German Township High School - Laureola Yearbook (McClellandtown, PA)

Page 24 text:

who is able to help himself, to desire the help of others in the accomplishment of his plans of life, is positive proof that he has received a most unfortunate training or that there is a leaven of meanness in his composition that should make him shudder. When a young man becomes aware that only by his own efforts can he raise into championship and competition with the sharp, strong, and well-drilled minds around him he is ready for work, and not before. The next lesson is that of patience, thoroughness of preparation, and contentment with the regular channels of business effort and enterprise. This is, perhaps, one of the most difficult to learn of all the lessons of life. It is natural for the mind to reach out eagerly for immediate results. As manhood dawns, and the young man catches in its first light the pinnacles of realized dreams, the golden domes of high possibilities, and the purpling hills of great delights, and then looks down upon the narrow, sinuous, long, and dusty path by which others have reached them, he is apt to be disgusted with the passage and to seek for success through broader channels, by quicker means. Beginning at the very foot of the hill and working slowly to the top seems a very discouraging process; and precisely at this point have thousands of young men made shipwreck of their lives. Let this be understood, then, at starting : that the patient conquest of difficulties which rise in the regular and legitimate channels of business and enterprise is not only essential in securing the success which you seek, but it is essential to that preparation of your mind requisite for the enjoyment of your success and for retaining them when gained. It is the general rule of Providence, the world over and in all time, that unearned success is a curse. It is the rule of Providence that the process of earning success shall be the preparation for its conservation and enjoyment. If he be a stranger, he will find every man busy with his own affairs, and none to look after him. He will not be noticed until he becomes noticeable, and lie will not become noticeable until he does something to prove that lie lias an absolute value in society. No let ter of recommendation will give him this, or ought to give him this. So, day by day, and week by week: so, month after month, work on, and in that process gain strength and symmetry, and nerve and knowledge, that when success, patient and bravely worked for, shall come, it may find you prepareu to receive it and keep it. The development which you will get in this brave, patient labor will prove itself in tl’.e end the most valuable of your successes. It will help to make a man of you. It will give you power and self-reliance. It will give you not only self-respect, but the respect of your fellows and the public. A. W. M. )•