Letters of a self-made failure
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| Letters of a self-made failure |
Little in the way of great accomplishment has ever been achieved by mere imitation. Personality, temperament, mental and physical efficiency and environment differ as to individuals, and conditions under which success is possible today may be altered tomorrow.
Those are the determining factors of success more certainly than any fixed rules and regulations, except where sheer luck — which rarely takes a hand — decides. Anyway, it is less important to know how one man attained great success than it is to understand why a thousand men became utter failures.
If nine-tenths, of the world (it may be more or less), is unsuccessful, according to the popular standard of success, and has ever been so, then it is probably in the scheme of Nature to have it that way; it is not an accident but design. And if it is so ordained, it is reasonable to believe that those of us who form this mighty majority occupy positions which are just as important to the progress and development of the world as the places held by the favoured few who rule it.
Every man cannot be great, but most men, if they knew their limitations, could be greatly useful; and no man who is useful is a failure. To that great multitude, then, who think they have missed the shining mark, this book is addressed. It is not a guide to success, but rather a brief to prove that failure is often psychological; that every man has a place in the world, and that it is within his power and ability to ornament that place, provided he is not trying to be somebody else. XI The author acknowledges the kind permission of the editors of Leslie s Weekly \ in which these letters were first printed, to publish them in book form.
Some contents:
I
A young man of boundless energy lands his
first good job and receives his elder brother's
felicitations and a tip on the family weakness 17
first good job and receives his elder brother's
felicitations and a tip on the family weakness 17
II A dirge may be better music, but it doesn't appeal to the average youthful imagination like tuneful ragtime 29
III Obstacles are very often discouraging, but surmounting them is pretty good exercise. 45
IV A fellow who has to borrow $50. to support the theory that he is superior to his house, doesn't seem like a reliable authority on efficiency
