The Washington herald., 1916-08-13
The Master Secret.
by oRIsoN SWEET MARDEN

by 0RIsoN SWEET MARDEN,
In letter written when he but twelve
years old Washington said: 81 shall marry a
beautiful woman. / shall be one of the wealthiest
men in the land. l shall lead the army of my
colony. / shall rule the nation which / help to
create"
Gen. Grant in his Memoirs" tells us that
when boy at West Point he saw Gen. Scott
seated on his horse, one day, reviewing the
cadets, and something within him said, ulysses,
some day you will ride in his place and be
general of the army"
Every one knows how those boyish visions
were realized by the mature men,
The late J. Pierpont Morgan's fortune was
built largely by the dynamic forcefulness of his
concentrated thought. He was man of varied
and aesthetic tastes, but he concentrated upon
finance and he became the worlds master in its
science.
Ancient Greece concentrated on beauty and
art, and she became the great beauty model and
art teacher of the world.
The Roman Empire concentrated upon power,
and Rome became mistress of the world
England concentrated on the control of the
seas and commerce, and she has become the ruler
of the seas and the greatest commercial nation
in the world
America is nation of moneymakers because
/
We think in its terms; we hate poverty and long
tor wealth We strive persistenty to make great
fortunes and we succeed. The American million
aire is an international figure
Whatever an individual or a people concen-
trate upon 1t tends to get, because concentration
is Just as much OF force is electricity. The
youth who concentrates upon law, thinks law,
dreams law reads everything he can get hold OF
relating to law, steals into courts and listens to
trials at every chance he gets, is sure to become
a lawyer
1t is the same with any other vocation or
art, medicine, engineering, literature, music any
OF the arts or sciences. Those who concentrate
upon an idea, who continue to nurse it, to de-
velop it in every possible way, who never lose
sight Of their goal no matter how dark or
torblddng the way, get what they concentrate
upon. They make their minds powerful magnets
to attract the thing they have concentrated upon
Sooner or later they realize their ambition.
The force of concentrated thought is dynamic
creative, just in proportion to its intensity and
pcrsistency.
We are often surprised at the remarkable
achievement of some one who is not distinguish
ed by any special ability. This is because we
never Inquired on the factor of concentration in
his makeup. 1t is well-nigh impossible to
measure the dynamic force, the creative power OF
concentrated thought persistently applied in any
particular direction. Concentration has made men
Of average ability geniuses and it has made
men Of great talent colossal
Gladstones biographer, John Morley tells us
that whenever the great statesman was asked
what he regarded his master secret he always
answered, Concentration"
"Ton," says Morley, was his native element
and though he found himself possessed of many
lnborn gifts, he never visited by the dream
so fatal to many well-laden argosy, that genius
alone does all. There was nobody like him when
1t came to difficult business, for bending his
whole strength to it, like a mighty archer string
ing stiff bow"
If you can concentrate your thought per-
SistentIy and work with it along the line of your
greatest ambition nothing can keep YOU from its
realization. But spasmodic concentration, spas
modic enthusiasm, however intense, will peter out
Working by fits and starts will only waste YOUR
power 1t is the persistent, concentrated endeavor
that wins.