The Washington herald., 1914-04-21
DIR. MARDEN'S
UPLIFT TALKS
THE LOVE OF THE GAME.
By ORIsON SWEET MARDEN,

Author of Pushing to the Front" Etc
The fact that men who remain in
harness after acquiring reputation and
fortune are, as a rule. more contented
and much happier than those who
retire after an active. strenuous career
to life OF comparative idleness and in
activity has been emphasized in the
life of the late George Westinghouse
Almost up to the time OF his death, at
the age Of sixty-eight. this remarkable
man was tremendously active in the busi-
ness world.
An occupied mind, especially along the
line of ones ambition. is a happy mind.
An unoccupied mind deteriorates, goes to
pieces very rapidly.
Every normal man has a dread Of the
shrinking and shriveling which inevitably
follow the change from an active to an
inactive life. He breads this because
he realizes 1t is a sort OF slow suicide.
a gradual atrophy OF a talent or power
which has perhaps been the pride OF
his life.
There are many reasons why a man
should not retire when he has a COM
petence. A whole life's momentum, the
grip Of habit. which increases facility
and desire at every repetition; strong
ties OF business or professional friend
ship. and. above all. the passion for
conquest. for achievement. the love Of the
game. tend to keep him in II.
1t Is the love of forging ahead. of
pushing out into new fields, which has
grown to giant proportions in the grand
struggle for supremacy, the ambition TO
push on a little further. not greed or
selfshness. that keeps the majority OF
men in harness.
The love Of achievement is satisfied in
the very act OF creation. in the realiza-
ton of the ideal which had haunted the
brain. Ease, leisure, comfort are nothing
compared with the exhilaration which
comes from achievement
Who can describe the sense of triumph
that fills the inventor. the Joy that thrills
him when he sees for the first time the
perfect mechanism or device-the work
Of his brain and hand-that will anchor
ate the hard conditions of mankind and
help to emancipate man from drudgery.
Who can imagine the satisfaction, the
happiness OF the scientist who, after
years of battling with poverty, criticism.
and denunciation, and the tortures o.
being misunderstood by those dearest
to him. succeeds at last in Wrestling some
great secret from nature, in making
some marvellous discovery that VIII push
civilization forward?
Those who wonder why such men as
Thomas Edison. John Burroughs. Will
Ham Dean Howells and John Wana-
maker. who already have a competence
and have earned the worlds recognition
in their different lines of endeavor. con-
tinue to struggle. to play the game with
as much zeal and ardor as ever. when
they might retire from the field. little
realize the tremendous fascination Of the
great life-game. especially for those who
talent and ability to do
things.
The unborn creatures of the imagina-
ton of the scientist. the artist, the au-
thor the actor. the singer. struggling for
haunt them until they are
made real So the ambitions and ideals
of the business man. the professional
man. clamor for expression so long as he
is able to continue in the game.
There are fed by every fresh triumph. !
and the passion for conquest. which years |
Of winning and the habit Of conquering /
have strengthened. becomes colossal /
-ften abnormal. so that men who have .
grown accustomed to welding enormous !
power shudder at the very thought OF
laying down the scepter.
Industry conduCes to longevity. II is !
the ship at the wharf. not the ship at
sea, that rots fastest: the still pool not
the running book that stagnates Hon
est endeavor tends to health OF body and /
mind.
The unused faculties in our brain and !
other parts of the body age much more .
rapidly than those that are perpetually .
lAercised. To retain our youth We must /
keep alive all over.
Keep growing or die" is natures I
motto, a motto written all over every /
thing in the universe.
To pile up insignificant years is not /
really living. When we lose the love OF .
he game and the Years cease to count .
n growth, in enlargement. in usefulness. .
then we merely exist we do not live.
Copyright, l9lI)
South Dakota and South Carolina are