The Washington herald., 1914-04-23
|DR. MARDEN'S
UPLIFT TALKS
The Secret Of Achievement.
By oRRIsoN SWEET MkRDEN.

by oRRIsoN SWEET MSRDEN.'
Author Of ''Pushins TO the 'FRONT.' etc.
A cobbler, when asked how long II
takes to become good shoemaker. an
swered. six years-and then you must
travel" That cobbler had the artist
soul. told a friend the story, and he
asked another cobbler the same ques-
ton: How long does IL take to become
a good shoemaker" "All your life, sir" !"
That was still better-he was a Michael
Angelo OF shoes
Persistency Is characteristic of all men
who have accomplished anything great.
They may lack In some other particular,
have many weaknesses or eccentricities.
but the quality OF persistence is never
absent from q successful man. No mat
ter what opposition he meets or what dis
couragements overtake him. he is always
persistent. Drudgery cannot disgust him.
obstacles cannot discourage him. labor
cannot weary him. He will persist, no
matter what comes or what goes; 1t In a
part of his nature. He could almost as
easily stop breathing.
Money. position, Intermediates are no
match for energy, and Perseverance.
With what delight We read Hawthorne's
Scarlet Letter" perhaps the most pow
erful romance that ever came from an
American pen. 1t seems impossible that
such beauty OF diction. such facility of
expression. and delicacy OF touch, could
be elaborated by any amount Of drudgery.
But the notebooks OF this shyest and
most bashful OF mortals reveal the secret
OF his genius. Drudgery. drudgery.
drudgery. is written all over his efforts.
Nothing was too trivial for record in his
notes. Everything he saw. or heard, or
touched. or felt, was imprisoned in his
notebook, and compelled to pay tribute
to his fiction.
Thousands OF men have been failures in
life because they did not go quite far
enough. They did not quite learn a
trade TO the point Of efficiency: in other
words. they stopped just this side OF
success
The Patent Office in Washington is fun
OF contrivances which are almost sue
cesses; IL the inventors had had the per-
sistence to hold on a little longer. they
might have achieved the longed-for sue
cess, and died rich instead Of poor.
A poor boy started out. determined TO
visit every office and place of business
until he found a situation. no matter how
long II might take. After persisting in
this for a time which would have utterly
discouraged most boys. he called at an
Office. where he was told they never took
boys who had had no experience. and
was asked who sent him there.
The old gentleman was so pleased at
the boys pluck when he told him that
he was calling at every office and should
continue to do so until he found a situ-
alton. that he told him to go home and
write him letter in his best hand. and
he would see what he could do for him
Many a boy has lost a situation by bad
handwriting, bad spelling, or an unbusi-
nesslike letter. But this boys letter was
neat, concise. and Intelligent, and he got
the situation. He proved valuable and
has been with the firm ever since.
Keep at II, whatever your work may be.
with a dogged determination. Set your
teeth and say. Il will" Let your motto
be, ''Tenacity of purpose" When you
hear it. II should act on you as the bugIe
call does on a warhorse.
Failure is the final test OF persistence
and Of an iron will; IL either crushes
a life or solidines II.
If you have not this persistence by ma
ture, you must cultivate ii. With II YOU
.ean sAeceed.-~uul can make fffficuIties
bend. you can make opposition give way.
doubt and hesitancy yield to confidence
and assurance. Without IL the more shin
ing qualities of nature will not ensure
your success, ard will very likely bring
nothing but failure.
II is lesson after lesson with the
scholar. blow after blow with the laborer,
crop after crop with the farmer. picture
after picture. and mile after mile with
the traveller. that secures what all so
much desire.
Copyright. lsliJ