Success
How beautiful the mountain yonder in the distance; but, the moment
we draw near it we find it to be nothing but a wretched collection of
rocks and dirt and trees.
Out of this truth grew the oft-repeated adage
"Familiarity breeds contempt."
Beauty and Happiness and Contentment are states of mind. They can never be enjoyed except through vision of the afar. The most beautiful painting of Rembrandt becomes a mere smudge of daubed paint if we come too near it. Destroy the Hope of unfinished dreams in man's heart and he is finished. The moment a man ceases to cherish the vision of future achievement he is through.
Nature has built man so that his greatest
and only lasting Happiness is that which he feels in the pursuit of
some yet unattained object.
Anticipation is sweeter than realization. That which is at hand does
not satisfy. The only enduring satisfaction is that which comes to the
Person who keeps alive in his heart the HOPE of future achievement.
When that hope dies write FINIS across the human heart.
Life's greatest inconsistency is the fact that most of that which we believe is not true. Russel Conwell wrote the most popular lecture ever delivered in the English language. He called it "Acres of Diamonds."
The central idea of the lecture was the statement that one need not seek opportunity in the distance; that opportunity may be found in the vicinity of one's birth. Perhaps! But, how many believe it?
Opportunity may be found wherever one really looks for it, and nowhere else! To most men the picking looks better on the other side of the fence. How futile to urge one to try out one's luck in the little home-town when it is man's nature to look for opportunity in some other locality. Do not worry because the grass looks sweeter on the other side of the fence. Nature intended it so. Thus does she allure us and groom us for the life-long task of GROWTH THROUGH STRUGGLE.
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THE highest compact we can make with our fellow is: Let there be truth between us two forevermore. Emerson |