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Re: Words of Wisdom
Posted:
Apr 16, 2009, 2:16 AM
Often attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson, it is an adaptation of a poem published in 1905 by Bessie Stanley
One of the most enduring misattributions of a work to Emerson is that of an inspirational prose passage called ?Success? that appears, most often assigned to Emerson if to anyone, on many Web pages. It goes
To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give of one?s self; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived?this is to have succeeded.1
As Joel Myerson demonstrates in ?Emerson?s ?Success??Actually, it is not,? Emerson Society Papers, 11, no. 1 (Spring 2000): 1, 8, this is not a work by Emerson.
In her 17 November 1990 column, ?Dear Abby? (Abigail Van Buren) answered a reader?s question ?How would you define success?? with the quote from ?my favorite American poet, essayist and philosopher? printed above. However, on 1 February 1992, a chastened Abby printed a letter from Arthur Stanley Harvey, who wrote that the quotation was based on something his grandmother, Bessie Anderson Stanley, had written in 1904, and that had been appropriated for many years by greeting card companies, including Hallmark, which had ?erroneously credited Robert Louis Stevenson as the author.? Abby then apologized, and printed what she described as the original from the 1904 Brown Book Magazine:
He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much; who has enjoyed the trust of pure women, the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who has left the world better than he found it, whether an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had; whose life was an inspiration; whose memory a benediction.
But more research shows another source. In the September 1904, Joe Mitchell Chapple, publisher of the Boston National Magazine, announced he would give $10,000 for ?Heart Throbs,? which he defined as ?those things that make us all kin; those things that endure?the classics of our own lives.? The people who sent in the ten best contributions would receive a pile of silver dollars, ?one silver dollar placed flat upon the other,? as ?will measure your exact height?; other major winners would receive twenty-five, ten, or five dollars; and five hundred lucky people (out of a total of 840 winners) would receive a dollar each. The results from this contest were published in a book, appropriately titled Heart Throbs, but it contained nothing by Stanley.2 Due to the success of this book, a second volume of Heart Throbs was published in 1911, ?Contributed by the People,? according to the title page. Unlike the first volume, this one contained ?the voluntary contribution of thousands,? including, on the very first page, ?What is Success?? by ?Bessie A. Stanley.? Significantly, Emerson?s ?Good-Bye? is also included (p. 7-8). The proximity of Stanley?s work to Emerson?s suggests that someone might have made the initial misattribution by copying Stanley?s work, then returning to seek the author and mistakenly using Emerson?s name from three leaves later; Stanley?s name appears on the third line of a verso page, Emerson?s on the fifth of a verso page, making such an eyeskip possible.3
_________________ NOTES
1. A popular variation of this reads ?To live well, to laugh often, to love much, to gain the respect of intelligent people, to win the love of little children. To fill one?s niche and accomplish one?s task, to leave the world better than one finds it whether by an improved flower, a perfect poem or another life ennobled. to never lack appreciation of earth?s beauty or fail to express it, to always look for the best in others, to give the best one has. To make one?s life an inspiration and one?s memory a benediction. This is success.?
2. Heart Throbs, [ed. Joseph Mitchell Chapple] (Boston: Chapple Publishing Company, 1905), pp. v-vi.
3. Heart Throbs, Volume Two, [ed. Joseph Mitchell Chapple] (Boston: Chapple Publishing Company, 1911), pp. ii, 1-2. Surprisingly, ?What is Success? is attributed to ?Anon.? in the index. The text of ?What is Success?? differs in wording from that published by ?Dear Abby? as follows:
He . . . much; [?who has enjoyed the trust of pure women? not present; ?who has gained? present] the respect . . . task [?who has left the world better than he found it? not present], whether [?by? present] an improved . . soul; [?who has never lacked appreciation of earth?s beauty, or failed to express it? present] who has always . . given [?them? not present] the best . . . inspiration; [?and? present] whose memory a benediction.
Message was edited by: zoeyk at Apr 15, 2009 8:21 PM
Scire hostis animum - Intelligere ludum - Nosce te ipsum - Prima moventur conciliat - Nolite errare
Thanks Zoey. It looks like my research has been narrowed down. Even with the internet as a resource, I miss living a hop, skip, and a jump from the Carnegie Library. Now my search is on for the 1904 Brown Book Magazine...
Wow nice work Zoey.....I TOTALLY thought that was Emerson from citations I'd seen in the past and kickass of Jaq to start this thread in the 1st place IMO....cool topic in general that I bet takes on a life of it own. Speaking of which I have one that I'd like to see found that's eluded me for some years as well. It too was attributed to Emerson (methinks) and the best I can recall to paraphrase is "Your actions are a beacon standing five feet above your head screaming at me so loud that I cannot hear a word that you are saying." Anyone heard that before or know where it can be found and correctly quoted/attributed? BTW no reply from Parry's foundation yet, but just as well for me cuz I just got Nikki Sixx's book in the mail lol
"Your actions are a beacon standing five feet above your head screaming at me so loud that I cannot hear a word that you are saying."
It seems to me that I have seen this passage in my literary travels, although at the moment I can't remember where. Even though the sentiment has been conveyed in many ways for thousands of years, this particular verbiage sounds as though it could have been spoken by Benjamin Franklin, or Thomas Jefferson, or William Penn. I think it has a rather colonial ring to it. I will post it at the school where I teach. Perhaps someone there will be familiar with it.
Message was edited by: jaqueline_ at Apr 16, 2009 5:59 AM
Recently I stumbled upon the following 2 quotes attributed to Albert Einstein. I am posting both of them as they seem to me to be apropos to this thread. By the way, there were more than a few who considered Einstein to be rather eccentric and a bit strange.
"What is popular is not always right and what is right is not always popular."
"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."
Message was edited by: jaqueline_ at Apr 16, 2009 6:08 AM
Following is another essay I have come across on two separate occasions. To the best of my knowledge the author is unknown...
Two Wolves
One evening a very old and wise grandfather told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside all people.
He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.
One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, fear, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, deceitful, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, courage, and faith."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"
The old man simply replied, "Whichever one you feed."
Message was edited by: jaqueline_ at Apr 17, 2009 8:49 AM
Message was edited by: jaqueline_ at Apr 17, 2009 6:02 AM
Following is another excerpt. This one from Victor Frankl's book "Man's Search for Meaning".
We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing:
The last of the human freedoms ~ to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.
No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of our knowledge.
The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness.
If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.
The astronomer may speak to you of his understanding of space, but he cannot give you his understanding.
The musician may sing to you of the rhythm which is in all space, but he cannot give you the ear which arrests the rhythm nor the voice that echoes it.
And he who is versed in the science of numbers can tell of the regions of weight and measure, but he cannot conduct you thither.
For the vision of one man lends not its wings to another man.
And even as each one of you stands alone in God's knowledge, so must each one of you be alone in his knowledge of God and in his understanding of the earth.
