第9章

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。Totheaveragemanitisprobablymoreusefultostudythissecondtypeofsuccessthantostudythefirst。

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。