The Washington herald., 1914-08-04
DR.. MARDEN'S
UPLFT TALKS
BY oRIsoN SWEET MARDEN,
Author of Pushing to the Front" Ea
VALUE OF BUSINESS TRAINING.

fcou~r;zht. 1914 BY the Mcclure Newspaper syldi-
eate.l
Most people greatly underestimate the
education which comes frNm business
! training. A good business mans mind Is
in perpetual training, and qualities are
developed which do not come out In q
college course. Take, for example, the
development of ingenuity, inventiveness
in e young man who goes into business
for himself with a small, or with prac-
tically no capital What a splendid
training comes from his faculties being
put continually on the stretch to bring
about the means which should produce a
definite end. No slovenly planning or
haphazard work Is possible here.
Think of the discipline which comes
from being forced TO make every dollar
perform the honorS Of five. Many
young man becomes an adept in getting
much out Of little The constant piecing
out eking out. stretching his little capi-
tai to make 1t bring the greatest possible
returns, is a perpetual education. How
It develops originality in the man, who 10
forced to think along new lines, to make
a continual effort to find new and better
ways OF doing things, to try to hnd short
cuts and simple methods for roundabout.
involved system! That necessity Is the
mother of invention" has passed into
regime of the proverbial and 1t might
have been added that necessity Is the
school-master of the mind.
We are just beginning TO find that ousi-
ness is not only an educative, but tre-
mendous moral force. without the disei-
pline training Of which, the average mind
would literally go to ruin.
1t is a fortunate thing that the majority
of the population OF civilized countries is
kept continually in this training school.
Business is the greatest kind OF mind de-
veloper It builds the power OF initiative.
the courage. the endurance, the ambition.
What pigmIes we should be but for the
schooling. the long. constant training, the
opportunity for self-expression which our
vocations give.us. Without this regular,
persistent occupation, this required. daily
study the human mind would quickly de-
teriorate. We would gradually sink back
again to the brute. Take. for example.
any one quality, like good judgment How
could this ever be developed but for this
constant necessity Of exercising of choice,
this perpetual process Of discrimination
and learning by our mistakes.
There is scarcely a quality which en-
ters into a superb character which is not
brought into play to a greater or lesser
extent in daily life in the business world.
In fact. among the forces that count
in character building. business Is king.
The professions or specialties too often
tend to narrow and dwarf the individual,
crushing out originality and individuality.
Nature is opposed to one-sided develop
ment: and the man wro only trains one
part Of his mind TO do one thing pays a
very heavy penalty. A symmetrical, full |
rounded development is what nature Is |
after.
A business career thus has a great ad- !
vantage over the professions or special |
ties. 1t gives an all-round development. |
Solid, level-headed men. as a rule, are |
business men because their education is |
general
Any system of training which does not
exercise all OF the faculties Of the mind |
tends to injure those not in constant use |
One-half OF the college graduates, at |
the present time. enter business. Not very
long ago, nearly half of our college grad
yates studied law. 1t was considered the
proper thing then to go into one Of the
learned professions" 1t took great
at that time for a boy to an
nounce in college that he would enter a
business career. Half a century ago, 60
Ing into business was not a very attrac-
tive proposition: but the new civilization.
the enormous commercial development of
our country, has made business king; and
prizes are held up everywhere
in the business world.
Get an education at college II you want
to, but prize equally the broader, more
practical education of daily life.