The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1914-12-09
DR.. Marden's
Uplift Talks
BY ORlSON SWEET MARDEN.
HHADN'T TIME TO MAKE FRIENDS"
right by Mcclure Newspaper Syndicate

Not long ago Mr.. Mellen, the for
mer president of the New Haven
railroad, and most bitterly talked
about railroad man of his time, said:
Il thought if a nan knew his busi-
ness and worked at it hard and pro-
duced the best product he could with
the materials available, that was
enough. But apparently it was not"
1T is enough until a storm breaks"
said the newspaper man to whom MI.
Mellen was talking.
81 thought l was strong enough to
meet any Storm" he answered.
What should a man do to prepare
for the kind Of storm that hit met"
HE might have made more friends
outside of the line Of business-friends
with the public"
"But I hadn't the time. I was too
busy. l have had six weeks vacation
in A years. How could I find the
time to meet your newspaper report
ers and cultivate the good will of
editors? ! engaged a man to do that
work. Well, we shall see. ] may
have a little more time now to make
friends"
After all, what Ices that thing
which we call success amount to If
we have sacrificed our friendships, If
we have sacrificed the most sacred
things in life in getting it? =
One of the most beautiful things
that can ever be said Of a human be-
ing is that he has a host Of friends.
When Lincoln's friends were pro-
posing him for the presidency he was
poor and comparatively unknown
and people said: why, Lincoln has
no rich men back Of him; he has no
political pull, no money, not much of
anything excepting a lot Of friends"
This Is true, but what friends they
were! They made his presidency pos
sible.
Only he has friends worth while who
is willing to pay the price for making
and keeping them. He may not have
quite as large a fortune as If he gave
all OF his time to business and money
making. But wouldn't you rather have
more good, stanch friends who believe
in you and who would stand by you in
the ~severest adversely than have a lit.
tie more money? What will enrich the
life so much as hosts Of good, loyal
friends?
Most of US attend to everything else
first, and If w have any little scraps
of time left we give them to u
friends, when we, ought to make a
business of our friendships. Are they
not worth 1t?
The faith of friends is a perpetual
stimulus. How 1t nerves and encour-
ages US to do our best when we feel
that scores Of friends really believe
In US!
It means a great deal to have en-
thusiastic friends always looking out
for our interests, working for us all
the time, saying a good word for us
al every opportunity, supporting us,
speaking for us in our absence when
we need a friend, stopping ISLANDERS,
shielding u sensitive, weak spots,
killing lies which would injure us,
correcting false impressions, trying
to set us right, overcoming the preju-
dices created by some mistake or slip
or a first bad impression we made,
who are always doing something to
give US a lift or help us along!
One S why so many people are
disappointed with what life has for
them is because they have never cul-
tivated the capacity for friendship.
Friendship is no one-sided affair, but
an exchange of soul qualities. There
can be no friendship without reci-
procity. Many people are not capable
Of forming great friendships, because
they do not have the qualities them.
selves which attract noble qualities in
others. If you are crammed with
despicable qualities, you cannot expect
any one to care for you. If you are
uncharitable, intolerant, If you lack
generosity, cordially; If you are a
row and bigoted, unsympathetic, you
cannot expect that generous, large
hearted, noble characters will flock
around you.