Chapter I: L. Purcell, Attorney and Counselor at Law, Pensacola, Fla (5)

The food of the mind, the drink of the mind, means all the other pleasures of the flesh resolved into the spiritual body through education and learning, and the more education, the more learning, the higher the enjoyment.

A great lawyer once said: “The pleasure of learning may be likened to a bucket in a deep well of clear, cool water. It is easy to move the bucket about if it is kept beneath the water, but when we attempt to raise it above the surface, then comes a tug and a hard pull.” Whence he derived the conclusion that the deeper we plunge into the clear, cool depths of education and learning the more pleasure there is and the easier it is to remain there.

One of our poets says:

“Drink deep or taste not the Pierian spring.”

In these modern days every man must have some sort of an education, preferably that for the occupation or profession which he selects for his life work.

If he goes in for a commercial business, then he must learn all about the rules and laws governing his business or the branch of it he aspires to learn. He must know all about the nature of the goods he purposes to sell; the markets; the prices; the demand; the production; the consumption, and other matters connected with the business.

If he does not learn these things he will fail in business, and if he does not learn some of them he can not get a job in any business house.

The rule is the same in every trade and profession. The modern man is exacting. He demands the best service, because his customers or clients demand better goods, better qualities, and better treatment.

The time has gone by when a tradesman, for instance, could offer goods to his customer with a “take it or leave it” air. Competition is too keen to permit that, and prices are too liable to be cut to enable him to say, “That’s my price,” for there are others who will say, “I will knock off ten per cent.”

An education that does not fit in with a man’s occupation is a relaxation, and aids him to rise in his business and profession, so that nothing is lost by keeping up with the times, but there is everything to be gained. This is refinement and a valuable asset. Everything that can be learned is worth something sometime.

How to tell a fresh egg from a stale one is a matter of education, but to give the reason why a stale egg is not so good as a fresh one is a matter of learning.

You can distinguish one man from another by his facial differences. That is education, but when you can tell a good man from a bad one by a study of his characteristics, that is learning.

To learn how to do things is education, but to learn the nature of the things you make or the reasons why involves learning.

The housewife in making bread sets the loaves of dough in a warm place so that they will rise. This is education, and her education tells her that if she puts the dough in a cold place the bread will not rise. If she knew that the yeast plant requires heat to grow, and is easily killed by cold, she is learned.

If you eat a cucumber or any green fruit in the hot summer time you are liable to get the colic. You are educated up to that by experience, perhaps. But if you know that nature always gives you a pain when you eat something indigestible, as a warning to get rid of it, or not to do so any more, you will be learned indeed, if you take a cathartic instead of a pain killer to stop the pain or warning nature gives you.

We can not live among our fellow men without an education of some kind, adaptable

First—to our life work whatever it may be.

Second—suitable and proper to the people with whom we associate or are placed in contact in our daily round of business and pleasure.

We can live and get along through life without any learning, but learning adds to education and enables us to apply what we learn. Besides that, it puts us in a position to rise higher, the more learned we become.

It is not intended, by these remarks, to advise any one to learn everything there is to be learned, for the very good reason there are too many things in these modern times for one man’s brain to hold. But it may be taken as a truth, that a man should be learned along the line of his trade, business, or profession, with a few enjoyments for good measure.

It is easy to learn, in fact one thing brings another. Like some food we eat—one mouthful makes us hungry for another. Our modern system is so linked and connected together, that every thing that may or can be learned is a link in the great entire chain. You begin pulling at the educational chain and find that you can not stop. You feel impelled to keep on taking up link after link, until before you are aware of it, you have mastered some definite branch of learning through the force of education.

One thing to be noted is, what one man knows another man can find out. The only way, therefore, is to keep ahead of him and learn things he can not find out, or will not find out until too long afterward to be of any disadvantage to you.

_THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST_
_The Laws of Nature Determine Who Shall Live, and Who Shall Die_

The theory of the survival of the fittest is agitating the world more than ever before. But it has changed its significant title to what is known now as “Eugenics,” which means substantially “well born,” or good birth.

Briefly speaking, it is claimed that it is a law of nature that the weakest shall go to the wall, and that the strongest shall survive. In carrying out this doctrine, the ancient nations, Sparta, for example, put to death all the weak and decrepit children, permitting only the strong and well-shaped physically to live.

In our day, the scientists, or rather those who claim to be scientific, advocate the same practice in a different but equally as effective a manner.

The doctrine of “selection,” as it is termed, has been invented to cover up the Spartan tragedy of murdering the helpless, and by it, it is hoped our admitted degeneracy will be stopped.

I do not apply the term “degeneracy” to the Colored people, because degeneracy works back to a type and not away from it in the human family. The average Colored American is too near the pure type of his race to be in a very deep degeneracy, but the word must be applied to the mixed races of the Aryan, Caucasian, of whom it would be vain to find a pure type except among the Georgians of Asia.

In explaining the doctrine of the survival of the fittest, or eugenics, to give it its modern name, it is said that those who fail in life, fail because they are not fitted to succeed, that is they are not “fit.” This is called a law of nature. It is purposed to overcome this law of nature, by selecting the parents by a medical examination or other process, and confine parentage to them exclusively.

In other words, to prevent humanity from becoming any worse than it is, the people who are to marry and bear children shall be of the very best and highest type, and then their children will be finely developed and make perfect citizens and become parents to other children.

But where shall we begin and what is the type aimed to reach as the standard? It is important to the Colored man to know the meaning of this movement to better the race, and also to discover what race is to be the standard of excellence.

An effort will be made to explain as clearly as possible.

Who are the strongest that shall be permitted to survive, and who are the weakest whose death knell is sounded?

It must be borne in mind in the outset, that all this controversy is among the Caucasian, or as it is called in other places of this book, the “Aryan” race, or division of the human family. It has not yet reached the Colored race, nor has it been applied to them particularly. Hence, let the Colored man stand outside and look on with interest, and also watch that the theory does not spread to his race.

A man who lives in the slums is unfit to live anywhere else, so it is said. A man who has made a million by a turn in the stock market, lives in a palace, but can only write his name to a check, and can not tell a spade from a rake. J. Pierpont Morgan possessed boundless wealth and tremendous power in the financial world. Walt Whitman, the humane poet, had a small competence and no power at all except to touch the hearts of mankind. Burns was a plowman; Bunyan a tinker; a writer of slang and jokesmith, makes a million; Brigham Young was a prophet and a ruler, wealthy and honored; Stevenson was in the last stages of tuberculosis; Byron was a cripple; Johnson was a glutton, and the composer of a silly ragtime waltz owns an automobile and keeps a valet and a chauffeur.

Which of these shall we select as the type, and how are we going to tell whether the offspring of our selections will come up to the type?

Modern medical scientists declare in the most positive terms, that every child is born free from infectious diseases, and at the moment of its birth is a perfect type. That the first breath it draws fills it with the germs of future diseases that tend to make it a weak and diseased abortion of humanity. All its troubles come from its surroundings or environments, which are the conditions it must meet and with which it must struggle to live at all.

It may avoid future disease from the infecting germs it breathes at the moment of birth, by making its environments better, purer and altering the bad conditions under which it lives.

We know, because we can see it every day, that of two plants or animals, that one will survive which is the fittest to endure the conditions in which both exist. He, the man, or it, the plant, can be afforded opportunities in the way of good food, care, and proper training, to resist the encroachments of disease and degenerate conditions.

Hence, we may say, that the question of which man shall survive, depends upon the conditions under which he shall struggle for survival.

There is no law of nature here, it is the law of common sense and good government. We are surrounded by conditions best suited for strength and survival, and the conditions which promote weakness, disease and degeneracy are removed or beyond our reach.

In a nation of marauders or robbers, those who live by spoliation and the sword, would be the fittest to survive, and they would be a different type of men from those who get first place in a nation of traders, where fierceness and strength are less called for than tenacity of purpose and clearness of head.

When a man says he is poor, somebody says, that man is poor because he is not fitted to gain wealth. But we say, he is not fitted to gain wealth under the conditions of his life. Take him out of those conditions, put opportunities in his way and he becomes “fit” because he gains wealth. It is done every day.

One condition of society enables one kind of a man to succeed, another condition of society enables another kind of man to succeed. And so on all along the long line of different conditions.

The great mistake made by many so-called scientific purifiers of the human race, is in not being able to separate man with reason from animals or beasts without reasoning powers. There is such a thing as intellectual progress and the betterment of the reasoning faculties, but so long as we limit survivorship to the physical and not to the mental powers, we are betraying man into degeneracy instead of helping him out of it.

There is one great teacher whose lessons are to be learned and deeply pondered. They lead to an uplift that no money, and no medical examination, or selection, can possibly attain. He was poor and forsaken; rejected by his own, but he was and is the type to be attained. In establishing the highest type possible to man with reasoning powers, he ran counter to the doctrine of the survival of the fittest as men saw it in his day, so they crucified Him but too late to efface the type which we must follow or fall into degeneracy.

THE VICTORY OF THE MAN WHO DARES

This is the Era of =the man who dares=.

His opportunity has blossomed out of conditions unparalleled in the history of nations.

Too many have been plodding along in a furrow afraid to come out of the rut. They have lived, it is true, but they have not touched success. All animals live, but man has higher motives than mere existence.

Enterprise, business, commerce, capital, government demand a man who dares. Many leaders have fallen beneath the spell of malignant influence, and have dragged down into the pit with them, respect, honor, confidence, and honesty.

An army of men who dare is needed to drag up out of the pit and into our every day lives, the respect, honor, confidence, and honesty, groveling in the mud at the bottom, and the nationality, color, or race makes no difference, they are needed among all classes.

The eyes of the world are turned toward the inscription, “I will,” on the banner of the man who dares, as he hurdles across all obstacles and brings back to its pedestal, virtue, that has been dragged away into disreputable haunts.

His is the initiative; to him belong the rewards of efficiency.

The man who dares to venture out into new and undeveloped fields fills the pages of history; his name is blazoned in heavy head-lines on the front page of every newspaper and magazine. He does not have to seek after fame, he is sought.

The man who dares is no rash, reckless fool who rushes in where angels fear to tread.

“I dare do all that may become a man;
Who dares do more is none.”

He lets “I dare” follow upon “I will,” and plunges into the tide of the affairs of men, and at its flood, is led on to victory.

He is brave and courageous with regard to men, but is a coward with regard to God, wherefore he fears to worship the Golden Calf; to swear, to steal, or cheat, or swindle; to degrade his neighbor’s wife; to covet his neighbor’s property.

Why do you fail to reach success? Why do you lag behind in a world so stuffed with opportunities and possibilities?

Watch the man who dares.

He has no hand held out behind for bribes, nor before for alms. He reaches out and takes, and those from whom he takes are loud in their praise of him, because he represents a force they would fain exercise but dare not.

The power that impels him is dynamic. It grows out of an inertia charged with the vibration of living eternal forces—a training that fits him to propel himself into chaos and evolve order and profit—out of an education that shows him =how=—out of a system that changes to suit altered conditions—out of the same mighty impulses that have fashioned the conquerors of armies, or nations, leaders of men, the world’s financiers, the masters of commerce, the uplifters, governors and kings of men.

_LIFE AND ALL IT IMPLIES, ALL ITS INCIDENTS, HAPPINESS, RENOWN, COMPENSATIONS, ARE IN THE TRAIN OF THE MAN WHO DARES. HE MAY EVEN SCALE THE WALLS OF PARADISE TO GAIN A CROWN OF ETERNAL GLORY._

=Life and all it implies are in the train of the man who dares.= Stirred by his energy, every one of the billions of living principles of life that form his body, is an individual acting in unison to maintain his physical balance, and to free his brain from the clouds and vapors of an infected atmosphere. He is made immune to the attacks of pestilences, and follows the universal law of ceaseless activity that keeps the earth, the sun and the millions of suns and planets in the firmament in their proper places. Death, disease, infection, poverty, disgrace are nothing to the man who dares, he rises above and beyond their reach. He builds his castle with hope and cements its walls with imperishable faith in his own powers, and anchors it with good works. He says: “I will not die until I have won,” and he dares to cast his hopes into one throw of the dice—and wins, and in the winning lives. What is life to a clod? To a blind mole? To a man who never lifts his eyes to the gleaming stars, or raises them beyond the brittle straws that clog his feet? To the man who dares, life is a tumult of happiness, of radiant love, of a joyous household, a fortress of friends. His hair turns gray, his limbs grow weak, and his eyes are dim, but around his bedside hover the deeds he has done, his nostrils snuff in the incense of his successes, and he dies content that he will still live in the posterity that he has dared raise up to follow in his footsteps.

=Life and all incidents are in the train of the man who dares.=

In the great center of life, with its circumference everywhere and nowhere, the incidents of life are few and mere matters of routine. But they must be gained, and can not be gained except by the man who dares. Beginning with nothing but his muscles, courage, and high hopes, the boy who dares forces his way through rain and storm, sunshine and shadow; quaffs to the dregs the cup of disappointment and refills it with determination. From the lowest rung of the social or business ladder, he mounts upward rung by rung, gaining here and there a fresh supply of energy, until bursting forth from a chrysalis of helplessness into an initiative, he assumes first place and dares still more to reach after the mastery. He dares the professions and becomes a statesman or a scientist influenced by a desire to benefit his fellowmen. In the mercantile, manufacturing, and commercial world, his name is a synonym of honesty and probity, fair dealing, justice and impartiality. The hands and mouths of his less daring fellowmen never depart empty. The train of evils that follow humanity, he knows are mere incidents in life and he does what he can and may to alleviate them, and in their alleviation he finds comfort and joy. “Do unto others as ye would that others do unto you,” is the absorbing incident of life, the concentration, amalgamation of all other incidents. “This do and thou shalt live.”

=Happiness is in the train of the man who dares.= “As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man who hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.” The man who dares fill this quiver with arrows needs no other happiness. All other kinds, varieties, and species of happiness follow in its train. Most of our happiness is “so-called,” that is we think it is happiness, but it becomes bitter after a while and then sours. True happiness never ferments, never corrupts. The man who dares would not dare take a course in the school of dissipation, he is too much of a man and has the courage of his convictions. There are certain things every man must do to be happy, and the man who dares does them. He must dare to do right, to keep away from bad company, to avoid the ungodly, and the devil and all his works are rendered innocuous by his daring to discountenance them.

=Renown is in the train of the man who dares.= To be in every man’s mouth, as Caesar, Napoleon, Washington, is what many claim to be renown. But the word means far more. It means honor, glory, and peace, and these go “to every man that worketh good.” Every act of the man who dares is an achievement of greater or less degree, and although he may not have an exalted reputation to the great outer world, he is enshrined in the hearts of his friends and acquaintances. The man who dares shines bright in the firmament of teachers who have made good by exalting others. He leads where others may follow and succeed, and as a guide, teacher and example, his renown is not limited to an immediate circle of people astonished at his daring, but accumulates force as time passes, and soon becomes a rule of conduct, a precedent to be followed as rigidly as a mathematical proposition in Euclid. Most men are content with what they have and never go beyond their own possessions and desires. They have grown rich, and then it is “Let us eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.” This is the fool’s theory, but it is not that of the man who dares, because he wanders off into new fields of operation, attempts new cultures, adds something to the phases of life, and as such, becomes renowned, whether he has a high sounding epitaph on his tombstone or not. People do not go to cemeteries to seek for souvenirs of the man who dares, his life and deeds are impressed upon the plastic material of every brain within reach of his influence. There he is enshrined; there he possesses the renown he dared seek, and, as in his other deeds of daring, he succeeds.

=Compensations are in the train of the man who dares.= Compensation is a higher, nobler word than wealth, riches, money, or jewels. Money is a good thing to possess, and wealth is not to be despised, but the love of money is the root of all evil. Have you never noticed that the harder a man strives to get money the farther he gets away from it? This is in pursuance of a law of nature, that in striving too hard to acquire anything, we omit some essential that if remembered would bring it to us. There are certain things that if we dare do them, other things will unexpectedly come to us in the way of compensation.

Money, wealth, riches, etc., are a recompense, a remuneration, of course, but of themselves they are mere wages for labor performed. But when we speak of “compensation,” we allude to something of greater value than mere dollars and cents which procure bread and meat, clothes, a roof for our heads, and certain pleasures. But a hog has all of these in his own way and to his own satisfaction; but the man who dares does not belong to that branch of the animal kingdom. He is a man and claims a man’s compensation, or so acts that the desired compensation will be forthcoming. Think of the words of Othello and ponder a little over their meaning:

“Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse, steals trash; ’tis something, nothing;
’Twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed.”

The Story of a Rising Race Told in Pictures

_PHOTOGRAPHED FROM LIFE_

│MUSIC
Special Collection D │THE DRAMA
│SOCIAL LIFE
│PHYSICAL CULTURE

BELLES OF THE BALL

Basket Ball Team, Normal School, No. 2, Washington, D. C.
]

FINE SPECIMENS—PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Hampton Institute Champions of 1912, showing a strong team of the
Colored boys and their Indian fellow students.
]

TRAINED ATHLETES

Tuskegee Base Ball Team skilled in the art of the great national game.
]

RELIGIOUS TRAINING AND PHYSICAL CULTURE

An evidence of the remarkable advancement of members of the Young
Men’s Christian Association in the development of mind and body.
]

THE “HOWARD THEATRE,” WASHINGTON, D. C.

This magnificent theatre is owned and operated by Colored citizens.
The beautiful and artistic effect of the interior is an inspiration.
]

TALENTED DRAMATIC PERFORMERS

The performance of the noted Shakespearian comedy “A Midsummer Night’s
Dream.” Evidence of the dramatic art now being developed by the best
talent of the race.
]

THE SOCIAL SIDE OF LIFE

The Baltimore Assembly, a social gathering of distinguished Colored
citizens.
]

MASTERS OF MELODY

“The Washington Trio,” noted for harmony and rhythm in the rendering
of musical composition.
]

CO-EDUCATIONAL DRILL

The March to Dinner on Anniversary Day of students at the Hampton
Normal and Agricultural Institute. The boys are lined up and the
girls march through between the ranks.
]

EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS

Commencement Day Exercises, 1912. Howard University, Washington, D. C.
]

MUSIC HATH CHARMS

Glee Club and Orchestra, Tuskegee Institute.
]

THE BOYS IN UNIFORM

A splendid company of cadets who show in their appearance and
deportment the careful training received at Tuskegee Institute.
]

RESULTS OF MILITARY TRAINING

Company G, Tuskegee Institute, showing a group of well disciplined
young men who have received military training as part of their
education.
]

A MILITARY DRILL

The Winning Company at the M Street High School, Washington, D. C.
]

PLEASURE AND WORK COMBINED

The pleasure derived by the musical ear exceeds the work and practice
required to become a skilled musician.
]

In the great game of grab after money, which is enthralling the earth at the present time, the man who dares takes no part except to see that his compensation is adequate to his efficiency. His abnegation of the canker worm of gold is a strong recommendation in his favor, and brings him much more than it does to one who bites every dollar to test its genuineness. He becomes renowned for this disposition, and nobody turns him down on any proposition for everybody knows that his disposition is to dare, to venture, to try, to win, to succeed. It is the best sort of renown to possess; it is a policy, really a dare.

He knows that everything comes to him who knows how to wait, and he plays the waiting game in a diplomatic manner, so diplomatic, indeed, that he wins.

=The man who dares may scale the walls of Paradise to gain a crown of eternal glory.= Nobody can slide through St. Peter’s gate unobserved. It requires a constant fight to reach it even, and blessed is he who gets that far, for he is sure to enter. We have it from the Saviour Himself: “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”

There is authority, therefore, for saying that the man who dares may scale the walls of Paradise. The fact is, that a mollycoddle cannot be connected with the idea of taking the kingdom of heaven by force. It requires a man who dares to accomplish that feat, and it is the man who dares that gets there.

Let us suppose that you are a timid man and have little initiative—that is you are a follower of somebody and can not lead in anything. You must raise some steam and get a move on or you will never succeed. That is a settled fact, and if you to whom this is addressed, can not raise enough steam to start out on a dare, why then, fall out and let somebody else take your place in the waiting line.

Suppose you wanted to make a stagger at a dare, how would you go about it! That’s about the idea you are after. Well, in the first place, you must make ready. You can not ride without a horse, and even if you have a horse, he is no good to you unless you know how to ride. To learn to ride, you must get on the horse, of course, and take your chances of being thrown or of falling off through sheer fright.

That is nothing. A few bruises are honorable scars in the onward struggle. Let us start you our way:

=Fix your mind on what you aim at and never lose sight of it. It is your target.=

=Fix a straight road toward it. This will enable you to get there sooner, and if there are competitors, you will out-distance them.=

=Make a start. You may not be entirely ready and may have to stop on the way for repairs, but all the same—start. Some people are always making ready and never starting, so they never get anywhere because they never start. It is better to start, even if you have to return and begin over again. It shows your intention to win out, and that will encourage your backers, or find backers if you have none.=

=Don’t wander. Keep on the straight road, and don’t let counter attractions tempt you away. Keep thinking about what you are going to do when you arrive, and build up a strong castle.=

=Let tomorrow’s troubles take care of themselves. The saying is: “Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof.” Fight the troubles that you have in hand now, and you will gain skill to fight those of tomorrow.=

=Attend to your own business and let other people’s alone. You can’t take care of your own business and that of another at the same time. To do that a man must sit on two stools at once. A difficult thing to do and not fall between. Try this as an experiment.=

=Keep your nerve, and your eyes in front. There are always times when a man meets some obstacle that spells failure if he lets it. Don’t let failure appear in any shape. Cut the word out of your dictionary.=

=Make haste slowly. This is an old saying of the Romans who knew a few things about success. Hurry, but hurry slowly. That is, be careful in getting everything ready and then make a break for the target. A man can act quickly and methodically, which is making haste slowly.=

=Take plenty of physical exercise. You do not have to go to a gymnasium to get enough exercise. Take a walk for the sake of walking. You can not make exercise work and derive any benefit from it. You must take pleasure in it or it is work and not exercise.=

=Do not work ahead. Keep your mind up with your work. Do not think about the hours it will take to complete it. If you do that, you will tire out your mind and make it do extra work. Mind and body should keep together.=

=Dare to aspire to a higher position. Study to get it. Talk with others who have risen and find out how they got there. Don’t copy them, but try to initiate some better way. If you are sawing boards, study how to run the engine, and incidentally learn how to manage the whole business. It can not harm a man doing a small work to know how to do a greater one. He will be ready to slip into the better work when the opportunity comes and it is sure to come.=

=Do not run behind in your work. This is a fatal deficiency. It means a backward movement and you must keep on pressing forward. If you feel yourself going back, study the reason. Perhaps you are bilious, eating too much, or not enough nourishing food. Keep your body working regularly, for your health is the most important item toward success.=

=Save your money. But do not become a miser. You must live among others and you can not afford to be considered small or mean. But you do not have to squander money for any reason. If you are considered mean because you refuse to squander money, let it go at that, and some day you will be better understood. Such things are small details not worth noticing.=

=Keep in touch with the outside world. Read newspapers and magazines and learn to discuss or talk over the various topics of the day, whether you understand them or not. Somebody will give you the keynote and then you will add to your stock of knowledge. You can not learn too much, you may fail by not knowing enough. Please remember this, no man is turned down because he knows too much.=

=Learn to master yourself. Don’t let anything ruffle your temper, and think seriously before starting a fight. You may win the fight but lose your own self-respect and gain enmity. A man can not afford to throw away a friend. He needs all he can get.=

=Don’t be afraid to work. Take work as it comes to you. Do not select the easiest jobs, or you will get tired of the hard ones before you reach them. Accustom yourself to work easily, and with your whole heart and skill.=

=Give your imagination full swing as to the uses of the work you are doing, and imagine how you could better it. This is efficiency and leads to invention.=

=Don’t brag about what you can do. Do it and there will not be any need to brag. Everybody will see what sort of a man you are and give you credit for common sense and for knowing more than you really do.=

=Surround yourself with good influences, a club, a church, or some society where you will be in touch with other men. Nobody who dares can afford to be a hermit, and the man who gets disheartened at the obstacles in his way, is a fool and ought not to and will not succeed.=

=Keep away from small vices and the large ones will not trouble you. This will make your sailing on a smooth sea, where there are no rocks or concealed reefs to wreck you.=

There are many other things that pertain to human life in its aspects as a road to success. But when you have done your best, do not be anxious because you have not done more. No man can accomplish everything in one short life, and the best we can do is all that is required of us. Look upon every man as a fellow worker, not in a vale of tears, but as cultivating a pleasant valley blooming with flowers. If your friend falls down help him up, and he will help you in return. If he offends you, do not notice it, for no man deliberately offends a friend. If disagreement is likely to lead to trouble, turn around to your opponent’s way of thinking. Everybody has burdens to bear; and never forget that yours are not the only ones hard to carry. Be a man who dares, and when life’s fitful fever is over, and you have accomplished all you could according to your lights and your ability, let a feeling of peace steal over you, and trust in God for the rest.

The man who desires to become a man of courage, and a man who dares, may gain force from the words of wisdom in the wise man’s philosophy expressed in the following essentials.

“Who so wise, and will observe these things, even they shall
understand the loving kindness of the Lord.”

—(_Psalms CV, 11–43._)

THE WISE MAN’S PHILOSOPHY

A WORLD OF KNOWLEDGE

For Progressive Colored Americans

“The wise in heart shall be called prudent: and the sweetness of the
lips increaseth learning.”

—(_Proverbs XVI, 21_)

The Secret of Successful Work

Knowing how to work is a secret all men do not possess.

When a man is born his life work is born with him, but the work he does remains after he is gone. Hence the necessity of doing good work for the evil work we do remains along with the good and hangs upon it like fetters upon a felon’s wrists.

Whether a man works with his hands or his brain he exhausts, uses up a certain quantity of his physical body. His brain, muscles, and every part of his body are drawn upon to help do the work in hand.

Now, a man may lessen the hardship of his work, or he may increase it by his manner of doing it.

When any work is begun, a certain amount of vital energy is started up and continues working until it is stopped. That energy is like the movement of a clock pendulum—it keeps on moving back and forth as long as it is kept wound up. When the clock runs down, the pendulum stops because there is no stored up force to keep it in motion.

This is exactly what takes place in the body when we work. We set the pendulum in motion and it keeps on going until the clock runs down, that is until we drop with exhaustion.

This vital energy is an intellectual quality, and when we work our mind keeps it active. It is the same when we make hard work of any job. The vital energy works hard also.

Some men, sawing a stick of wood, for instance, will begin sweating over the job before they have half sawed it through. That is, they have already finished the job so far as their vital energy is concerned but more vital energy must be exhausted to complete it.

Do not let your mind run ahead of your work, but keep it up even with that work. Then you will not tire out, and after a good sleep you will be fresh to begin another day. Work easily and steadily.

The Key to Success

Character; Education; Industry; Wealth.

These are the successive stages on the road to success, and they follow in their regular order.

Character belongs to every man individually, and can not be copied from another. It lies in the man; that is all anybody can tell about it. Natural probity combined with insight into what you are doing, your trade, business, occupation, etc., are the factors that make up character. It is different from reputation, for a man may have a bad reputation and still possess a good character. But he can not have a bad character and possess a good reputation. The power to succeed in business is character.

Education goes with character, and means more than learning or mere knowing. It means capacity and ability to utilize what you know. This is education.

You must not only know things but also know how to apply your knowledge, otherwise you are as well off as if you knew nothing.

Industry means diligence in developing character and utilizing education for all they are worth.

“The hand of the diligent maketh rich,” says Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived. He also says, “The diligent gaineth favor.”

Wealth comes by the observance of the foregoing and certain things which should be added. For instance:

To become industrious you must give yourself and your fellow man a fair exchange for what you receive.

You must watch your intellectual, spiritual and worldly welfare.

Progressive Colored Americans must seek opportunity which does not come of itself, and which has been denied them in the past.

You must make yourself, and follow high standards.

Start Right in Life
By Avoiding Foolish and Unnecessary Extravagances

Economy tells us we must learn to do without many things we would like, and forego all unnecessary luxuries, recreations and pleasures which call for money.

We can be happy without these things and enjoy the forgotten pleasures of home.

Cut down on rent, table, clothes, etc.

The burden of economy falls upon the women who do the marketing, cooking and housework.

Let the men save on personal expenses. A woman can throw out more at the back door than a man can bring in through the front, but his billiards or pool, cigars and drinks soon devour the pennies and dimes saved by the wife.

Do not buy what you do not need or that you can get along without.

Do not make fun of pennies and dimes as unimportant. Instead of saying, “It is only a penny,” say “It is a whole penny.”

Strive to learn economical buying. No one has enough money to say that cost is of no account. Get the very best for your money. Don’t buy blindly without inquiring the price, and always remember that a penny or a dime in your pocket is just as much at home as in that of the merchant.

Do not ride when you can walk. You need exercise and walking is the best and cheapest method, much cheaper and better than the bowling alley.

Don’t buy two pounds of meat when one pound will do; nor a bushel when a peck is sufficient.

The first fruits and vegetables of the season are expensive; wait a few days and they will be cheaper and more mature.

_Quick Sales and Small Profits_

Our modern system of transacting business has so materially changed from what it was a decade or so ago, that a special training is required to make a success.

Theoretically, the difference between the cost price and the selling price represents profit. But it often represents loss.

If goods could be delivered at your place of business at the invoice or purchase price, the selling price might cover some profit. But complications begin as soon as you have made a purchase.

There is transportation, insurance, demurrage, haulage, rent, light, heat, clerk hire, taxes, and perhaps license fees, to be added to the burden of the cost price.

With such, and so many additional charges, how can there be any profit, if the goods are sold customers at a fair price that will attract them?

There is only one way to cover possible loss and that is in getting rid of the goods at a small profit. If you do not, depreciation enters the field to compete with the other troubles, and with handling, dust, mussing, etc., you will have to put up a sign “Selling below cost,” or “Bargain Sale.”

A quick turn is the best turn in business, and to hold on to a price until you get a fixed profit you have determined on, is like refusing a good job because the wages or salary is lower than you have calculated upon getting. The opportunity slips away.

A landlord demands a certain rent for his premises and he will not come down a dollar a month. So his property is untenanted for a long time, and he loses in pocket although eventually he gets his price.

Make quick turns at small profits and repeat often. Nickel car fares are making the car companies multi-millionaires.

_The Early Bird Gets the Worm_

This is a saying that contains a large load of philosophy.

There is always a worm around for an early bird to pick up for breakfast. Of course it is very foolish for the worm to come out, but that is the way things are in this world.

What you have to do is to play the part of the bird by getting there first. To carry out the idea, remember that you are not the only bird after the foolish worm.

This means hustle on your part, and that is what every business must show—hustle.

In any event do not be the worm.

You watch the markets and take advantage of every fall in prices. Perhaps there is a small telegram in an out of the way place in your morning newspaper, which intimates that there is going to be a large shipment to market of potatoes, peaches, cabbages and so on. Down you go and put in an order at a small price and you get the product. Or, you have a lot on hand and a glut will lower prices. Up you get and down you go to sell out your lot at less than the market rates to those who have not yet seen the approach of a glut.

You do not have to wait for breakfast or for anything—just travel and hustle.

The weather report mentions a probable frost. Down you go and mark up the product likely to be affected. Everybody—every early bird is doing it, and it is the custom of business men to do this.

The worm picked up by the early bird is the man who says “Pooh! I don’t believe there is going to be any glut or any frost.”

This is a mighty big country and things are coming and going all the time. There is a big production and it is crowded to the point where there is liable to be a frost—that is a deficiency in the market, and then you have a glut. Keep your eyes and ears open and watch the market reports.

OPEN A SAVINGS BANK ACCOUNT

If you ever hope to be considered a thrifty citizen, a man to be looked up to, you must exhibit some financial standing.

You can do this by opening a savings bank account. A man who has a bank account is never ignored, whether his account is large or small. It means something substantial, and you feel more like holding up your head and looking at the sun without a smoked glass.

Many people save their money, or think they do, by hiding it away in the bottom of a trunk, burying it, or carrying it around in their pocket. These people generally lose their money because it is as easily accessible to others as well as to themselves.

Banks are safe institutions at the present day, but not a bank run by private parties for their own benefit. You must not be deceived by glowing promises of returns on your money, for they always come from those who are scheming to get it away from you without returning it.

There are all sorts of tricky people roaming about looking for those who have a little money saved up and who are afraid to put it into a savings bank. Do not listen to them for you will be deceived. You can not take up a newspaper without reading about some man or woman who has been defrauded of the little money hoarded in a tea pot, or burned up in an old stove, dug up from some secret hiding place under a tree, or picked from his pocket by an enterprising thief.

Trust your money to first-class savings banks and it will be there when you want it, and it can not be lost or stolen. The bank is responsible.

“Some banks burst.” True, but not a good bank, the shady ones always fail when they get a good sized roll.

If you do not know enough to put your money in a safe place, you do not deserve to have any, and you generally do not.

SAVE YOUR MONEY AND MAKE IT WORK FOR YOU

There is one open opportunity that everybody can take if he wishes to do so, and with very little exertion on his part.

The man who makes his money earn money for him relieves his own back of many heavy burdens.

To do this is the object and aim of every go ahead person, and there are many men who walk our streets who have money making money for them, even while they sleep.

All you have to do is to save your dollars instead of giving them away for somebody else to work with—work them yourself.

It is worth knowing that when you squander, or spend unnecessarily, one dollar, you are at the same time parting with a servant that will bring you in profitable returns—you are killing the goose that lays golden eggs.

Stop and think that whenever you part with one dollar you are sacrificing two or more dollars, some say, five or ten, for the reason that in the course of a few years, your dollar will earn you several other dollars by being put out at interest, or in bonds that pay good rates of interest.

It is a comforting thought to know that when you can not work, your money is working for you every moment.

The following tables will show you just what it does:

TIME IN WHICH MONEY DOUBLES.

═════════╤════════════════╤════════════════
Per Cent │ SIMPLE INT. │ COMP. INT.
─────────┼────────────────┼────────────────
2 │50 years │35 years
2½ │40 years │28 yrs. 26 da.
3 │33 yrs. 4 mos. │23 yrs. 164 da.
3½ │28 yrs. 208 da. │20 yrs. 54 da.
4 │25 years │17 yrs. 246 da.
4½ │22 yrs. 81 da. │15 yrs. 273 da.
5 │20 years │14 yrs. 75 da.
6 │16 yrs. 8 mos. │11 yrs. 327 da.
7 │14 yrs. 104 da. │10 yrs. 89 da.
8 │12½ years │9 yrs. 2 da.
9 │11 yrs. 40 da. │8 yrs. 16 da.
10 │10 years │7 yrs. 100 da.
─────────┴────────────────┴────────────────

=A Dollar Saved Is a Dollar Earned=

A small sum saved daily for fifty years will grow at the following rate:

DAILY SAVINGS RESULT
One cent $ 950
Ten cents 9,504
Twenty cents 19,006
Thirty cents 28,512
Forty cents 38,015
Fifty cents 47,520
Sixty cents 57,024
Seventy cents 66,528
Eighty cents 76,032
Ninety cents 85,537
One Dollar 95,041

BECOME A LAND OWNER

From the material point of view, there is nothing on this earth that leads to so much success, security, and social standing as the ownership of land.

By owning land you become a landlord, and you gain that opportunity by thrift and economy.

Land is the soundest investment in the world, and it has always been one of the great objects and hopes of the people of the earth to own a small slice of its surface.

If you own land, you acquire a sense of responsibility to the community where it is located. You are invested with a dignity which you can not obtain in any other way. You possess a sense of security and independence that nothing else will give you.

All over the world it is land which is considered first security. In this country, the courts refuse money or jewels for bail, insisting upon land as the requirement of the bond.

The reason is because land is a fixture; means security that can not be carried away or be lost, it is always there when it is wanted.

Buy land, therefore, if only a small portion. If you can not get forty acres, get twenty, or ten, or one, but get some land, and you will be surprised to find how fast your acre will become two, etc.

There are always opportunities to buy land on time, so that you do not have to wait until you have a large sum of money, but you can pay in small amounts on long time.

It is a good business that of real estate. You buy land, then subdivide it, sell a part to pay for the whole, and own the rest. It is a common, every day transaction, and is successful, but you must keep your eyes open.

OWN YOUR OWN HOME

A man without a home may as well be a man without a country. A home is bail for success in life. Not a mere place to live and sleep, or eat and get your washing done, but a home of your own, what an Englishman calls his “castle.” Yours where you are safe from intruders, and feel like a king in his own domain.

It is easy to acquire a home, but you must begin at the beginning and do as all others have done and will always do. Buy the beginning of a home with what you can easily save out of your earnings or wages.

The way to do is to buy a small lot for a home, a small piece of ground upon which you can build a little cage for yourself, your dear ones, and for your posterity, or in anticipation of such an event. It pays. The man who does not dream of a posterity is not a good citizen, a good friend, nor a safe man to deal with.

You do not have to pay out a large sum of money; a small sum to begin with will secure you a start toward a home. Paying gradually, you will soon have the ownership of a portion of this green earth, and a spot all your own. Then you can build when the ground is paid for. That is the key to a home—get a lot paid for and you can always secure a building fund.