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Page 34 of
50.
It is impossible, when confronted
with a too pronounced humility, not to conclude that it is founded upon
incurable ineptitude.
It is true that ambition often assumes the external appearance of modesty so as
not to antagonize any one.
One clenches one's fists to prevent the arrival in the front rank of a man whose
avowed superiority might be considered as a menace to those who are themselves
aspiring to such a place, but one allows without fear the passage of the man
who, by his attitude of self-effacement, does not seem to have anything in him
that may cause him to aspire to become a rival.
There are well-known instances of men who have used this method to arrive at
fortune.
Not only have they been permitted to insinuate themselves among the following of
this much revered goddess, but often enough among the crowd of her servitors
there have been found people who have aided them to gain a place in their ranks
in the hope, by this means, of blocking the way for a more dangerous rival.
It is only then that they have raised their heads and shown the world of what
they were capable.
The history of our own times records the cases of several men, who, like Brutus,
have been careful to conceal their ambitions until the moment when it has
become possible to declare them in the hearing of all men.
Such men, too, are among the persevering.
Ought we to blame them or to hold them up as an example to others?
One may rest assured that, since their methods had in them nothing approaching
trickery or fraud, they are worthy of our respect in more ways than one. Of such
people it may be said with truth. "They are a force!"
In the intellectual method to be followed in the acquisition of perseverance
several other principles are to be observed.
An excellent exercise will be to make it a habit to examine the means one must
employ in order to undertake with any chance of ultimate success the initial
steps of any particular enterprise.
In performing this exercise in relation to matters with which we are unfamiliar,
so far as being interested in them is concerned, but with whose general
character we are acquainted, we can give rein to our spirit of analysis without
any risk, and experience will soon come to our aid by teaching us some valuable
lessons.
Another good piece of advice comes to us from a Latin philosopher, who said to
his disciples:
"Do not let a day pass without some realization, however insignificant it may
be."
We can not sufficiently insist upon the fact that perseverance is always made up
of successive efforts. It is a series of acts, of which each one, taken singly,
has no value, but which, when repeated several times a day, acquire a power
that disconnected and hastily conceived actions can never possess.
What traveler has not been led to reflect upon the value of perseverance in
entering the church of Saint Peter at Rome?
The guide never fails to call to the attention of sightseers who admire the huge
statue of Saint Peter, that the bronze of the foot has been worn down at the
toes by the lips of the faithful.
Just as certainly as if it had been done with a file, their lips in touching the
foot of the apostle have worn it away to an appreciable extent, affording a
fine example of the power of repetition.
But will-power can rise superior to reverses and it would be a foolish thing
indeed to suppose that, without any repulse, we can reach success, at the very
first attempt, in the matter upon which our hearts are set, and without the
trial of the moral and physical courage of the daily aspirant by any sort of
failure.
Perfection can never be actually attained, and those who pretend that, at the
very first trial, they are able to walk without any difficulty along the path of
accomplishment, are no more than idle boasters, filled with an exaggerated idea
of their own merits, sacrificing everything to their vanity, and disregarding
altogether the good impulses that spring from proper pride.
Such people as this will never be really persevering.
In order to become so, they must learn to know themselves better. They must
learn to see their own weaknesses clearly and must not exaggerate their own
merits.
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