Analyzing Character | Page 2

in one or two cases--the details
of these narratives have been so altered as to disguise the personalities
and enterprises involved, the essentials being maintained true to the
record.
New York City, January 3, 1916. THE AUTHORS.

INTRODUCTION
"There is one name," says Elbert Hubbard, "that stands out in history
like a beacon light after all these twenty-five hundred years have passed,
just because the man had the sublime genius of discovering ability.
That man is Pericles. Pericles made Athens and to-day the very dust of
the street of Athens is being sifted and searched for relics and remnants
of the things made by people who were captained by men of ability
who were discovered by Pericles."
The remark of Andrew Carnegie that he won his success because he
had the knack of picking the right men has become a classic in current
speech. Augustus Caesar built up and extended the power of the Roman
Empire because he knew men. The careers of Charlemagne, Napoleon,
Disraeli, Washington, Lincoln, and all the empire builders and empire
saviours hold their places in history because these men knew how to
recognize, how to select, and how to develop to the highest degree the
abilities of their co-workers. The great editors, Greeley, Dana, James
Gordon Bennett, McClure, Gilder and Curtis, attained their high station
in the world of letters largely because of their ability to unearth men of
genius. Morgan, Rockefeller, Theodore N. Vail, James J. Hill, and

other builders of industrial and commercial empires laid strong their
foundations by almost infallible wisdom in the selection of lieutenants.
Even in the world of sports the names of Connie Mack, McGraw,
Chance, Moran, Carrigan and Stallings shine chiefly because of their
keen judgment of human nature.
If the glory that was Greece shone forth because Pericles kindled its
flame, then Pericles in any time and amongst any people would
probably have ushered in a Golden Age. Had Carnegie lived in any
other day and sought his industrial giants, he would no doubt have
found them. If a supreme judge of latent talent and inspirer of high
achievement can thus always find material ready to his hand, it follows
that humanity is rich in undiscovered genius--that, in the race, there are,
unguessed and undeveloped, possibilities for a millennium of Golden
Ages. Psychologists tell us that only a very small percentage of the real
ability and energy of the average man is ever developed or used.
"Poor man!" says a reviewer, speaking of a contemporary, "he never
discovered his discoverer." The man who waits for his Pericles usually
waits in vain. There has been only one Pericles in all history. Great
geniuses in the discovery, development, and management of men are
rare. Most men never meet them. And yet every man can discover his
discoverer.
Self-knowledge is the first step to self-development. Through an
understanding of his own aptitudes and talents one may find fullest
expression for the highest possibilities of his intellect and spirit. A man
who thus knows himself needs no other discoverer. The key to
self-knowledge is intelligent, scientific self-study.
In the year 1792, Mahmoud Effendi, a Turkish archer, hit a mark with
an arrow at 482 yards. His bow, arrows, thumb-ring and groove are still
on exhibition in London as proof of the feat. His prowess lay in his
native gift, trained by years of practice, to guess the power of his bow,
the weight and balance of his arrow, and the range and direction of his
target; also, the sweep of the wind. This he gained by observations
repeated until the information gathered from them amounted to almost
exact knowledge. Thousands of gunners to-day hit a mark miles away,
with a 16-inch gun, not because they are good guessers, but because, by
means of science, they determine accurately all of the factors entering
into the flight of their projectiles. Pericles judged men by a shrewd

guess--the kind of guess called intuition. But such intuition is only a
native gift of keen observation, backed by good judgment, and trained
by shrewd study of large numbers of men until it becomes instinctively
accurate.
In modern times we are learning not to depend upon mere guesses--no
matter how shrewd. Mahmoud Effendi could not pass on to others the
art he had acquired. But the science of gunnery can be taught to any
man of average intelligence and natural aptitudes. Pericles left posterity
not one hint about how to judge men--how to recognize ability.
Humanity needs a scientific method of judging men, so that any man of
intelligence can discover genius--or just native ability--in himself and
others.
As the result of our ignorance, great possibilities lie undeveloped in
nearly all men. Self-expression is smothered in uncongenial toil.
Parents and teachers, groping in the dark, have long been