Therearetwokindsofsuccess,orrathertwokindsofabilitydisplayedintheachievementofsuccess。Thereis,first,thesuccesseitherinbigthingsorsmallthingswhichcomestothemanwhohasinhimthenaturalpowertodowhatnooneelsecando,andwhatnoamountoftraining,noperseveranceorwillpower,willenableanyordinarymantodo。Thissuccess,ofcourse,likeeveryotherkindofsuccess,maybeonaverybigscaleoronasmallscale。Thequalitywhichthemanpossessesmaybethatwhichenableshimtorunahundredyardsinnineandthree-fifthsseconds,ortoplaytenseparategamesofchessatthesametimeblindfolded,ortoaddfivecolumnsoffiguresatoncewithouteffort,ortowritethe“OdetoaGrecianUrn。”ortodelivertheGettysburgspeech,ortoshowtheabilityofFrederickatLeuthenorNelsonatTrafalgar。Noamountoftrainingofbodyormindwouldenableanygoodordinarymantoperformanyoneofthesefeats。Ofcoursetheproperperformanceofeachimpliesmuchpreviousstudyortraining,butinnooneofthemissuccesstobeattainedsavebythealtogetherexceptionalmanwhohasinhimthesomethingadditionalwhichtheordinarymandoesnothave。
Thisisthemoststrikingkindofsuccess,anditcanbeattainedonlybythemanwhohasinhimthequalitywhichseparateshiminkindnolessthanindegreefromhisfellows。Butmuchthecommonertypeofsuccessineverywalkoflifeandineveryspeciesofeffortisthatwhichcomestothemanwhodiffersfromhisfellowsnotbythekindofqualitywhichhepossessesbutbythedegreeofdevelopmentwhichhehasgiventhatquality。Thiskindofsuccessisopentoalargenumberofpersons,ifonlytheyseriouslydeterminetoachieveit。Itisthekindofsuccesswhichisopentotheaveragemanofsoundbodyandfairmind,whohasnoremarkablementalorphysicalattributes,butwhogetsjustasmuchaspossibleinthewayofworkoutoftheaptitudesthathedoespossess。Itistheonlykindofsuccessthatisopentomostofus。Yetsomeofthegreatestsuccessesinhistoryhavebeenthoseofthissecondclass——whenIcallitsecondclassIamnotrunningitdownintheleast,Iammerelypointingoutthatitdiffersinkindfromthefirstclass。Totheaveragemanitisprobablymoreusefultostudythissecondtypeofsuccessthantostud"m.kanbaapp点com"ythefirst。
Fromthestudyofthefirsthecanlearninspiration,hecangetupliftandloftyenthusiasm。Fromthestudyofthesecondhecan,ifhechooses,findouthowtowinasimilarsuccesshimself。
IneedhardlysaythatallthesuccessesIhaveeverwonhavebeenofthesecondtype。Ineverwonanythingwithouthardlaborandtheexerciseofmybestjudgmentandcarefulplanningandworkinglonginadvance。Havingbeenarathersicklyandawkwardboy,Iwasasayoungmanatfirstbothnervousanddistrustfulofmyownprowess。Ihadtotrainmyselfpainfullyandlaboriouslynotmerelyasregardsmybodybutasregardsmysoulandspirit。
WhenaboyIreadapassageinoneofMarryat’sbookswhichalwaysimpressedme。InthispassagethecaptainofsomesmallBritishman-
of-warisexplainingtotheherohowtoacquirethequalityoffearlessness。Hesaysthatattheoutsetalmosteverymanisfrightenedwhenhegoesintoaction,butthatthecoursetofollowisforthemantokeepsuchagriponhimselfthathecanactjustasifhewasnotfrightened。Afterthisiskeptuplongenoughitchangesfrompretensetoreality,andthemandoesinveryfactbecomefearlessbysheerdintofpracticingfearlessnesswhenhedoesnotfeelit。Iamusingmyownlanguage,notMarryat’s。ThiswasthetheoryuponwhichIwent。TherewereallkindsofthingsofwhichI
wasafraidatfirst,rangingfromgrizzlybearsto“mean“horsesandgun-fighters;butbyactingasifIwasnotafraidIgraduallyceasedtobeafraid。Mostmencanhavethesameexperienceiftheychoose。
Theywillfirstlearntobearthemselveswellintrialswhichtheyanticipateandwhichtheyschoolthemselvesinadvancetomeet。Afterawhilethehabitwillgrowonthem,andtheywillbehavewellinsuddenandunexpectedemergencieswhichcomeuponthemunawares。
Itisofcoursemuchpleasanterifoneisnaturallyfearless,andI
envyandrespectthemenwhoarenaturallyfearless。Butitisagoodthingtorememberthatthemanwhodoesnotenjoythisadvantagecanneverthelessstandbesidethemanwhodoes,andcandohisdutywiththelikeefficiency,ifhechoosesto。Ofcoursehemustnotlethisdesiretaketheformmerelyofaday-dream。Lethimdreamaboutbeingafearlessman,andthemorehedreamsthebetterhewillbe,alwaysprovidedhedoeshisbesttorealizethedreaminpractice。Hecandohisparthonorablyandwellprovidedonlyhesetsfearlessnessbeforehimselfasanideal,schoolshimselftothinkofdangermerelyassomethingtobefacedandovercome,andregardslifeitselfasheshouldregardit,notassomethingtobethrownaway,butasapawntobepromptlyhazardedwheneverthehazardiswarrantedbythelargerinterestsofthegreatgameinwhichweareallengaged。
4
WhenIleftHarvard,Itookupthestudyoflaw。IfIhadbeensufficientlyfortunatetocomeunderProfessorThayer,oftheHarvardLawSchool,itmaywellbethatIwouldhaverealizedthatthelawyercandoagreatworkforjusticeandagainstlegalism。
But,doubtlesschieflythroughmyownfault,someoftheteachingofthelawbooksandoftheclassroomseemedtometobeagainstjustice。
The/caveatemptor/sideofthelaw,likethe/caveatemptor/sideofbusiness,seemedtomerepellent;itdidnotmakeforsocialfairdealing。The“letthebuyerbeware“maxim,whentranslatedintoactualpractice,whetherinlaworbusiness,tendstotranslateitselffurtherintothesellermakinghisprofitattheexpenseofthebuyer,insteadofbyabargainwhichshallbetotheprofitofboth。Itdidnotseemtomethatthelawwasframedtodiscourageasitshouldsharppractice,andallotherkindsofbargainsexceptthosewhicharefairandofbenefittobothsides。Iwasyoung;therewasmuchinthejudgmentwhichIthenformedonthismatterwhichIshouldnowrevise;
but,thenasnow,manyofthebigcorporationlawyers,towhomtheordinarymembersofthebarthenasnowlookedup,heldcertainstandardswhichweredifficulttorecognizeascompatiblewiththeidealismIsupposeeveryhigh-mindedyoungmanisapttofeel。IfI
hadbeenobligedtoearneverycentIspent,Ishouldhavegonewhole-
heartedlyintothebusinessofmakingbothendsmeet,andshouldhavetakenupthelaworanyotherrespectableoccupation——forIthenheld,andnowhold,thebeliefthataman’sfirstdutyistopullhisownweightandtotakecareofthosedependentuponhim;andIthenbelieved,andnowbelieve,thatthegreatestprivilegeandgreatestdutyforanymanistobehappilymarried,andthatnootherformofsuccessorservice,foreithermanorwoman,canbewiselyacceptedasasubstituteoralternative。ButithappenedthatIhadbeenleftenoughmoneybymyfathernottomakeitnecessaryformetothinksolelyofearningbreadformyselfandmyfamily。Ihadenoughtogetbread。WhatIhadtodo,ifIwantedbutterandjam,wastoprovidethebutterandjam,buttocounttheircostascomparedwithotherthings。Inotherwords,Imadeupmymindthat,whileImustearnmoney,Icouldaffordtomakeearningmoneythesecondaryinsteadoftheprimaryobjectofmycareer。IfIhadhadnomoneyatall,thenmyfirstdutywouldhavebeentoearnitinanyhonestfashion。AsIhadsomemoneyIfeltthatmyneedformoremoneywastobetreatedasasecondaryneed,andthatwhileitwasmybusinesstomakemoremoneywhereIlegitimatelyandproperlycould,yetthatitwasalsomybusinesstotreatotherkindsofworkasmoreimportantthanmoney-
making。
AlmostimmediatelyafterleavingHarvardin1880Ibegantotakeaninterestinpolitics。Ididnotthenbelieve,andIdonotnowbelieve,thatanymanshouldeverattempttomakepoliticshisonlycareer。Itisadreadfulmisfortuneforamantogrowtofeelthathiswholelivelihoodandwholehappinessdependuponhisstayinginoffice。Suchafeelingpreventshimfrombeingofrealservicetothepeoplewhileinoffice,andalwaysputshimundertheheavieststrainofpressuretobarterhisconvictionsforthesakeofholdingoffice。
Amanshouldhavesomeotheroccupation——Ihadseveralotheroccupations——towhichhecanresortifatanytimeheisthrownoutofoffice,orifatanytimehefindsitnecessarytochooseacoursewhichwillprobablyresultinhisbeingthrownout,unlessheiswillingtostayinatcosttohisconscience。
Atthatday,in1880,ayoungmanofmybringingupandconvictionscouldjoinonlytheRepublicanparty,andjoinitIaccordinglydid。
Itwasnosimplethingtojoinitthen。Thatwaslongbeforetheeraofballotreformandthecontrolofprimaries;longbeforetheerawhenwerealizedthattheGovernmentmusttakeofficialnoticeofthedeedsandactsofpartyorganizations。Thepartywasstilltreatedasaprivatecorporation,andineachdistricttheorganizationformedakindofsocialandpoliticalclub。Amanhadtoberegularlyproposedforandelectedintothisclub,justasintoanyotherclub。Asafriendofminepicturesquelyphrasedit,I“hadtobreakintotheorganizationwithajimmy。”
Underthesecircumstancestherewassomedifficultyinjoiningthelocalorganization,andconsiderableamusementandexcitementtobeobtainedoutofitafterIhadjoined。
Itwasoverthirty-threeyearsagothatIthusbecameamemberoftheTwenty-firstDistrictRepublicanAssociationinthecityofNewYork。
ThemenIknewbestwerethemenintheclubsofsocialpretensionandthemenofcultivatedtasteandeasylife。WhenIbegantomakeinquiriesastothewhereaboutsofthelocalRepublicanAssociationandthemeansofjoiningit,thesemen——andthebigbusinessmenandlawyersalso——laughedatme,andtoldmethatpoliticswere“low“;
thattheorganizationswerenotcontrolledby“gentlemen“;thatI
wouldfindthemrunbysaloon-keepers,horse-carconductors,andthelike,andnotbymenwithanyofwhomIwouldcomeincontactoutside;
and,moreover,theyassuredmethatthemenImetwouldberoughandbrutalandunpleasanttodealwith。IansweredthatifthisweresoitmerelymeantthatthepeopleIknewdidnotbelongtothegoverningclass,andthattheotherpeopledid——andthatIintendedtobeoneofthegoverningclass;thatiftheyprovedtoohard-bitformeI
supposedIwouldhavetoquit,butthatIcertainlywouldnotquituntilIhadmadetheeffortandfoundoutwhetherIreallywastooweaktoholdmyownintheroughandtumble。