How They Succeeded

          In this chapter we give our young people a few quotations from men who have been successful in business, showing to what they attribute their success.

"When I was old enough to work I did my part as best I could and contracted a habit for work which has clung to me all my life. The propelling impulse has always been to get somewhere, and to constantly improve myself."

"Such success as I have attained in life is due to a desire to excel in every undertaking. The only way to gratify an ambition of this magnitude is work, work, work."

"1. Faith in God and His providence. 2. Faith in myself. 3. A conviction of the freedom of the human will. 4. Keeping everlastingly at it. 5. I never had a 'pull,' and I have never pulled any one else down in order to advance myself."

"One who has developed a good character has succeeded, tho his name is not known beyond the limits of his own town."

"Cultivate an unconscious way of doing right, avoid introspection, do good to your fellow-strugglers without taking any glory in it, and in doubtful cases let honor tell you what to do."

"I have scored, thus far, only a limited success. But the secret of such scant triumphs as I have won has been condensed into one word: 'Work.'"

"Primarily, doing the job to be done when it presents itself, and doing it all."

"In order to attain genuine success, one must realize that such success cannot be measured in dollars or popularity, but in helpful accomplishment, and never at the expense of the public welfare. Some of the necessary elements are true character, a natural and acquired ability, and perseverance."

"I enjoy teamwork with my associates. I enjoy the game. Experience has taught me that a time of defeat is not a time for giving up, but rather a time for gathering up the wreckage for a greater undertaking."

"Steadfastness in the right because it is right must be the guiding principle of those who bring the message of religion to their fellows."

"The first round of ladder is a strong determination to succeed; the second is a resolution to fill every position you occupy, however humble, as nearly perfectly as possible, for after all efficiency is the most powerful lever which will lift one to success."

"Dogged persistence under all sorts of difficulties and discouragements have been characteristic. I have cultivated a resistance to difficulties until it has become a habit to win any problem I undertake, and thereby with much happiness to feel that I am capable of winning."

"It is in faith that courage is born. And thus is bred hope, the energizer of work. Finally, out of work--constant, tireless, unremitting, is the fabric of achievement woven."

"The chart of the trail is the Bible; the lights on the way are Christian efforts. If you get off the trail, go back to the last point you were certain of and start again. Don't be afraid to back up when you are wrong, and don't be afraid to go ahead when you are right."

"The most successful men I have known have been those who have helped most men and women to better living and higher things. The most unsuccessful men I have known have been those who regarded wealth as the object of all endeavor. I have never known one of these who having succeeded in his ambition was not a disappointed man."

"I give absolute credit for whatever success I have attained and whatever good I may have accomplished along the lines of my life's work to the principles of religion, of justice, charity, integrity, industry, courage, and steadfastness of purpose, inculcated and taught me by my mother."

"In order to fill a big position you must have certain qualifications. You must be physically fit, mentally fit, morally fit, and socially fit, and you must pay the price in study, preparation, and hard work.

"Anybody can be a half-way man, but the one who rises above this class is the one who keeps everlastingly pushing."

"The things that stand out in my life and made me a man of action were ambition and a longing for better things, and to take advantage of every opportunity to learn something."

"Beware of victories that do not meet with your own approval, for what is known as 'getting by' is the reproach of the age, and there are subtle ways in which a man loses more than he apparently gains."

"Perhaps the main thing which I would emphasize is that a man should find out the big thing that he wants to do more than anything else and stick to it."

"As I look back upon my life I can explain what measure of success I have had only on the ground of God's saving grace choosing a lad in a humble home who tho bad in heart and life was willing to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior from all sin and give his life unreservedly to his master."

Now, on to "The Will to Work and Win."