putting off the uncomfortable.
Now, the way to avoid the sting of a nettle is to grasp it vigorously, quickly. The way to take the sting out of a disagreeable task is to do it quickly, vigorously; not to dilly-dally with it, not to play with it and torture ourselves, but to get right after it, to attack it, wrestle with it, with determination to accomplish it.
Courage is an indispensable quality in our success; but if it is not balanced and regulated by prudence, cautiousness, it will run away with us and lead us into all sorts of foolhardy things. Boldness is a great quality when it is held in check by proper cautiousness and guided by good judgment.
I know a man whose courage is very much over-developed and his faculty of caution is very deficient. He does not know what fear means, and he plunges into all sorts of foolish operations which do not turn out well, and he is always trying to get out of things which he has gone into hastily. If his prudence had been equally developed with his courage, with his boldness, he would have made a very strong man.
Even the highest moral faculties, like benevolence, may ruin a man if he does not have good sense. It might lead him to give away everything he has, and not even provide for his family; and in that way great development, even of the highest faculties, may defeat their beneficent ends. I know another man who is the perfection of kindness, who would do anything to help any one in trouble; but he entirely lacks the restraining, regulating quality of prudence, good judgment, and he gives away everything he has, and even robs his family of the comforts of life. He does not mean to, but he is not well-balanced.
Whatever you believe or do not believe, do not get morbid or cranky upon any subject, for it is inevitably fatal to advancement.
Some of the ablest young men and young women I know have been fearfully handicapped in their efforts to get on because they have developed morbid tendencies.
People who are carried away with fads and fancies, who become morbid and cranky, are usually very susceptible to suggestion. If there is any new fad that is epidemic in the neighborhood, they always catch it. It has its regular run with them like the measles, and they are all carried away with it until something else takes its place.
Now, all of these mental peculiarities, cranky notions, do not belong with a level head. They indicate one-sided development. They do not accompany good judgment or soundness of mind, and this is why their victims are always placed at such a disadvantage.
Morbid people are narrow. They lack breadth, sympathy, generosity. The magnanimous, charitable soul does not think that he is right and everybody else is wrong. He gives everybody a fair chance. He is charitable and broad and generous towards those who differ with him, knowing that he is just as liable to be mistaken as they are.
I know a handsome, splendidly educated young lady so morbid on religious subjects that she has become a nuisance by always harping on religious matters. She is almost ostracized from society, and has lost about all her friends. She does not realize that people do not understand her, and has grown so morose and melancholy that her family are very much alarmed about her. She has a great deal of ability and is extremely attractive. She is also a fine teacher, and loves to teach, but she can not get a school because of these morbid tendencies. And the worst of it all is that she has settled down to the conviction that she is peculiar, and that she can not get rid of these peculiarities. If she would only stoutly plan to be normal, and persist in being like other people, and not allow herself to dwell upon things which have been such a serious injury to her, she would soon regain her reputation and largely overcome her morbid tendencies. But she insists upon carrying religious tracts in her pocket wherever she goes and handing them out to strangers, and especially to those she sees under the influence of drink or who bear the marks of dissipation, till everybody who knows her avoids her, because they do not like to enter into unpleasant discussions on religious subjects.
Many people persist in always airing their peculiar beliefs, their fads and fancies, at every opportunity. Many regard this as a sacred duty. They feel that it would be cowardly not to declare themselves, or to hide their beliefs and theories.
We are only considering the results of morbid tendencies upon one’s chances in life.
The fact is that people are afraid of those who are morbid, because it indicates a lack of balance, indicates weaknesses. They are prejudiced against all peculiarities, because they have in mind the normal standard.
Employers are always afraid of people with morbid minds. They are afraid of personal peculiarities that indicate departures from the normal.
I have in mind a man of estimable qualities, who has gone daft on the subject of foods. He is one of the most intelligent men I know, but you can not talk with him five minutes without his trying to draw you into a philosophical discussion of food values, and to convince you that the real reason you are fat or lean, have dyspepsia, poor sight, or' rheumatism, is because of too little or too much of certain constituents in your foods and drinks.
He will proceed to go into the chemistry and the physiology of foods until you will get disgusted and leave him, and endeavor to keep out of his way in the future.
Another acquaintance, a man of great ability, has become morbid upon the question of medicine. Every time you see him he will have some new remedy which he believes will revolutionize the physical condition of the race, if people would only persist in trying it. Yet he came near ruining his own health in his experiments, and, although a man of great general ability, he carries little weight in his community, because everybody points to him as a crank.
A wealthy man refused to pay for a yacht built for him not long ago by a boat-builder with a great name, because it had too much sail for the ballast. The skipper of the boat testified at the trial that he did not dare put out all the sail, except in moderate weather, because of the danger of capsizing. The boat was all right in pleasant weather, but dangerous in bad weather.
There are plenty of people like this boat. They have too much sail, too little ballast for bad weather. They make a big show, lots of pretense, but they have no reserve. They are not reliable in an emergency. They lack stability.
The great problem of the racing yacht builder is to secure the greatest speed consistent with safety. The lines of the boat must not only be constructed so as to cause only the least possible resistance to the water, but the builder must also provide against the possibility of sudden squalls or a heavy sea.
Every man should Have good sense, good judgment, to steady his conduct in any emergency, so that he will not lose his Head and topple over under provocation, but keep cool and carry a steady hand, no matter what happens.
The compass of one’s judgment must point as true in a storm as in the sunshine.
Chapter XII.
Getting The Best Out Of Employees
There are certain plants and trees which kill the chances of every other growing thing in their neighborhood. They so poison the soil and the air that everything about them is stunted, starved, blighted.
Some employers so poison their environment that even the most capable employees can not prosper under them. Their atmosphere is so suffocating, so depressing, that those about them feel restrained, repressed, suppressed. They can not act naturally in their presence or do themselves justice. They feel nervous and ill at ease. I have known of employees who worked years in such an atmosphere without getting ahead. They thought it was lack of ability that kept them
