The Washington herald., 1917-08-18
DR.. MARDENS UPLIFT TALKS.
To Wrest Triumph from Defeat.
By oRIsoN SWEET MARDEN.

Author OF Pushing to the 'front.' Etc.
"I wish" Theodore Roosevelt said
when President. ito see in the average
American citizen the determination
not to shrink back when temporarily
beaten in life, as each one will be
now and then, but to come up again
and wrest triumph from defeat. "
When asked the secret of his success
he said: II have been blessed with
the faculty Of perseverance. No mat
ter what happens, 1 do not give in. "
He is a pretty poor sort of man who
loses courage and fears to face the
world just because he has not met
with the success he expected; because
he has been unfortunate or made a
mistake or a slip somewhere.
The point at which we give up try
ing and turn back or cry quit ex-
actly measures the maximum of our
strength and ability. Many people
give up very easily; they wilt and
get discouraged at the first setback;
they cannot stand up against dis
appointment or failure. Others get
up again after one or two defeats
and go on considerably further be-
fore they reach their maximum of
courage and turn back. Others press
on almost to their goal with consider
able pluck, but they have not grit
enough to push on to the end. For
lack Of grit, the stamina and deter
mination that cannot be beaten, these
people often give up just this side of
success.
1t has been said of George Wash
ington that he lost more battles than
he hlIt ha in, To
feat; he would never admit he was
beaten. Although many men would
have been discouraged and downcast
by the disheartening condition he en-
countered, he never lost heart, never
gave up. mo matter what happened.
Washington got up and went on fight
ing. He would do anything, endure
anything, but he would not stay on
the ground" says a writer.
1t takes something more than fall
ure or obstacles effectually to dis
courage or turn the born winner from
his purpose. The strong character
thrives on defeat. He makes stepping
stones of his stumbling blocks. Re-
buffs only stimulate him to more de-
termined endeavor.
Just as some of the savage races
believe that the strength, the prowess
in every enemy they overcome goes
into themselves and helps them to win
future battles, so the man made OF
winning material knows that every
honest, earnest endeavor, whether it
wins out directly or not, is a mental
and a moral muscle developer, a pow
er builder, a force producer which will
help him to win in later struggles.
A boy was asked how he learned to
skate. "Oh, by getting up every time
1 fell down." he replied. This is the
spirit that leads men and armies to
victory. 1t is not the fall. but the not
getting up. that is defeat
You may say that you have failed
too often, that there is no use in try
ing, that it is impossible for you to
succeed. and that you have fallen too
often even to attempt to get on your
feet again. Nonsensel There is no
failure for man whose spirit is un-
conquered. No matter how late the
hour, or how many and repeated the
failures. success is still possible. The
evolution of Scrooge, the miser in the
closing years of his life, from a hard.
narrow, heartless, money-grubber,
whose soul was imprisoned in his shin
mo AANshPS VI AOdluSu SOlu' u d StH-
erous. genial lover of his kind, is no
mere myth of Dickens brain. Time anc
again, in the history of our daily lives,
chronicled in our newspapers. recorded
in biographies, or exhibited before our
eyes We see men and women redeem
ing past failures, rising up out of the
stupor of discouragement, and boldly
turning face forward once more.
A man should be so much greater
than any material failure that can
come to him that it would scarcely be
mentioned in his biography, and that
it would be regarded as a mere in
cident in his career.-inconvenient bur
not very important.
In true manhood there is something
which rises higher than worldly sue
cess or failure. No matter what re-
verses come to him, what disappoint-
ments or failures, a really great man
rises superior to them. He never loses
his equanimity. In the midst OF
storms and trials to which a weak ma
ture would succnmb, his serene soul,
his calm confidence still assert them
selves, so completely dominating all
outward conditions that they have nc
power to harm him. Like a great
monarch of the forest. amid the war
of elements he stands unshaken
through all changes and ravages OF
time.
Copyright. I9l7)