Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1914-05-14
THE ANCIENT LIE.


the mountain that greatness must
cross.
ut cant be done" is the ancient
lie that men and women of power !
have defied and overcome.
'It cant be done" is the lie that
makes a fence around so many of us
and keeps us small.
1T CAN BE DONE is the truth that
makes men free.
Over the mountain 1T Can't Be
Done" and down to the happy valley
of success and usefulness have passed
a great army OF the worlds noble
workers.
II is a high mountain, rugged,
bleak. Many camp down before it in
hopeless submission and never try to
climb
But it can be overcome, the passes
are there, safe enough for those that
do not fear, and the highest point can
be crossed in safety by the men and
women whose motto is "IT SHALL
BE DONE, and ! shall be the one to
do it."
All the history of the world worth
while is that of the men and the
women who have crossed this noun
tain, refusing, in the words of the
great Napoleon, Ito believe the fools
who said it could not be done"
He, the worlds greatest fighter,
came up from the nothingness of an
unknown Corsican boy to be the
worlds ruler because he knew THAT
1T COULD BE DONE.
They praised him when he had
crossed the Alps in winter: He said:
THAT was nothing; winter is the best
time, for then the snow does not
slide. l deserve no credit except for
refusing to believe the fools who said
1T CAN'T BE DONE"
Blake, whom you know as great
fighting English admiral, was more
than fifty years of age before he had
ever commanded on board a battle
ship.
English fleets were being de-
stroyed. No progress was made. Old
mark, he took command, AND CON
QUERED.
Every monument on this earth that
is deserved, every name that has
earned honor in history, recalls some
human being possessing the courage
to cross the mountain of the 'Impos-
sible."
Let that thought remain in your
mind, whether your task and your
ambition be big or little.
Look every now and then at the
great crowd of the worlds real work
ers crossing the mountain 1T Can't
BE Done" and resolve that no such
mountain and no such words shall
keep you back or discourage you.
There is Helen Keller. She, in
dceu, might pe eACuSeu lOl Day III b
1T can't be done"
She was born blind, deaf and
dumb.
Well might she have said: Send
me back to the darkness whence l
came, for without speech, or eye, or
ear, can do nothing here"
Today that girl talks, she reads
the speech of others by putting her
fingers on their lips. She knows
more than one language we'll, she is
acquainted with the history and sci
ence OF the human race. She is a
living inspiration to millions. a noble
rebuke to every coward and weak
ling and every doubter. and all be-
cause in the brain that had never
heard a sound or seen the light the
words were ringing, 1T CAN BE
AND 1T SHALL BE DONE"
There is Washington. beaten, be
trayed, abandoned, but never discour
aged. His courage made this coun
try what 1t is. Would that his spiri
were today in the place that 1t for
merly held.
There is Lincoln, who kept unite,
the nation that Washington estat
lished, a man of kind heart, and o
peace. who said of our greatest wa
that II "it continue ever
drop OF blood drawn with the las
shall be paid by another drawn wit
the sword, as was said three thou
sand years ago, so still it must b
said, the judgments of the Lord ar
true and righteous altogether
The Wright brothers found hu