The Young Man and the World | Page 3

be architects or merchants or farmers
or doctors or soldiers or sculptors or editors or what not.
One of the cleverest of our present-day writers of fiction started out to
be a lawyer. But he could not keep his pen from paper nor restrain that
mysterious instrument from tracing sketches of character and drawing
pictures of human situations. Very well! He had the courage to obey the
call of his preferences; and to-day, instead of being an unskillful
attorney, he is noted and notable in the present-hour world of letters.
Anthony Hope in England is another illustration precisely in point. On
the other hand, Erskine, who was intended by his parents for the army,
was destined by Nature for the bar. This master-advocate of all the
history of English jurisprudence felt it in his blood that he must practise
law; and so his sword rusted while he studied Blackstone. Finally, he
deserted the field for the forum, there to become the most illustrious
barrister the United Kingdom has produced.
I therefore emphasize the importance of finding out what you can do
best rather than what either you or your parents wish you could do best.
For it seems to me that this is getting very close to the truth of life. The
thoughtless commonplace that "every boy may be President" has
worked mischief, sown unhappiness, and robbed humanity of useful
workers.
Every boy cannot be President, and, what is more, every boy ought not
to be. Let Edison remain in his laboratory and enrich mankind with his
wizard wisdom. England would have lost her great explorer if Drake
had tried to write plays; while Shakespeare would doubtless have been
sea-sick on the decks of the Golden Hind. Let Verdi compose, and
charm the universal heart with his witcheries of sound; let Cavour keep
to his statesmanship, that a dismembered people may again be made
one. Every man to his calling. "Let the shoemaker stick to his last," said
Appelles.

Ito might have led the Japanese armies to defeat--Oyama led them to
victory. But Ito created modern Japan, wrote its constitution and
introduced those methods which made Oyama's successes possible.
Each man succeeded because he chose to do what Nature fitted him to
do.
Of course you may be fitted for more than one thing. Cæsar could have
equaled if not surpassed Cicero in mere oratory had he not preferred to
find, in war and government, a fame more enduring. But, if you try all
things for which you may be equipped by Nature, you will so scatter
your energies through the delta of your aptitudes that your very wealth
and variety of gifts neutralizes them all. No. Pick out one of the things
you can do well and let the others go. A tree is pruned on the same
principle. Stick to one thing. Beware of your versatilities.
Your life's work chosen give wing to your imagination. Behold
yourself preeminent in your field of effort. Dream of yourself as the
best civil engineer of your time, or the soundest banker or ablest
merchant. If you are a farmer fancy yourself the master of all the
secrets science is daily discovering in this most engaging of
occupations; picture yourself as the man who has accomplished most in
the realm of agriculture.
Set for yourself the ideal of perfection in your calling--being sure that it
is Nature's calling. Then let your dreams become beliefs; let your
imaginings develop into faith. Complete the process by resolving to
make that belief come true. Then go ahead and make it come true. Keep
your resolution bright. Never let it rust. Burnish it with work--untiring,
unhasting, unyielding work.
Work--that is the magic word. In these four letters all possibilities are
wrapped up. "Seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto
you." Or let us paraphrase the sacred page and say--Work and you will
win. Work to your ideal. If you never reach it--and who can achieve
perfection?--you surely will approach it.
Do not be impatient of your progress. If, to your own measurement,
you seem to be moving slowly, remember that, to the observation of

your fellow men, you are making substantial and satisfactory advance
and, to the eye of your rivals, you are proceeding with unreasonable
speed.
Don't pay any attention to how fast you are getting on but go ahead and
get on. Keep working. And work with all your might. How wise the
Bible is: "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might."
And keep on doing it--persist--persist--persist. Again the Bible: "Seest
thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings." Do
not fear hard knocks. They are no sign that you will not finally win the
battle. Indeed, ability to endure in silence is