The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1912-06-14
THE SECRET OF SUCCESS
Continued from Page one

y
millions of opinions before you find
one real vital thought or truth that
lifts humanity peg higher in her
struggle upward; and that one
thought is worth more than all the
opinions.
Then to be successful you must
have more than a purpose. The
man who cracks safe has a pur-
pose; the highway robber has pur-
pose. The political mountebank
and vampire has purpose. Rene-
dict Arnold aud Judas Iscariot each
hal a purpose: but you can readily
see the purpose Of each. You must
have right purpose and then as a
complement to all the foegoing
qualities you must have an overmas-
tering conviction and that convic-
ton must be born out of the philos-
ophy of rightness of right and
wrongness of wrong. Those two
principles are unchanging. always
have been uncharging. always will
be. They were hoary with age
when God laid the foundations of
the earth. when the morning stars
sang together and the sons of God
shouted for joy" and they then
bore the same relationship as they
do now. And your real worth in
this world or any other world that
will ever be, will be determined by
your attitude to these two princi-
pies. Then out of this conviction
will grow all your dreams, theories.
opinions and purposes. Another
has said: truth in the essence of
things is law, truth enthroned in
the intellect gives purpose, but
truth wrought in the conscience pro-
duces conviction" And the voice of
the people is the voice of God when
truth is incarnate in the people.
There is plenty Of truth floating ov-
er the people to right all the wrongs
of society in fortnight, but the
trouble is so very few people are
willing to.bring truth down and in
carnate it in their lives. After you
have made an effort to find out the
rightness of course and you throw
all your effor. into the pursuit of it
and find out afterward that it is
wrong, you are possessed with inf
nitely more character than f you
thought it wrong and it after wards
turned out to be right. Or in other
words, you had better point your
gun at a tiger and accidentally kill
your friend than to point your gun
at a man and accidentally kill tig-
er. 1t is not what your life calling
brings to you that is important, but
what you bring to your life calling
in motive and character, and thus
make your calling the more noble
and worthy of honor and respect
and in so doing honor yourself,
True character Of manhood is COM
modify that can not be cornered on
the stock exchange and is also a rich
fruit that hangs low on the branch
es where the mist lowly may reach
forth the hand and pluck it.
Any calling may be brought into
contempt; even the sacred relation
of matrimony maybe made thing
of barter, one may marry for wealth
or social distinction and rob the
home of its rightful heritage. of
love and filial devotion, which is the
only safeguard to society. So in
public life there may be manifest
such a disposition of greed and self
ishness and partisan spirit that the
people begin to look upon politics
as sort of marathon race or gam
bling scheme in which the shrewdest
politician rakes in the Jackpot, and
which ever way it goes the people
are the ones who pay for the chips
and are the ones who are really dup
ed. Or such a character for fair
dealing and honest integrity maybe
brought into public life that politics
can be redeemed from the hands of
the mugwumps, vampires and
mountebanks and thugs command
the respect and confidence of the
humble voter. So in business
man may conduct his business so
that both he and his business may
be brought into contempt. Or he
may follow business methods of
such fair and high moral character
as to make himself an honorable
rame in his community and lift his
chosen calling up to a place of high
honor in the estimation of the pub
lie. In like manner the man in the
legal profession may become such
groveler and slave to petty greed
and selfish interests as to bring con-
tempt upon his honorable profess
sion and so destroy the confidence of
the public in law and the courts as