The Washington herald., 1915-03-01
DR.. Marden's Upift Talks.
AN HOUR A DAY.
By ORISON SWEET MARDEN.

Self-discovery and self-improvement go
hand in hand. AS We discover new pow
crs in ourselves we are encouraged to
Use them and develop and pave the way
for further achievement.
Many people have vague idea they will
! make their life as a whole worth while.
They have no idea of throwing it away
or making it cheap or common. In a
general sort of way they expect to ac-
Compish some great result. but very few
| realize that to do this every day must
be devoted to something worth while A
sort of a nebulOus ambition to live a no.
bic life. to do generous things. does not
amount to much and never accomplishes
much. The self-mprovement that is not
planned in detail. adhered to rigidly.
hcroically. usually peters OUT in gen.
eral deterioration.
The first and cardinal lesson in self
Improvement is to save and utilize time.
Time Is the one possession that once lost
never can be regained. Today" To
day" What does it mean to you-wis-
dom or folly. culture or ignorance. a
larger or a smaller manhood or woman
hood?
1t is astonishing how much valuable in
formation. charging. broadening mate
rial person can pick up in scattered
bits Of time. This habit of absorbing
knowledge. the observing of habit. the as
piring habit. the study habit. Is worth
more to youth than a college education
for the inquiring. hungering mind is al
ways gathering and absorbing valuable
Information. always looking for methods
of self-improvement.
In an hour a day a boy or girl could
read twenty pages thoughtfuIly-more
than 900 pages in year. or eighteen
large volumes. An hour day might
make all the difference between an ig-
norant and well-informed person.
bare existence and successful happy liv-
ing. An hour day might make-nay
has made-an unknown man famous. a
useless man a benefactor to his race
Think Of the mighty possibilities of two
four-yes. even siX-hOurs a day that are
often thrown away by young men and
women in the restless desire for fun and
diversion.
Thousands of Young men In England
who had great admiration for Mr.. Glad
stone. who looked on him as fortunes
favorite. a wonderfully lucky man. did
not realize that one great secret of his
success was to be found in his indefat-
igable use of time. What wealth. what
untold riches lived in fragments of time
for this man. who. though next to the
Queen in directing the destinies OF
mighty nation, would never allow himself
to be without a book or a paper in his
pocket lest some precious moments. while
waiting for appointments. might slip
away from him unimproved, What would
he not have given for the tens of thou
sands Of days the Englshmen who envied
him threw away! Who ever has gained
a prize in life who looked lightly upon
the value of his time? Hours are not
golden-not so cheap as that! They are
infinitely more precious. Their value is
but family typified by the most precious
of gems.
Everywhere We hear people saying they
would do this or that II they only had
the ability. if they were only talented:
and they excuse their mediocre lives, their
years of inactivity. Just because they
haven't genius. But these very people do
not use a 1.-THE of the ability they do
have. and they waste their time as we'll
They make a habit of wasting; and had
greater gifts been bestowed on them.
these. too, would doubtless have been
squandered in the same way.
I wish it were possible to blazon in the
sky, where it would burn itself into the
Of every youth. the mar
velous results OF even one hour a day
spent In persistent. concentrated, earnest
Copyright. Iei5)