THE LION PATH Admiral Dupont was explaining to Farragut his reasons for not taking his ironclads into Charleston harbor. "You haven't given me the main reason yet," said Farragut. "What's that?" "You didn't think you could do it." So the man who thinks he can't pass a lion, can't. But the man who thinks he can, can. Indeed he oftentimes finds that the lion isn't really there at all. I DARE not! Look! the road is very dark— There's something crept across the road just now! Go there, through that live darkness, hideous Comes one who dares. Afraid at first, yet bound He dared a death of agony— From "In This Our World," Charlotte Perkins Gilman. THE ANSWER Bob Fitzsimmons lacked the physical bulk of the men he fought, was ungainly in build and movement, and not infrequently got himself floored in the early rounds of his contests. But many people consider him the best fighter for his weight. who ever stepped into the prize ring. Not a favorite at first, he won the popular heart by making good. Of course he had great natural powers; from any position when the chance at last came he could dart forth a sudden, wicked blow that no human being could withstand. But more formidable still was the spirit which gave him cool and complete command of all his resources, and made him most dangerous when he was on the verge of being knocked out. HEN the battle breaks against you and the crowd forgets to cheer WE When the Anvil Chorus echoes with the essence of a jeer; When the knockers start their panning in the knocker's nimble way With a rap for all your errors and a josh upon your play— There is one quick answer ready that will nail them on the wing; There is one reply forthcoming that will wipe away the sting; There is one elastic come-back that will hold them, as it should Make good. No matter where you finish in the mix-up or the row, There are those among the rabble who will pan you anyhow; But the entry who is sticking and delivering the stuff Make good. Permission of the Author. From "The Sportlight." Grantland Rice. THE WORLD IS AGAINST ME Babe Ruth doesn't complain that opposing pitchers try to strike him out; he swings at the ball till he swats it for four bases. Ty Cobb doesn't complain that whole teams work wits and muscles overtime to keep him from stealing home; he pits himself against them all and comes galloping or hurdling or sliding in. What other men can do any man can do if he works long enough with a brave enough heart. "THE world is against very scheme that I try. HE world is against me," he said with a sigh. The world has me down and it's keeping me there; ; "What of Abe Lincoln?" I asked. "Would you say "What of Ben Franklin? I've oft heard it said "I could name you a dozen, yes, hundreds, I guess, Of poor boys who've patiently climbed to success; All boys who were down and who struggled alone, Who'd have thought themselves rich if your fortune they'd known; Yet they rose in the world you're so quick to condemn, And I'm asking you now, was the world against them?" Edgar A. Guest. From "Just Folks," SAY NOT THE STRUGGLE NOUGHT AVAILETH In any large or prolonged enterprise we are likely to take too limited a view of the progress we are making. The obstacles do not yield at some given point; we therefore imagine we have made no headway. The poet here uses three comparisons to show the folly of accepting this hasty and partial evidence. A soldier may think, from the little part of the battle he can see, that the day is going against him; but by holding his ground stoutly he may help his comrades in another quarter to win the victory. Successive waves may seem to rise no higher on the land, but far back in swollen creek and inlet is proof that the tide is coming in. As we look toward the east, we are discouraged at the slowness of daybreak; but by looking westward we see the whole landscape illumined. vain, AY not the struggle nought availeth, If hopes were dupes, fears may be liars; For while the tired waves, vainly breaking, And not by eastern windows only, When daylight comes, comes in the light, Arthur Hugh Clough. WORTH WHILE A little boy whom his mother had rebuked for not turning a deaf ear to temptation protested, with tears, that he had no deaf ear. But temptation, even when heard, must somehow be resisted. Yea, especially when heard! We deserve no credit for resisting it unless it comes to our ears like the voice of the siren. T is easy enough to be pleasant, IT When life flows by like a song, But the man worth while is one who will smile, And it always comes with the years, And the smile that is worth the praises of earth, It is easy enough to be prudent, But it's only a negative virtue Until it is tried by fire, And the life that is worth the honor on earth, By the cynic, the sad, the fallen, From "Poems of Sentiment," Ella Wheeler Wilcox. |