Roger Ward Babson

“ The mind of man is a wonderful thing, but unless the soul of man is awakened he must lack faith, power, originality, ambition,—those vital elements which make a man a real producer. I do not say that you can awaken this force in every soul. If you are an employer, perhaps only a few of all your employees can be made to understand. But this much is certain,—in every man or woman in whom you can loose the power of this invisible something, you will mobilize a force, not only for his or her good, but for the good and perhaps the very salvation of your own business. ”

“ To religion we owe our civilization and to the Church we owe our religion. All there is in the world to-day that is worth while comes from men filled with, and from groups actuated by, these fundamentals of integrity, faith, industry, brotherly love and those other factors which come only through God. The Church to-day deserves the credit for keeping these factors before the world. Hence, it is evident that the people of America have not the bankers to thank for their security and prosperity, but rather the preachers and the churches. ”

“ It is absolutely impossible for any individual to develop the above fundamentals of prosperity,—faith, integrity, industry and brotherly kindness—without being successful. I care not whether he is a doctor, teacher, banker, lawyer, business man or manufacturer. That same thing is true of groups and of nations. It is fundamental law, “Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.” Those who serve will be served; those who knock will be knocked; those who boost will be boosted. We are paid in the coin that we give. We are forgiven as we forgive. If we are friendly, we will make friends. ”

“ What are the sources of these fundamentals of prosperity? Where do we get this faith, integrity, industry, coöperation and interest in the soul of man upon which civilization is based?
As already explained, we do not get it from the raw materials. We have always had the raw materials. We do not get it from education. From a statistical point of view Germany is the best educated country in the world. It has the least illiteracy. It has the largest percentage of scientific culture. No, these three fundamentals do not come from education. They do not come from the inheritance of property. ”

“ I found that only five per cent. of these captains of industry are the sons of bankers; only ten per cent. of them are the sons of manufacturers; fifteen per cent. of them are the sons of merchants, while over thirty per cent. of them are the sons of poor preachers and farmers.
Why is it that ministers’ sons hold a much more important place in the industrial development of America than the sons of bankers? The ministers’ sons inherit no wealth, they have no more than their share of college education; they are not especially religious as the world measures religion. ”

“ The bridging of rivers, the building of railroads, the launching of steamships, and the creation of all industries are dependent on the faith of somebody. Too much credit is given both to capital and labour in the current discussions of to-day. The real credit for most of the things which we have is due to some human soul which supplied the faith that was the mainspring of every enterprise. Furthermore in most instances this human soul owes this germ of faith to some little country church with a white steeple and old-fashioned furnishings. ”

“ Integrity is a dry seed until put in the ground of faith and allowed to grow. But faith with works is prosperity.
A man may be honest and wonder why he does not get ahead; a man may have vision and still remain only a dreamer; but when integrity and vision are combined with hard work, the man prospers. It is the same with classes and nations.
It has been said that genius is the author of invention. Statistics do not support this statement. The facts show that industry is the mother of invention. ”

“ I am not a preacher. I am simply a business man, and my work is almost wholly for bankers, brokers, manufacturers, merchants and investors. The concern with which I am associated has one hundred and eighty people in a suburb of Boston who are collecting, compiling and distributing statistics on business conditions. We have only one source of income, and that is from the clients who pay us for an analysis of the situation. Therefore you may rest assured that it is impossible for us to do any propaganda work in the interests of any one nation, sect, religion or church. ”

“ Responsibilities develop faith, vision, courage, initiative, and other things that make the world go round.
Just as our property is safe, only as the other fellow’s property is safe; just as our daughter is safe, only as the other fellow’s daughter is safe; so is it also true that, in order to develop the human soul in other men, we have to give those men something. We must give them a chance. We must give them opportunity. We must give them a boost. All of us are simply storage batteries. We get out of life what we put into life. ”

“ Most of us to-day are frantically trying to invent a machine which will solve our problems, when all the while we have the machine within us, if we will only set it going. That machine is the human soul. ”

“ The reason that some people are not successful with collective bargaining and profit sharing and all these other plans is because they think that men act according to what they say, or according to what they learn, or according to that in which they agree. Men act according to their feelings, and “good feeling” is synonymous with the spirit of coöperation. One cannot exist without the other and prosperity cannot continue without both. ”

“ Integrity, however, is very much broader than the above illustration would indicate. Integrity applies to many more things than to money. Integrity requires the seeking after, as well as the dispensing of, truth. It was this desire for truth which founded our educational institutions, our sciences and our arts. All the great professions, from medicine to engineering, rest upon this spirit of integrity. Only as they so rest, can they prosper or even survive. ”

“ Civilization is ultimately dependent on the ability of men to coöperate. The best barometer of civilization is the desire and ability of men to coöperate. The willingness to share with others,—the desire to work with others is the great contribution which Christianity has given to the world. The effect of this new spirit is most thrilling when one considers the clothes which he has on his back, the food which he has on the table, the things which he has in the house, and thinks of the thousands of people whose labour has directly contributed toward these things. ”

“ The nation is only a mass of individuals. The true prosperity of a country depends upon the same qualities as the true prosperity of its people. As religion is necessary for the man, it is also necessary for the nation. As the soul of man needs to be developed, so also does the soul of the nation. ”

“ These things are only symptoms of conditions, mere barometers which register the faith and vision of mankind.
This religion which we talk about for an hour a week, on Sunday, is not only the vital force which protects our community, but it is the vital force which makes our communities. The power of our spiritual forces has not yet been tapped! ”

“ Religion has been cheapened by singing about “salvation’s free for you and me.” When we have our legal difficulties, we go to a lawyer and pay him; when we have a pain we go to a doctor and pay him; if we want our children taught we pay the price; but if we want our children instructed in the fundamentals of prosperity upon which their future depends, we send them to a Sunday School for a half-hour a week with the possibility of having them taught by a silly girl who doesn’t know her work. In any event the parent seldom takes the trouble to ascertain the quality of the teaching. ”

“ The reason I say “old-fashioned” church is because our fathers were more willing to rely upon the power of faith than many of us to-day. What they lacked in many other ways was more than compensated by their faith in God. They got, through faith, “that something” which men to-day are trying to get through every other means. All the educators, all the psychologists, all the inspirational writers cannot put into a man the vision and the will to do things which are gained by a clear faith. ”

“ Business men are the one group that can do it. They understand the emotions, understand the importance of the intangible things. They understand how to awaken in people new motives. So my appeal is not to wait too long to revive man and awaken the soul which is slumbering to-day. ”

“ Statistics teach that where there is no vision, civilization never gets started! The tangible things which we prize so highly,—buildings, railroads, steamships, factories, power plants, telephones, aeroplanes, etc., are but the result of faith and vision. ”

“ I simply say it happens and the salvation of our industries depends on discovering something which will revive in man that desire to produce and that joy in production which he had instinctively when he was a small boy.
Increased wages will not do it. Shorter hours will not do it. The wage worker must feel right and the employer must feel right. It is all a question of feeling. Feelings rule this world,—not things. ”

“ I am sure that if Jesus were here to-day, He would tell us all that we are idiots for striving so to accumulate things—building ourselves bigger houses, getting bigger bank accounts and more automobiles. Hence, when the socialist or the radical or the labour leader complains to me, I frankly admit this fact. Without doubt the Church should emphasize that property of itself is of no value, and the only things worth while in life are happiness and the health and the freedom which come from living an upright, simple life. ”

“ In fact, statistics show us that the very things which most people think of as advantages, namely, wealth and “not having to work” are really obstacles which are rarely surmounted.
Industry and thrift are closely allied. Economic studies show clearly that ninety-five per cent. of the employers are employers because they systematically saved money. Any man who systematically saves money from early youth automatically becomes an employer. He may employ thousands or he may have only two or three clerks in a country store, but he nevertheless is an employer. ”

“ Statistics indicate that very seldom does a child, brought up in a city apartment house, amount to much; while the children of well-to-do city people are seriously handicapped. The great educator of the previous generation was not the public school, but rather the wood box. Those of us parents who have not a wood box for our children to keep filled, or chores for them to do, are unfortunate.
Run through the list of the greatest captains of industry, as they come to your mind. How many of the men who are really directing the country’s business gained their position through inherited wealth? ”

“ As probably few of you readers are clients of ours, may I quote from a Bulletin which we recently sent to these bankers and manufacturers?
“The need of the hour is not more legislation. The need of the hour is more religion. More religion is needed everywhere, from the halls of Congress at Washington, to the factories, the mines, the fields and the forests. It is one thing to talk about plans or policies, but a plan or policy without a religious motive is like a watch without a spring or a body without the breath of life. ”

“ But the teachings of Jesus along these lines have a very much broader application than when applied merely to raw materials, or even manufactured products. As we can begin to prosper only when we develop into finished products the raw materials of the fields, mines and forests, so we can become truly prosperous only as we develop the greatest of all resources,—the human resources. Not only does Christianity demand that we seek to help and build up others; but our own prosperity depends thereon as well. ”

“ With our eyes focused on the structure above ground, we have lost sight of those human resources, thrift, imagination, integrity, vision and faith which make the structure possible. I feel that only by the business men can this foundation be strengthened before the inevitable fall comes. ”

“ There are two groups of people who criticize the Church. First, there are those who claim great love for their fellow-men, but do not go to church because it is allied with the property interests of the community. I believe that to be the fundamental reason why the wage workers, labour leaders, socialists and radicals are not interested in the Church. They believe that the Church is too closely allied with property. I have been severely criticized myself for presenting the Church as a defender of property and as a means of making your home, your business and your securities safer. ”

“ Whenever this line of religious interest turns downward and reaches a low level, history shows that it is time to prepare for a reaction and depression in business conditions. Every great panic we have ever had has been foreshadowed by a general decline in observance of religious principles. On the other hand, when the line of religious interest begins to climb and the nation turns again to the simple mode of living laid by in the Bible, then it is time to make ready for a period of business prosperity. ”

“ The same man is not going to be expected to preach on Love, Hate, the League of Nations, How to Settle Labour Disputes and the Health of the Community and every other subject. All of these men will preach the salvation of Jesus, but each one will specialize in one particular phase of the Christian life, such as Faith, Integrity, Industry, Coöperation. Then we will take more stock in our preachers because they won’t pretend to know every subject. Then the preacher will not be of lesser intelligence than the average audience. ”