Nixon Waterman - Boy Wanted

Anxiety never yet successfully bridged over any chasm. – Ruffini.

True merit is like a river, the deeper it is the less noise it makes. – Halifax.

You hope, and perchance believe, no doubt, that when you have a full opportunity to show the world what sort of timber you are made of that it will look upon you as being a “genius.” Almost every boy cherishes some such aspiration. And why not? Such a trend of thought is to be encouraged. It is proper and commendable. We would all be geniuses if we could.

We know what we are, but not what we may be. – Shakespeare.

The world admires a genius. If he is the genuine article it seeks his autograph, prints his picture in books and newspapers, and when he passes away it is likely to build a monument over his remains.

Vacillation is the prominent feature of weakness of character. – Voltaire.

And can we all be geniuses? Some say we can and some say we cannot, quite. Some say geniuses are born and some say they are self-made.

When Mr. Edison, the famous electrician and inventor, was asked for his definition of genius he answered: “Two per cent is genius and ninety-eight per cent is hard work.” On another occasion when asked: “Mr. Edison, don’t you believe that genius is inspiration?” he replied, “No! genius is perspiration.”

Conduct is three-fourths of life. – Emerson.

This definition of genius quite agrees with that given by the American statesman, Alexander Hamilton, who said: “All the genius I have lies in just this: When I have a subject in hand, I study it profoundly. Day and night it is before me. I explore it in all its bearings; my mind becomes pervaded with it. Then the effort which I make the people are pleased to call genius. It is the fruit of labor and thought.”

We must not yield to difficulties, but strive the harder to overcome them. – Robert E. Lee.

Helvetius, the famous French philosopher, says: “Genius is nothing but a continued attention,” and Buffon tells us that “genius is only a protracted patience.”

Through every clause and part of speech of a right book, I meet the eyes of the most determined men. – Emerson.

Turner, the great landscape painter, when asked how he had achieved his great success, replied: “I have no secret but hard work. This is a secret that many never learn, and they do not succeed because they do not learn it. Labor is the genius that changes the world from ugliness to beauty.”

All your Greek will never advance you from secretary to envoy, or from envoy to ambassador; but your address, your air, your manner, if good, may. – Chesterfield.

“The man who succeeds above his fellows,” says Lord Lytton, “is the one who early in life clearly discerns his object and toward that object habitually directs his powers. Even genius itself is but fine observation strengthened by fixity of purpose. Every man who observes vigilantly and resolves steadfastly grows unconsciously into genius.”

“Am I a genius?”

’Tis the mind that makes the body rich. – Shakespeare.

Now that you have asked the question, why not carefully think it over and determine what the answer should be? Have you patience and determination? Are you cultivating the habit of sticking to it?

To read without reflection is like eating without digesting. – Burke.

I learnt that nothing can constitute good breeding that has not good nature for its foundation. – Bulwer.

To acquire a few tongues, says a French writer, is the task of a few years; but to be eloquent in one is the labor of a life. – Colton.

Genius has a twin brother whose name is Patience. The one is quite often mistaken for the other, which is not strange since they resemble each other so closely their most intimate friends can scarcely tell them apart. These two brothers usually work together, which enables the world to tell who and what they are, for whenever either of them is employed singly and alone he is hardly ever recognized.

To be proud of learning is the greatest ignorance. – Bishop Taylor.

One of these brothers plants the tree and the other cares for it until the fruit is finally matured. The tree which Genius plants would never amount to much if Patience were to grow tired of watering and caring for it. There are weeds to be kept down, branches to be pruned, the soil must be looked after, worms’-nests must be destroyed, and many things must be done before the fruit is ready to harvest.

Life is not so short but that there is always room enough for courtesy. – Emerson.

If Patience were to refuse to work at any time the whole undertaking would prove a failure. But he does not. He performs his plain, simple duty, day after day, year after year, until, after long waiting, there is the beautiful fruit at last. It looks very pretty, but it is not yet quite ripe. Pick it too soon and it will shrivel up and lack flavor. But Patience has learned to wait until the day and the hour of perfection is at hand, and lo! there is his great reward!

A man’s own good breeding is the best security against other people’s ill manners. – Chesterfield.

The people say: “See this wonderful fruit that grew on the tree which Genius planted!” But Genius, who is wiser than the multitude, says, “See this wonderful fruit that grew on the tree which Patience tended!”

Common sense bows to the inevitable and makes use of it. – Wendell Phillips.

Patience and perseverance are the qualities that enable one to work out his problems in school and his larger problems in the big university of the busy world.

Above all things, reverence yourself. – Pythagoras.

It has been very truly said that if we will pick up a grain a day and add to our heap we shall soon learn by happy experience the power of littles as applied to intellectual processes and possessions.

To Adam, Paradise was home; to the good among his descendants, home is Paradise. – Hare.

The road to success, says one of the world’s philosophers, is not to be run upon by seven-league boots. Step by step, little by little, bit by bit; that is the way to wealth, that is the way to wisdom, that is the way to glory. The man who is most likely to achieve success in life is the one who when a boy learns to