A Word Of Appreciation Often Can Accomplish

Which Is More Worthwhile Earning: A Large Fortune Or The Esteem And Gratitude Of The Nation? This Question Is Prompted Anew By The Death Of Ex-secretary Of The Interior [franklin K.] Lane. He Remained In Public Service, Doing Most Noble Work, Until His Means Became Absolutely Exhausted, And He Died Before Having Had The Opportunity To Reaccumulate Any Bank Account.... He Died Leaving No Estate Whatsoever. Is What He Did Leave More To Be Desired, More To Be Coveted, Than A Fortune Reaching Into Six Or Seven Figures?

A Magazine Editor Recently Asked Me To Sit Down On My 40th Birthday And Write An Article On The Most Important Things I Had Learned In My First 40 Years. I Told Him That The Chief Thing I Had Learned Was That The Copybook Maxims Are True, But That Too Many People Forget This Once They Go Out Into The Heat And Hustle And Bustle Of The Battle Of Life And Only Realize Their Truth Once One Foot Is Beginning To Slip Into The Grave. The Man Who Has Won Millions At The Cost Of His Conscience Is A Failure.

Whenever Calamity Howlers Shake Their Heads And Impress Upon You That This, That, And The Next Dire Catastrophe Is To Befall This Nation Or The Nations Of The World-such As, For Example, That Exhaustion Of The World's Oil Supply Will Bring All Transportation And Machinery To A Standstill Through Lack Of Lubrication, Or That Exhaustion Of The Earth's Stores Of Coal Will Make Life Unlivable In These Cold Climates-just Smile And Reply That The Worst Troubles Of All Are Those That Never Happen [and] That You Prefer Not To Cross Shaky Bridges Until You Come To Them.

What Would You Call America's Most Priceless Asset? Surely Not Its Limitless Natural Resources, Not Its Matchless National Wealth, Not Its Unequalled Store Of Gold, Not Its Giant Factories, Not Its Surpassing Railroads, Not Its Unprecedented Volume Of Cheap Power. Is Not Its Most Priceless Asset The Character Of Its People, Their Indomitable Self-confidence, Their Transcendent Vision, Their Sleepless Initiative And, Perhaps Above All, Their Inherent, Irrepressible Optimism?

History Has Demonstrated That The Most Notable Winners Usually Encountered Heartbreaking Obstacles Before They Triumphed. They Won Because They Refused To Become Discouraged By Their Defeats.