but unconQuerod stillr'
Always there viii come times to every
Earnest man when he shall feel that in
the work ne is trying TO do he is accom-
plshing much less than he hoped for;
that though he is striving hard, he is
making little appreciate progress. and
the mood Of sullen failure viii set heavy
on his soul. But at such times we should
remember that even if one loses heart
about his work there is no such thing as
the work itself being lost or wasted. The
good of every good deed lives on. and
breeds and works on forever. All tina;
there is Of failure is the outside husk.
the shell OF the thing
"In Gods world. for those who are
earnest there is no failure No work
truly done. no word earnestly spoken. no
sacrifce freely made, was ever made in
vain"
II this brave and comforting philosophy
Is not lie is it not then our duty to
forget our failures; to strive on, fare for
ward, fight steadily upward. and to use
our failures as stepping stones to higher
things?
Forever and forever the movement OF
his great world is toward the eternal