m*- w - Clpdigital.org

748 ILLUSTRATED WORLD
direct result on the outward action; to
believe that we can, gives us impetus to
act; to believe that we can't, holds us
back from doing what otherwise we
could have done.
Take another form of the same principle:
that we have learned all we can
about our business or profession, and
that there is nothing new to be thought
of. I heard of a young English lady
recently who affirmed she had nothing
more to learn about the French language
; a most immodest
confession to
make, seeing there are
many Frenchmen, professors
of philology,
who are still studying
their own tongue, and
learning something
new concerning it.
To have reached
finality is really to begin
to go back. In a
similar manner
it is true
that if you
believe you,
in your business,
have
got as far as
you can, improved
your
advertising
so that no
further
improvement is possible, and, in general,
have reached the apex, you begin to go
back. Fight against this feeling, or
rather conviction. Advancement can
only come if you believe it is possible to
advance; that is the mental law. Note
its action in the world of literature. The
novelist who says, "There are no new
plots," is not likely to startle the world
with a brilliant story, and the man who
denies a profitable variation in his business
will be a "jogger" to the end of his
days. Originality, for you, is consulting
yourself, thinking out ideas without the
aid of other people. At first this originality
may not be worth much because
Even if a Man's Ideas Are a Bit "Cranky", Let 'em Outl
you have stultified your powers by copying
your competitors, or accepting what
custom has given; it may even cause
laughter. But if you persevere you gain
confidence; and with confidence new
ideas of real value insinuate themselves.
The belief that we are either original in
our thinking or not, is foolish. Originality
is a growth.
Of course it is not possible for a man
to start out in a new line of business—
knowing: nothing of that line—and expect
to make a
success through
original ideas
alone. Once in
a blue moon this
is accomplished,
but even when
it is a c c o mplished
the fact
is self evident
that success
would have
come more
easily had the
adventurer possessed
a sound
knowledge of the
rudiments of the
business and its history
before attempting
to apply his own
creative genius. The
ordinary man must
serve his apprenticeship,
whether the line of business he is
entering is selling bird cages or building
Panama Canals. He must learn to use a
spade before delving into original research
in the use of that spade.
But the difficulty with ordinary men
has been and is that they allow sound
fundamentals to kill off their individuality.
Their ideas become atrophied in the
school of experience; imagination succumbs
to fact. The ideal combination—
one which makes surely for success in
the long run—is sound business training
coupled with the ability to lift one's self
from the rigid rut now and then, and
look at the stars.