“ The secret of success, as far as those who cater to public amusement is concerned, is the placing of one’s fingers upon the pulse of the public and shape one’s methods and manners in accordance with the knowledge so obtained. Victor Herbert, the composer, has so shaped his career, and, while his work is more or less identified with the lighter forms of comic opera, he nevertheless has exhibited unmistakable musical genius. ”

“ People say that such and such a person has genius for what he or she takes in hand, and that is the secret of the success attained. But I say that genius means strong devotion and steadfast application. You may imagine that you can go from the bottom to the top of the ladder at one jump, but it is not true. Going up the ladder at one jump is like the toy monkey that goes up at a jump and comes down head first. The men and women who achieve true success are all hard climbers. ”

“ Especially for boys, I consider an intelligent, affectionate but considerate mother an almost indispensable requisite to the highest success. If you would improve the rising generation to the utmost, appeal first to the mothers.”
“In what way?”
“Above all things else, show them that reasonable self-denial is a thousandfold better for a boy than to have his every wish gratified. Teach them to encourage industry, economy, concentration of attention and purpose, and indomitable persistence.” ”

“ I will say, however, that some of the men whom down in the States you call captains of industry have my admiration. I care very little whether they give money to charity, whether their work is colored by an active consciousness of its value to anybody outside of their families, their friends and themselves. Most of the men of this stamp are just in their dealings, and it is to their initiative force that the United States owes her material greatness. They have started wheels of industry that have given honest work and many of the comforts of life to millions of self-respecting men. ”

“ The realm of power has no fascination for me. I would rather have my seclusion and peace of mind. This log hut, with its bare floors, is sufficient. I am set down among the beauties of nature, and in no danger of losing the riches that are scattered all about. No one will take my walks or my brook away from me. The flowers, birds and animals are plentifully provided. I have enough to eat and wear, and time to see how beautiful the world is, and to enjoy it. ”

“ As an Irish wit recently put it, “When in Paris, he does as the parasites do,” and he conducts himself and clothes himself as a well regulated citizen should.
So John Burroughs is rich, not in money, but in thought, in simplicity, in the knowledge that he is making the best of life. He has found out that money is not everything, that all the money in the world will not buy a light heart, or a good name,—that there is a place for every one, and in that place alone can a man be of service to himself or others,—that there alone can he be successful; there only can he be “rich without money!” ”

“ Why, success involves the complete expression of all of one’s powers, and every one leaves a lasting impression on the life of the world. The man who is sincere in the expressing of himself, in whatever line it may be, becomes a factor in the world. Genuine success is the kind that is helpful to others, as well as to the one who is striving. Every other kind falls short of the mark and becomes stale. How to achieve success? ”

“ The high prize of life, the crowning fortune of a man, is to be born with a bias to some pursuit, which finds him in employment and happiness.—Emerson.
A man that is young in years may be old in hours, if he have lost no time.—Bacon.
The one prudence in life is concentration; the one evil is dissipation; and it makes no difference whether our dissipations are coarse or fine.... Everything is good which takes away one plaything and delusion more, and sends us home to add one stroke of faithful work.—Emerson. ”

“ As far as the mere cultivation of her voice was concerned, her natural gifts were of such a nature that she had no difficulty in overcoming the technical obstacles of her art, but the spirit of jealousy and suspicion which success usually arouses in the breasts of the unknown, prevented her talents from being duly recognized, or, to put it in another way, she was so belittled by her rivals that she had to individually satisfy every great city in America that she had not been overrated. ”

“ The trouble with a great many young men is that they have a wrong conception of success. Large numbers imagine it lies in mere money-making. Yet the average millionaire is not a happy or even a contented man. He has been so engrossed from his youth in piling up dollars that he has had no time for the cultivation of the higher qualities of his mind and heart, in the exercise of which the only true happiness is to be found. ”

“ Young men, in haste to achieve success, force themselves. The able ones rise with a rapidity which, I think is the reverse of beneficial in the long run. A reaction, an aftermath, is apt to come. Their mental and physical elasticity is apt to prematurely disappear, with the result that they will too soon find themselves past the summit of their careers and traveling the declivity on the other side. The great cities on this continent, and particularly those of the United States, have a voracious appetite for the vitality of youth. They develop a man, yes, but they also exhaust him. ”

“ The main thing for a boy is to have a good mother, to heed her advice, to do his best, and not get a ‘swelled head’ as he rises—in other words, not to expect to put a gallon into a pint cup or a bushel into a peck measure. Concentration, decision, industry and economy should be his watchwords, and invincible determination and persistence his rule of action. ”

“ To live, we must work, and one must work to live. It is not birth, nor money, nor a college education, that makes a man; it is work. It has brought me commercial success. I am a practical man, yet I can never express too earnestly my thankfulness that I learned from my good mother to set up usefulness as my standard of success—usefulness to others as well as to myself. ”

“ I believe I have the reputation of being a hard worker. However this may be, I will say that I have always made it a rule to give painstaking attention to seemingly unimportant details in my legal cases, and have frequently won them on this account. This habit, acquired in my youth, of looking after small matters, has made it much easier for me to take care of the large affairs of my clients and of my party since I have entered politics. I know of no surer road to both general and political success than the obvious highway of hard work, coupled, of course, with common sense. ”

“ Jerome did more than any one man, or, for that matter, any one group of men to free New York from certain evil influences which had fastened themselves upon it and its citizens. Here is what he says relative to his political success, but his remarks apply equally to success of all kinds: “A young man must have strong convictions of the right kind, hold to them through thick and thin, be willing to accept defeats smilingly, if necessary begin his work all over again, but still stick to it—and victory is assured.” ”

“ Marcella Stengel Sembrich is one of the several prima donnas to whom the American music-loving public has remained loyal for many years. As an artist she ranks with the foremost singers of to-day, while her domestic life is of an ideal nature. As a rule, the law of compensation takes greatly where it gives freely, and so the woman of talent who devotes herself to the service of the public is apt to be the loser as far as home life is concerned. In Mme. Sembrich’s case it is otherwise, however, and her social popularity, too, is no less than is her vogue on the operatic stage. ”

“ With all his opinions Canadians do not agree, but they are united in their admiration for his qualities as a man and a scholar. A mention of his name brings an expression of liking and pride to the face of every intelligent resident of the Dominion. A mention of his well-known belief that Canada and the United States will eventually be one brings a smile which well expresses the average Canadian’s feeling that their leading philosopher’s idea of the union of the great commonwealths is too abstract and remote to arouse alarm in the patriotic breast. ”

“ I inquired, “do you consider the chief requisite of success in political life?”
Mr. Blair paused, and turned his eyes reflectively toward the window. “This is a difficult question,” he answered slowly. “There are, of course, numerous qualities that combine to give a man success in politics as in any other pursuit. But I am sure that the prime essential of the man who is ambitious to hold any lasting influence in political life is character. ”

“ No man can stand higher in the love and respect of the community, and wield a more potent influence, than the family doctor....
“As to your work, I have a single bit of advice which I give with the earnest conviction of its paramount influence in any success which may have attended my efforts in life: Take no thought of the morrow. Live neither in the past nor the future, but let each day’s work absorb your entire energy and satisfy your widest ambition.” ”

“ Bristol’s long streets, bordered from end to end with wide-spreading, aged trees, and lined with great dwellings of the colonial era, savor of a delightful antiquity which has not had time to grow musty, but has been well cared for by successive generations and has a sufficiently close relation to modern life to kindle a real affection in us of recent growth, not unlike that felt by the toddling urchin for his white-haired and gold-spectacled grandmother. ”

“ He very strongly feels that truth is a most important element in any permanent success in storekeeping and in life in general. In addition to Mr. Eaton’s constant vigilance in the interest of his patrons, he has always in mind the well-being of his employees. He was one of the pioneers in the movement for shorter hours, believing that opportunities for legitimate rest and recreation give those who are in his service an added zeal and energy which materially increase the satisfaction of buyers and has a direct beneficial effect upon the profits and progress of the store. ”

“ Amid scenes like these, one expects to find men and women of culture and general ability, but does not look for world-renowned specialists. No one is surprised at a display of enterprise in a “booming” western town, where everybody is “hustling”; but in a place which has once ranked as the third seaport in America, but has seen its maritime glory decline, a man who can establish a marine industry on a higher plane than was ever before known, and attract to his work such world-wide attention as to restore the vanished fame of his town, is no ordinary person. ”

“ Drew, William Winter, the well-known critic, wrote “that he possesses drollery, the talent of apparent spontaneity, and the faculty of crisp emotion. He has surpassed all young actors of his day as a gay cavalier and the bantering farceur of the drawing-room drama of modern social life. He is thoroughly in earnest, and his attitude toward his art is that of intellectual purpose and authority.” ”

“ In studying nature. It has all come by living close to the plants and animals of the woods and fields, and coming to understand them. There I have been successful. Men who, like myself, are deficient in self-assertion, or whose personalities are flexible and yielding, make a poor show in business, but in certain other fields these defects become advantages. Certainly it is so in my case. I can succeed with bird or beast, for I have cultivated my ability in that direction. I can look in the eye of an ugly dog or cow and win, but with an ugly man I have less success. ”

“ Strauss himself is an excellent example of the success of the principle which he urges upon others as a rule of life. His whole career has been distinguished by tireless energy and industry, and the interests which are under his control have never suffered for any lack [425] of careful and thorough attention. He has always been deliberate and consistent in adopting and adhering to any policy, public or private, and never deserts those whom he has seen fit to honor with his confidence, save on absolute proof of their unworthiness. ”

“ THOUGH he lost his fight against Sir Wilfrid Laurier for the Premiership of Canada in the general election of 1904, Robert Laird Borden is still one of the Dominion’s important figures.
He is in the prime of life. He has conspicuous ability, remarkable energy and an indomitable will. What a man with this combination of qualities sets his mind upon he usually obtains. Mr. Borden freely acknowledges his ambition to reach the top notch of political success, and there are a great many Canadians who believe that he will yet be Premier. ”