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AUTOETHNOGRAPHIES
ON THE ENVIRONMENT
AND HUMAN HEALTH

Tara Rava Zolnikov

Autoethnographies on the Environment
and Human Health
 Tara Rava Zolnikov

Autoethnographies on
the Environment and
Human Health
Tara Rava Zolnikov
National University
San Diego, CA, USA

ISBN 978-3-319-69025-4    ISBN 978-3-319-69026-1 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69026-1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017955938

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of
translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval,
electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now
known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the pub-
lisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the
material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The
publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institu-
tional affiliations.

Cover illustration: Détail de la Tour Ei_ el

© nemesis2207/Fotolia.co.uk

Printed on acid-free paper

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature

The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
 This book is dedicated to Atlas, Winter, Evan, and my mom, who have
endured my endless hours of writing. I also wanted to take a moment to
mention all the people who suffer from outcomes related to issues in this
book—you are not alone and we will continue to fight for you.
 Preface

This book was written in hopes of providing an enjoyable platform for

you, the reader, to learn about environmental health. While there are vari-
ous textbooks filled with graphs and tables, I wanted to create text that
was full of pictures and stories. It was my goal to encourage learning on
topics that can be traditionally difficult to understand through these dif-
ferent outlets. Learning difficult topics can still be relatable and fun. I set
out to accomplish this goal by interweaving qualitative research with lit-
erature reviews. Qualitative research in this case took place in the form of
autoethnographies, which are interesting because they take on a first-­
person perspective on unusual experiences. While most people have not
encountered these situations before, the colorful details and descriptions
of these experiences ultimately create a mental picture of the issue for the
reader. This picture along with actual photographs can help you under-
stand how environmental health directly affects people. My personal belief
is that these stories connect readers to issues, and through these connec-
tions, learning will be enhanced. Please enjoy this new type of learning
that I have set out to create for you!

San Diego, CA Tara Rava Zolnikov

vii
 Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge all the individuals who were with me dur-
ing all of the autoethnographies. This single experience for me is your
daily life, and these stories would not have taken place without you.

ix
 Contents

1 Introduction to Environmental Health and Qualitative

Research   3

2 Air Quality  13

3 Climate Change  27

4 Occupational Safety and Health  41

5 Drinking Water  55

6 Sanitation and Hygiene  69

7 Toxicology  83

8 Infectious Diseases  99

9 Vector-Borne Disease 115

xi
xii CONTENTS

10 Foodborne Diseases 129

11 Future Directions in Environmental Health 143

Index 151
 About the Author

Dr. Tara Rava Zolnikov is an assistant professor at National University

at the School of Health and Human Services. Dr. Zolnikov teaches courses
in both the BPH and MPH program. Her primary courses are environ-
mental health and global health. Dr. Zolnikov earned her PhD in
Developmental Science from North Dakota State University and her MS
in Environmental Health from Harvard School of Public Health and her
second MS in Industrial Hygiene from Montana Tech of the University of
Montana. She also earned her BS degree in Biological Sciences from
Montana Tech of the University of Montana. Dr. Zolnikov’s research pri-
marily focuses on water-related issues in low- and middle-income coun-
tries, including Kenya. She has worked with the Kenya Red Cross on a
variety of public health projects, ranging from infectious diseases (e.g.
Ebola and HIV/AIDS) to access to water projects. She is primarily a qual-
itative researcher and focuses on providing vulnerable populations with a
voice; she uses autoethnographic and phenomenological perspectives to
understand or live through these experiences in order to recreate them for
a widespread audience. Finally, Dr. Zolnikov is the vice president of a non-­
profit organization, the Shepherd’s Village, which focuses on providing
access to water to Maasai communities around Narok, Kenya.

xiii
Photo of Tara traveling in Kenya
 CHAPTER 1

Introduction to Environmental Health

and Qualitative Research

Abstract The book begins by providing an overview of environmental

health and qualitative research. This chapter meshes these two concepts
together to provide a solid understanding of these two subjects.

Keywords Environmental health • Qualitative research • Autoethnographies

• Definitions

Each chapter in this textbook includes an autoethnographic account of an

environmental issue or risk factor (e.g. air quality). Auto is the self, ethno
represents culture, and graphy means to analyze or write; simply put, an
autoethnography is a personal story taking place in another culture. These
experiences were accomplished either simply by living abroad and experi-
encing daily life or by specifically targeting an issue; both methods revolved
around an immersion into the local culture. Each chapter occurred in vari-
ous countries, so before delving into the autoethnography, an introduc-
tion to the country (e.g. population, economic, and lifestyle facts) was
provided to properly set the tone for the story. Moreover, a picture has
been included in each chapter. Pictures are oftentimes used in qualitative
research because they provide a tool to help with thick descriptions, which
contribute to validity of the study. A thick description is a detailed account
of the field experience described by the researcher to explain culture and
society [1]; it can provide interpretive depth and detail that allows the

© The Author(s) 2018 3

T.R. Zolnikov, Autoethnographies on the Environment and Human Health,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69026-1_1
4 T.R. ZOLNIKOV

study findings to be generalizable to a similar context or provide ade-

quate details for replicability in another setting. Similarly, for the reader,
the photo is a visual image used to evoke emotions, abstract ideas, and
shared human experiences [2]. Ultimately, it was my hope that the reader
would feel involved in each story while learning about the issue in envi-
ronmental health. Before we begin, an introduction on environmental
health and qualitative research, specifically autoethnographies, has been
provided.
Environmental health refers to a set of public health efforts that seek to
prevent disease, death, and disability by reducing exposure to risk factors
associated with environmental conditions. These conditions can be physi-
cal, chemical, biological, social, and psychosocial factors within the envi-
ronment [3]. The environment in public health emphasizes the importance
of adequate safe drinking water, air quality, and occupational and home
environments.
While it may not have been as clearly defined, environmental health
has been integrated in society for thousands of years. In fact, ancient
ruins provide evidence of water pipes, toilets, and sewage lines dating
back more than 4000 years ago [4]. We can infer that these societies
learned to separate water sources from areas of defecation in order to
avoid cross-­contamination. Several thousand years later, a similar event
transpired. In the mid-1800’s, the most famous environmental epidemi-
ological study occurred; Dr. John Snow linked the cholera disease out-
break to the Broad Street pump in London—again, reinforcing the
importance of separate clean water and sanitation areas. More recent
efforts in environmental health began around the beginning of the nine-
teenth century and focused on reducing epidemics associated with urban-
ization (e.g. waste) [5]. However, in today’s world, environmental health
has become an encompassing field that reviews more than just water,
waste, and sanitation. The field includes all aspects of the physical, chemi-
cal, ergonomic, and biological environment in order to identify risk fac-
tors that contribute to adverse health effects [6, 7]. A few examples are
the amount of sun exposure that a person receives and the potential
development of skin cancer or whether or not a person drinks contami-
nated water and contracts a diarrheal disease. Both of these examples
provide a brief understanding for the depth of the field, ranging from
radiation exposure to water safety. Thus, the field of environmental health
has expanded to include all of the following subjects and more: drinking
 INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH 5

water, infectious diseases, air quality, toxicology, occupational health and

safety, food safety, sanitation, and animal and vector control.
In a pendulum-like fashion, modern environmental health scientists
assess the impact of both people on the environment and the environment
on people. For example, the human population contributes to climate
change by burning fossil fuels when they drive cars; alternately, climate
change affects human populations by altering the weather, thereby affect-
ing agricultural production, sustenance, and water availability. The envi-
ronment and health dovetail together, thereby showing the inexplicable
interwoven nature of the field. However, some environmental exposures
are not from human intervention and are actually from natural variation.
These types of exposures are primarily due to geography, weather patterns,
physical disasters, and/or natural contaminants (e.g. arsenic in water) [6].
Both human-made and natural arising issues in the field include outcomes
of climate change, radiation protection, food quality and safety, solid waste
management, hazardous waste management, water and air quality, noise
control, environmental management of recreational areas, housing, and
animal and vector control [6].
Because of this large variation, there is a wide range of occupations
associated with the field of environmental health. Experts focus on health
risks related to specific geography, geology, or climate; other specialists
focus on where these health risks occur, such as the home, community, or
workplace. Lastly, the modern field of occupational medicine has taken a
different approach on environmental health and focuses more so on the
outcomes of exposures—or diseases. All of these practitioners contribute
to environmental health in both upstream and downstream approaches.
For instance, an industrial hygienist could work on noise control in a fac-
tory where workers could potentially experience hearing loss, while a phy-
sician in occupational medicine could treat asthma resulting from chronic
exposure to air pollution. Despite the difference between preventing
potential illnesses or treating diseases, there is one common goal for envi-
ronmental health experts—to understand conditions causing poor health
in order to seek preventative solutions to ultimately mitigate negative out-
comes [5].
It is important to understand the types of diseases or adverse health
effects that occur within environmental health because there are hundreds
of thousands of illnesses each year that result from these types of exposures
[8]. Experts continue trying to assess the worst exposures and the location
6 T.R. ZOLNIKOV

of these hazards in order to streamline efforts focusing on identifying,

evaluating, and controlling contaminants and sequential diseases.
However, before we address the ailments, we must mention the associated
risk factors that are contributing to these rates of diseases. Environmental
risk factors include air, water, and soil pollution, chemical exposures, cli-
mate change, and ultraviolet radiation, while social risk factors on health
include socioeconomic status, social support and networks, occupational
stress, unemployment, retirement, social cohesion, and religious belief [9,
10]. While social risk factors are difficult to estimate, the World Health
Organization (WHO) does suggest that environmental risk factors con-
tribute to more than 80% of regularly reported diseases. Moreover, the
WHO estimates that 23% of all deaths worldwide are attributed to envi-
ronmental health risk factors [3, 8, 11]. Some diseases and conditions
include asthma, autism, autoimmune diseases (e.g. lupus), breast cancer,
cancer, lung diseases, obesity, Parkinson’s disease, and reproductive disor-
ders [12].
Because a quarter of all diseases are caused by environmental exposures,
the field of environmental health has moved to the forefront of concerns
in global health [13]. In fact, the Sustainable Development Goals—a set
of world health goals defined and created by world leaders at the United
Nations summit in 2016—lists 5 out of 17 goals that focus specifically on
environmental health [14]. The issues include climate change; water and
sanitation; oceans; biodiversity, forests, and desertification; and sustainable
consumption and production [14]. A few facts supporting the develop-
ment of these goals include:

• Climate change. From 1980 to 2012, the average global temperature

increased 0.85 °C, thereby disrupting grain yields to only 95% of the
historical total [15].
• Water and sanitation. Water scarcity affects more than 40% of the
world and is expected to rise in the future [16].
• Oceans. Approximately 40% of the world oceans are heavily affected
by human activities, including pollution, depleted fisheries, and loss
of coastal habitats [17].
• Biodiversity, forests, and desertification. Around 1.6 billion people
depend on forests for their livelihood; approximately 75% of the
world’s population is also affected by land degradation [18].
• Consumption and production. Currently, humans are polluting water
faster than nature is able to recycle and purify it [19].
 INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH 7

These facts provide alarming evidence on possible outcomes associated

with the environment in respect to population health. Ultimately, these
goals request a call for action to be made by each individual person world-
wide in order to secure a healthy planet for future generations [14].
Fortunately, the United Nations is not the only organization concerned
with producing constructive changes. There are other agencies and groups
who help address environmental exposures and diseases. In fact, many
environmental health agencies seek to help curb or regulate exposures
worldwide. Some of these agencies are governmental, others are intergov-
ernmental or non-governmental organizations. These organizations occur
locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally and can be wide-ranging
or narrow in their area of focus (e.g. children’s health within environmen-
tal health). That said, each agency has a similar goal—to protect human
health and the environment.
Now, we have briefly discussed the field of environmental health: risk
factors, experts and various jobs, outcomes, and agencies working to
improve health resulting from environmental contaminants. As men-
tioned, when we study the environment and how it affects health behavior
or outcomes, we cannot avoid focusing on the human element. To under-
stand this element, we must consider the perspective of the person within
the situation in order to truly comprehend how and why an individual
would act as they do. This collection of information could provide some
type of solidarity on why people contribute to climate change or perhaps,
how it feels to lack access to clean drinking water. This book is presented
through an approach that examines environmental health by focusing
more specifically on human experiences. This information is best delivered
through qualitative methods, which helps guide the researcher into a
position to gain key insight into types of behaviors. Qualitative research is
a continuous, interactive process that moves between research design,
goals, theories, research questions, methods, and validity [20]. This
research includes textual information and interpretation [21]. Qualitative
methods are a key element for researchers seeking deeper understanding
of cultural concepts and effects, while emphasizing multiple perspectives,
differences across culture, and settings [22]. Questioning allows the
researcher to separate complex interrelationships between others, them-
selves, to objects, systems, other cultures, the environment, or the super-
natural [23].
8 T.R. ZOLNIKOV

This book is comprised of a specific type of qualitative research, called

autoethnographies, where a researcher explains an event or situation and
extrapolates this experience to a larger context. An autoethnography is a
transformative approach in research that uses personal experiences to
gain an understanding of a situation, usually focusing on social and cul-
tural differences [24, 25]. The writing embodies creativity, eliminates
boundaries, and provides more emotion and greater depth to the situa-
tion at hand. This type of research is currently an underutilized tool for
collecting information from populations that are difficult to reach via
traditional routes (e.g. surveys), as some populations are not literate and
cannot respond to surveys or are unreachable due to location.
Autoethnographies can actually help to identify the needs of vulnerable
populations, by providing a voice to those subjected to various
difficulties.
The objective of this book was to challenge the reader to learn about
environmental health using this informative, albeit enjoyable approach.
This type of research gives a first-hand account into the scenario—or in
this case, environmental risk factor—and then allows readers to reflect and
empathize on the narrative that is presented. Autoethnographies are like a
triangle, where the researcher is simply taking up residence at the very tip-­
top of the triangle, but whose experience evolves into the foundation of
the triangle—or the overarching problem. For example, one chapter
delves into the details of walking to gather water in a small village in
Kenya. While this was only a single journey, it is likely that many other
people in the world also face these realities, wherein this data becomes
extracted to include the 680 million people who currently lack access to
water. Through the story, other researchers, practitioners, and readers
alike will be able to encounter the connection to broader social, cultural,
political, economic, or behavioral implications or underpinnings [24, 25].
Using autoethnographies as a research method allows individuals to
explore the phenomenon that is being experienced, extrapolate, and relay
this information to wide-ranging audiences. By reading these personal-
ized accounts, readers can not only commiserate with the experience, but
also become informed and educated on the issue, thereby bringing us full
circle to the underlying purpose of the autoethnography within the realm
of qualitative research.
 INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH 9

References
1. Holloway I. Basic concepts for qualitative research. London, UK: Blackwell
Science; 1997. p. 1–5.
2. Harrison B. Photographic visions and narrative inquiry. Narrat Inq. 2002;
12(1):87–111.
3. World Health Organization. Protection of the Human Environment. 2004.
http://www.who.int/phe/en
4. Rosen G. A history of public health. Expanded ed. Baltimore, MD: Johns
Hopkins University Press; 1993. (Originally published 1958.)
5. Shryock RH. The early American Public Health movement. Am J Public
Health Nations Health. 1937;27(10):965–71.
6. Jacobsen KH. Introduction to global health. Sudbury: Jones & Bartlett
Publishers; 2013.
7. Merson MH, Black RE, Mills A. International public health: diseases, pro-
grams, systems and policies. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2006.
8. Prüss-Üstün A, Corvalán CF. Preventing disease through healthy environ-
ments. Towards an estimate of the environmental burden of disease. Geneva:
World Health Organization; 2006.
9. World Health Organization. Environmental health. 2016. http://www.who.
int/topics/environmental_health/en/
10. Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on health and behavior: research,
practice, and policy. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US); 2001.
11. World Health Organization. Global status report on NCDs 2010. 2011.
http://www.who.int/nmh/publications/ncd_report_full_en.pdf
12. National Institute of Environmental Health and Sciences, NIEHS. Conditions
and diseases. 2016. https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/conditions/
index.cfm
13. World Health Organization. Almost a quarter of all diseases caused by environ-
mental exposure. 2006. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/
2006/pr32/en/
14. United Nations. Sustainable development goals. 2016. ­http://www.un.org/
sustainabledevelopment/
15. United Nations. Goal 12: ensure sustainable consumption and production.
2016. http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-consumption-
production/
16. United Nations. Goal 6: ensure access to water and sanitation for all. 2016.
http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-and-sanitation/
17. United Nations. Goal 13: take urgent action to combat climate change and
its impacts. 2016. http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/climate-
change-2/
10 T.R. ZOLNIKOV

18. United Nations. Goal 14: conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and
marine life. 2016. http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/oceans/
19. United Nations. Goal 15: sustainably manage forests, combat desertification,
halt and reverse land degradation, half biodiversity loss. 2016. http://www.
un.org/sustainabledevelopment/biodiversity/
20. Maxwell JA. Qualitative research design: an interactive approach. Los Angeles:
Sage; 2012.
21. Geertz C. “From the native’s point of view”: on the nature of anthropological
understanding. Bull Am Acad Arts Sci. 1974;28(1):26–45.
22. Nastasi BK, Schensul SL. Contributions of qualitative research to the validity
of intervention research. J Sch Psychol. 2005;43(3):177–95.
23. Schafer P. Culture: beacon of the future. Westport, CT: Praeger; 1998.
24. Ellis C, Adams TE, Bochner AP. Autoethnography: an overview. Hist Soc
Res. 2011;12:273–90.
25. Anderson L. Analytic autoethnography. J Contemp Ethnogr. 2006;
35(4):373–95.
Another random document with
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is polite and kind to his parents, considering their wishes, and
heeding their advice and counsel, paves the way to future happiness
and success. But he who spurns paternal suggestions, speaks and
acts disrespectfully, is seldom respected and is always at a
disadvantage. When Prince Bismarck was a boy, he was rebuked by
his father for speaking of the King as Fritz. “Learn to speak
reverently of his Majesty,” said the old squire of Varzin, “and you will
grow accustomed to think of him with veneration.” Bismarck laid the
advice to heart and from that day profited by it.
The truly polite boy is not only respectful to his parents but also to
his sisters and brothers, always returning a pleasant “Thank you” for
any kindness received at their hands, and showing as much courtesy
to all at home as to those in the home of a neighbor. “A beautiful
form,” says an American essayist, “is better than a beautiful face, and
a beautiful behavior is better than a beautiful form; it gives a higher
pleasure than statues or pictures; it is the finest of the fine arts,” it
gives grace to one’s bearing and enables one to look on the bright and
beautiful side of things.

POLITENESS SHOULD BE ACCORDED ALL.

Politeness is a universal debt that each boy owes to every person.

The matter of caste, sex, position and intelligence have nothing
whatever to do with it. It should be the rule of conduct wherever and
in whatever society one may be, to practise politeness.
Charles V was renowned for his courtesy. When he passed John
Frederick, Elector of Saxony, he took off his hat and bowed to him,
though his prisoner, who had been taken by him in battle. The poet
Burns was one day walking in the street of Edinburgh when an
honest farmer saluted him, which salute he returned, when some one
rebuked him. Mr. Burns replied that it was not the greatcoat, the
scone bonnet or the saunders boot-hose that he spoke to, but the
man that was in them. Daniel Webster was once walking with a
friend in Washington when a colored man passing by bowed very low
to him. Mr. Webster promptly returned as deep an obeisance. “Do
you bow in that way to a darky?” asked his friend. “Would you have
me outdone in politeness by a negro?” replied the great statesman.
 WHAT POLITENESS DID.

Mr. Winans, of Philadelphia, became independently rich through

his courteous manner. One day two strangers called on him. One was
a foreigner who had visited some larger establishments in the city,
but on their coming to Mr. Winans’, a third or fourth rate factory, he
took so much pains to show all its parts and workings, and was so
patient in his explanations and answers to their inquiries, that within
a year he was surprised by an invitation to transfer his labors to St.
Petersburg and manufacture locomotives for the Czar of Russia, He
went, accumulated a large fortune, and ultimately received from his
Russian workshops a hundred thousand dollars a year. Investing his
money in real estate he laid the foundation of one of the largest
private fortunes in Philadelphia; and all this was the result of civility.
It pays to cultivate politeness. To this day the Japanese people
revere the memory of General Grant. While visiting the emperor, he
was invited to cross the imperial foot bridge near the palace at
Tokyo, across which none but the blood royal had ever trod. General
Grant accepted the invitation and walked beside the Mikado until
they reached the center of the bridge. Then he stopped, profoundly
saluted the emperor, and said: “Your majesty, I have come so far to
show you that I was not insensible to the honor you would do me, but
I cannot violate your traditions. Let us return the way we came.”
Politeness serves one well. It is keener than sharpened steel. It is
more magnetic than loadstone and worth more than jewels. At home
or abroad, among young and aged, employers or teachers, inferiors
or superiors, this glorious characteristic is a diadem from which
sparkles a jewel, which is, as Chesterfield said: “The treatment of
others just as you love to be treated yourself.” In the words of One
greater than he, it is, “Do unto others as ye would they should do
unto you.” All other things being equal, the boy who adheres to these
mottoes is the one who succeeds. It makes him an acceptable
companion, wins friendship and creates popularity. “Give a poor boy
fine manners and accomplishments,” said Voltaire, “and he will
become the master of fortunes and palaces, while princes stand upon
their threshold to solicit his friendship.” Charles II. is described by
Macaulay as being “the grandest rascal and most popular man in
England.” Hume in giving the reason of this says, “He was the best
bred man alive.”
“What thou wilt,
Thou must rather enforce it with thy smile,
Than hew to it with thy sword.”
 CHAPTER III
Be Truthful

INTRODUCTION TO CHAPTER III

By Joshua Levering
Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of Truth with Falsehood, for the good or evil side.
—Lowell.

It is related of Cyrus, that when asked what was the first thing he
learned, he replied, “To tell the truth.” Truthfulness is the foundation
stone of character. Without it, a life, as it is developed, becomes more
and more marred and falls short of its highest opportunity and
calling. All qualifications that go to make up noble manhood count
for naught, where there is not a persistent adherence to truthfulness.
Therefore be true to yourself and the nobler impulses and yearnings
of your heart by always speaking the truth, acting the truth, and
living the truth.
 CHAPTER III
Be Truthful

While a vessel was crossing the English Channel, a gentleman stood

near the helmsman. It was a calm pleasant evening, and no one
expected a storm. The flapping of a sail as if the wind had suddenly
shifted, caught the ear of the officer on watch, and springing to the
wheel, he examined the compass. “You are half a point off the
course,” he sharply said to the man at the wheel. The deviation was
corrected, and the officer returned to his post. “It must be necessary
to steer very accurately,” said the observer, “if half a point is of so
much importance.” “Ah!” remarked the officer, “a half a point, sir, is
liable to bring us directly on the rocks.” What a lesson for every boy.
The half a point deviation from strict truthfulness strands one on the
rocks of falsehood.

WHAT IS A LIE?

The shortest definition of a lie is, “The intention to deceive.” It may

not be telling an out-and-out falsehood to conceal a crime, or to
shield one’s self, but telling it to mislead or deceive others. “The
essence of the thing,” said Dewey, “lies in the intention,” and if the
intention is to mislead, such, as Immanuel Kant says, “is forfeiture of
personal worth, a destruction of personal integrity.” As he contends,
“a lie is the abandonment, or, as it were, the annihilation of the
dignity of man.” It will undermine the noble instincts of any boy and
cause his character to collapse.

TELL THE TRUTH.

 A story of Abraham Lincoln shows his love for truth. It was a
bright autumn evening, when Abraham, a great awkward boy of
sixteen or seventeen said to his mother, “I’m going to the woods to-
morrow. I’ve got a good job at Laird’s and as I shall be obliged to
start by day-break, I thought there might be some chores you wished
to have done.” “You are a good boy, Abram, always thinking of
helping me,” said his step-mother. “If I was your own mother you
could not be more kind, and God will reward you sometime. To-
morrow, I am going to wash, and I would be very thankful if you
would bring me a few buckets of water from the spring.” Back and
forth the tall boy hurried, until all the tubs and kettles about the
cabin were filled. Early next morning, when Abraham was ready to
start for the place where the rails were to be split, his little sister
Sally said, “Can’t I go, Abram?” “Just as mother says,” replied he,
pausing to give the little girl an opportunity to consult her mother.
The mother would not consent. No sooner had Abram started than
she determined to follow him, and at once cut across the field
intending to reach the ravine before him and give him a genuine
surprise by jumping out unannounced in the path as he came up. She
carried out her plan successfully, and when she heard his merry
whistle in the distance she climbed upon the bank to be ready to
make the spring for his shoulders when the proper moment arrived.
But the poor child had forgotten all about the sharp axe which he
carried, and although she gained her coveted seat on his broad
shoulders, her little bare foot received a gash from the cruel axe,
which changed her merry laugh into a bitter cry. “Why, Sally! How
did you get here?” was all the boy could say as he placed her tenderly
on the bank and began an examination of the wounded foot. Finding
it to be a deep cut, he gathered some broad plantain leaves which
grew near, and by their aid soon succeeded in staunching the flow of
blood. This accomplished, he tore the sleeve from his shirt, and in his
clumsy way bandaged the injured foot. Carrying her home, he learnt
the story of her disobedience. She would have been willing to evade
the truth in order to screen herself from her mother’s displeasure,
but honest, truthful Abraham would not permit this. “Tell the truth,
Sally, no matter what the consequences may be,” he insisted; “better
suffer punishment than lie about it. I don’t think mother will be hard
on you when she sees how sorely punished you are; but never tell a
lie to shield yourself, never.” Such was the course taken through life
by that boy who later became the honored President of these United
States.

WHITE AND BLACK LIES.

Much is said nowadays about degrees in lying. That is lying in a

small way. There is the so-called white lie of custom when a certain
article is slightly misrepresented to make a bargain; the white lie of
courtesy when one makes politeness the garb behind which he
deceives; the white lie of necessity, when one would evade the truth
by nodding the head, or giving a wrong impression. Some men, and
even great men, have maintained that this is sometimes a necessity,
but would it not be a fine moral precept to say, “You must speak the
truth generally, but you may utter a falsehood when it suits your
convenience?” Who ever licensed one thus? Justin Martyr said, “Is
life at stake? We would not live by telling a lie.” When Atillius
Regulus was a prisoner of the Carthaginians he was sent by that great
people to Rome with several ambassadors to arrange for peace, on
the understanding that if peace-terms were not agreed upon he was
to return to prison. He took the oath and swore to return. Arriving at
Rome he urged his countrymen to continue in war and not agree to
the exchange of prisoners. This meant to him the return to Carthage.
The senators and priests held that as his oath had been forced from
him he ought not to return. Then came the answer from Regulus
which has made him imperishable: “Have you resolved to dishonor
me? I am not ignorant that death and tortures are preparing for
me. But what are those to the shame of infamous action, or the
wounds of a guilty mind? Slave as I am to Carthage, I have still the
spirit of a Roman. I have sworn to return. It is my duty to return.
Let the gods take care of the rest.”
“One should never lie,” said Crispi, the great Italian statesman. “I
will not stain speech with a lie,” said Pindar. “The genuine lie is
hated by all gods and men,” said Plato. “That man has no fair glory,”
said Theognis, “in whose heart dwells a lie, and from whose mouth it
has once issued.” A lie is never justifiable, and to lie a little, is, as
Victor Hugo remarked, “not possible.” The person who lies tells the
whole lie, lying in the face of the fiend, and “Satan has two names,
Satan and lying.” Therefore
“Let falsehood be a stranger to thy lips;
Shame on the policy that first began
To tamper with the heart to hide its thoughts!
And doubly shame on that inglorious tongue
That sold its honesty and told a lie.”

WHAT LYING DOES.

Nothing so corrupts early simplicity, quickly destroys the nobler

instincts, and depraves the heart as falsehood. If a boy will lie about
one thing, can he be trusted in anything? If he is branded as a liar,
what teacher will respect him, what business man will engage him,
and what court will accept his testimony? “I have seldom known
anyone,” said Paley, “who deserted truth in trifles, who could be
trusted in matters of importance.” Oliver Wendell Holmes said: “Sin
has many tools, but a lie is the handle which fits them all.” It destroys
confidence, establishes false relations among men, blights the bloom
of life, and saps the vital springs of existence. It is the progenitor of
all wrongs, oppressions, cruelties and crimes, and what boy is there
who dare do it when God prohibits it?

WHAT LYING BRINGS.

Like begets like, thus lies beget lies. Said Owen, “One lie must be
thatched over with another, or it will soon rain through.” Lying
brings misery. It troubles the conscience, destroys the peace of mind
and makes one suspicious of others. Because of this, Eugene Field,
when a young man, walked thirty miles to confess to his employer
and to ask forgiveness for an untruth he had told him. Lying brings
punishment, for “lying lips are an abomination unto the Lord.”
Because of this Elisha’s servant was struck with leprosy, Ananias and
Sapphira with death, and many others have had the seal of God’s
wrath placed upon them.
One day, as Archbishop Leighton was going from Glasgow to
Dumblane, a storm of lightning and thunder burst upon him. He was
observed, when at a considerable distance, by two men of bad
character. They had not the courage to rob him; but, wishing to
extort money from him, one said, “I will lie down by the wayside as if
I were dead, and you shall inform the archbishop that I was killed by
the lightning and beg money of him to bury me.” When the
Archbishop arrived, the wicked wretch told the fabricated story. The
Archbishop sympathized with the pretended survivor, gave him
money, and proceeded on his journey. But when the man returned to
his companion, he found him really lifeless. Immediately he began to
cry aloud: “Oh, Sir! he’s dead! Oh, Sir, he’s dead!” On this the
Archbishop discovered the fraud and turning to the living man said,
“It is a dangerous thing to trifle with the judgment of God.” How
much better and safer to speak the truth, for
“There is nothing so kingly as kindness,
And nothing so royal as truth.”

Truthfulness is the foundation of character. It is the basis of true

manhood. Its spirit pervades the closest relation and highest
intercourse, its law holds the planets in their course, and it is the
presiding principle of every true and noble life. A greater tribute
could not be paid to anyone than “his word is as good as his bond.”
No more worthy epitaph or eloquent remark could be uttered of
Colonel Huchurin, than when a friend, attesting the simplicity and
nobility of him, said: “He never professed the thing he intended not.”
No eulogy can surpass Xenocrates of Petrarch, who, standing before
an ecclesiastical tribunal where an oath had been required of others,
said, “As for you, Petrarch, your word is sufficient.”
An important conference was being held in the Executive Mansion
in Washington. A caller had sent in his card, but either the caller was
unwelcome or the time was quite unsuitable for his admission. One
of the persons turned to a servant and said, “Tell the person who sent
up the card that the President is not in.” “No,” said General Grant,
“tell him no such thing.” Then, turning to his friends, he remarked: “I
don’t lie myself, and I don’t want any of my servants to lie for me.”
A “Mental Photograph” book was once presented to Charles
Kingsley in which to write. One question was “What is your bête
noire?” “A lie,” he penned. In dedicating her delightful biography of
him his wife wrote:
“To the beloved memory
of
 A righteous man

Who loved God and truth above all things.

A man of untarnished honor—
Loyal and chivalrous—gentle and strong—
Modest and humble—tender and true—
Pitiful to the weak—yearning after the erring—
Stern to all forms of wrong and oppression,
Yet most stern toward himself—
Who being angry yet sinned not.”

TRUTHFULNESS IS THE MOST HONORABLE AND SAFE

COURSE.

Truthfulness underlies all honest and faithful work, all social

confidence, all right fulfillment of relations and self-respect. It
regulates lives and improves and elevates those it characterizes. It is
one great secret of success in business, a magnet that draws
confidence and wields a power second to none in the universe. A
poor Persian boy was about to leave his mother’s home, to engage in
business in the city. Within the lining of his coat she sewed forty
golden dinars which she had saved during years of labor. Before the
boy started she cautioned him to beware of robbers as he went across
the desert, and as he left the home, she said: “Fear God, and never
tell a lie.” The boy started, and toward evening saw in the distance
the glittering minarets of the great city, but between the city and
himself he saw a cloud of dust. It came nearer. Presently he saw that
it was caused by a band of robbers. One of them approached him,
and unceremoniously inquired what valuables he had. The boy
answered with candor: “Forty golden dinars are sewed up in my
garments.” Discrediting the boy’s story he wheeled his horse around
and rode back to his companions. Soon another robber came and
said: “Boy, what have you got?” “Forty dinars sewed in my
garments,” he answered. The robber laughed and rode away. At last
the chief came and asked him what he had. The boy replied, “I have
already told two of your men that I have forty dinars sewed up in my
clothes.” The chief ordered his clothes torn open, and the money was
found. He was then asked what induced him to make such a
revelation. “Because,” said the boy, “I would not be false to my
mother, whom I solemnly promised never to tell a lie.” The robber
leaned upon his spear and after reflecting said, “Wait a moment.” He
mounted his horse and rode back to his comrades, but soon returned
dressed as a merchant. “Boy,” said he, “art thou so mindful of thy
mother, while I am insensible at my age of that duty I owe God? Give
me thy hand, that I may swear repentance on it.” He did so, and his
followers were struck with the scene. Said he, “I am a merchant. I
have a large business house in the city. I want you to come and live
with me to teach me about your God, and you will be rich, and your
mother some day shall come and live with us.” Then one of the
robbers turned to the chief and said, “You have been our leader in
guilt, be the same in the path of virtue.” And taking the boy’s hand,
they all promised to lead new lives.
Boys, speak only that which is true. You may do much good by it,
although you may never lead a band of robbers to God and honesty.
But—
“Nothing good shall ever perish,
Only the corrupt shall die;
Truth, which men and angels cherish,
Flourishes eternally.”

TRUTHFULNESS IS THE WINNING SIDE.

Good old Matthew Henry used to say, “Truth is mighty and will
prevail.” “Falsehood,” as one of the kings of Prussia said, “sometimes
does good for twenty-four hours, but like a battle well fought, right
comes off more than conqueror.” Falsehood is always defeated. It
shrinks at detection and in due time is compelled to confess. Truth is
sure and has a firm foundation because it is an attribute of God. And
“God and truth,” said Theodore Parker, “are always on the same
side.” Therefore
“Seize upon truth, where’er ’tis found,
Amongst your friends, amongst your foes,
On Christian or on heathen ground;
The flower’s divine where’er it grows.”
 CHAPTER IV
Be Choice of Language

INTRODUCTION TO CHAPTER IV

By General O. O. Howard
“Maintain your rank, vulgarity despise,
To swear is neither brave, polite nor wise;
You would not swear upon a bed of death;
Reflect—your Maker now may stop your breath.”
Anonymous.

One moonlight night I was passing near a sentinel’s post. It was

during the winter of 1861–2, in front of Alexandria, Virginia, at
Camp California. The sentinel, in some trouble, used rough, coarse
language, closing with an oath. Approaching him, till I could see his
face, think of my astonishment to find him, instead of a burly man of
low life, a handsome boy of seventeen. I said to him pleasantly: “How
could your mother have taught you to swear?” Dropping his head
with a sudden shame, he answered, “She didn’t, General. I learned it
here.” And indeed, it came from the influence of his associates.
One’s language always gauges him.
 CHAPTER IV
Be Choice of Language

Few things are more important and far-reaching than the use of
words. If good, they
—“have power to ’suage
The tumults of a troubled mind
And are as balm to fester’d wounds.”

If bad, they corrupt and may flourish, as Carlyle said: “Like a

hemlock forest after a thousand years.”
“Immodest words admit of no defence,
For want of decency is want of sense.”

One of the most historic structures in the world was the

Campanile, or the bell-tower of St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice. Not
long since it fell. One aged Lugui Vendrasco knew its danger. For ten
years he had not ceased to beg the government to allow him to put
the Campanile in better order. But his warnings were unheeded. One
Sunday morning he took his son to see it. As the young man looked
upon the crack he said, “That’s nothing. A small crack like that can
really do no harm to such a building.” Replying, the father said, “Son,
it is not the crack. It is that of which the crack is the effect and
symbol. Our Campanile is doomed.” The next morning it fell with an
awful crash. In like manner many a man has come tumbling down.
His character was not safe because of some flaw in it. Improper
words prove its great defect as the crack did the weakness of the
Campanile.
Stephen Price, once Mayor of New York, and a warm friend to
boys, lost his life in a steamboat disaster. When his body was
recovered, a scrap of paper was found in his pocket-book. It was so
worn with oft reading that the words were scarcely legible, but two
paragraphs were finally made out, one of which was: “Good company
and good conversation are the very sinews of virtue.” In fact, these
are inseparable. Conversation is a reflex of character, and no boy can
associate with another who delights in slangy, smutty talk without
being more or less contaminated.

IMPROPER WORDS.

A very common and bad habit of some boys is the attachment of

improper words to a sentence, as if it made it more binding. These in
no sense give grace or beauty to language. They do not round out a
period or enrich a metaphor. They define nothing, bound nothing,
measure nothing, mean nothing, accomplish nothing, and he who
uses them should be shunned. Vulgar expressions are never in order.
“They help,” as South says, “no one’s education or manners. They are
disgusting to the refined, abominable to the good, insulting to those
with whom one associates, degrading to the mind, unprofitable,
needless and injurious to society,” and beneath the dignity of any
self-respecting person. “Are there any ladies around?” said a young
officer to a group of others, “I’ve a splendid story to tell.” “There are
no ladies present,” said General Ulysses S. Grant, who overheard the
remark, “but there are gentlemen here, sir, and what is not fit for a
lady to hear, is unfit for a gentleman.”
When Coleridge Patterson, the martyred bishop of Melanesia, was
a boy at Eton, he was enthusiastically fond of cricket, at which he was
an unusually good player. At the cricket suppers at Eton, it was the
custom to give toasts followed by songs, and these songs were often
of a very questionable sort. Before one of these suppers, “Coley” told
the captain that he would protest against the introduction of
anything that was vulgar or indecent. His protest apparently had no
effect, for during the evening, one of the boys arose and began to sing
a song which “Coley” thought was not fit for decent boys to hear.
Whereupon, rising from his seat, he said, “If this sort of thing
continues, I shall leave the room.” It was continued and he left. The
next day he wrote to the captain of the eleven, saying unless he
received an apology, he should withdraw from the club. The apology
was sent and Patterson remained. By that stand he showed his
character, which won the admiration of the rest and brought about a
new state of affairs. No boy need answer another who addresses him
in unbecoming language. He might say as Stephen A. Douglas, when
denounced in the Senate in improper language, “What no gentleman
should say, no gentleman need answer.” And as to keeping the
company of anyone who is inclined to be vulgar, there is no law to
compel it. Far better be a Coleridge Patterson in shunning such
company.

AVOID PROFANITY.

The true gentlemanly boy has a sense of honor, scrupulously

avoiding profane words as he would profane actions. No habit is
more unbecoming, useless and contagious than swearing. It is the
fool’s impulse and the coward’s fortification. It neither helps one’s
manners nor education, and no boy with the least personal pride will
be guilty of indulging in it. Louis IX of France punished everyone
who was convicted of swearing by searing his lips with a hot iron.
George Washington made the following law August 3, 1776, which
he caused to be read to the men under his command: “The general is
sorry to be informed that the foolish and wicked practice of profane
cursing and swearing, a vice heretofore little known in an American
army, is growing into fashion; he hopes the officers will, by example
as well as influence, endeavor to check it, and that both they and the
men will reflect that we can have but little hope of the blessing of
Heaven on our armies if we insult Him by our impiety and folly;
added to this, it is a vice so mean and low, without any temptation,
that every man of sense and character detests and despises it.”
Years ago the Hon. John Finch visited an asylum in the East and
asked to see a certain professional gentleman committed there. He
had been a good and true man, but by overwork, physical and
mental, had wrecked himself and become a raving maniac. The
superintendent of the asylum said, “You will not want to see him
again, he swears so.” As they entered the room in which the man was
locked in a “straight jacket,” the most vulgar oaths came from his
lips. Touching the superintendent Mr. Finch said, “What can this
mean? When I knew that man he was one of the grandest Christians,
true, noble and good in every respect; and now to hear such vile
language coming from him surprises me.” The superintendent said,
“He learned to swear when a boy. The impressions made on his brain
at that period of life when the brain most readily receives
impressions now become the governing ones. In this asylum we can
almost uniformly tell what have been the habits, customs and abuses
of insane people when they were children. The brain at such times
receives impressions readily, the impressions are permanent, and if
they have indulged in vile practices, or used bad language, the
dethronement of reason and intelligent conscience will give to early
impressions and habits the control of the mind.” This being true,
how careful every boy should be, for who wants the bad habits of
youth noticeable in age?

AVOID BLASPHEMY.

There are many ways in which language may be improperly used,

but none more unbecoming and attended with more serious
consequences than blasphemy, or using the name of God or Christ
with disrespect. It is a presumptuous sin against which God has
declared: “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain,”
declaring with emphasis, “for the Lord will not hold him guiltless
that taketh His name in vain.”
Sometimes, as Jacob Knapp said in his autobiography, “God steps
aside from His ordinary course and smites presumptuous sinners
dead, that they may stand as beacon lights to warn others to shun the
rocks on which they struck.” During the Black Hawk war, in Illinois,
at the time when God sent the cholera among the people, an officer
cursed God for sending the disease into their midst. With an awful
oath he opened his mouth, and God smote him down even as the
word trembled on his lips. Such cases are rare, yet the words, “will
not hold him guiltless,” show that He forgets not and that sometime
He will hold the blasphemer accountable.
Howard, the philanthropist, on hearing anyone use blasphemous
expressions, always buttoned up his coat. Being asked the reason, he
replied, “I always do this when I hear men swear, as I think that
anyone who can take God’s name in vain can also steal.” Nothing so
chills one’s blood as—
 —“to hear the blest Supreme
Rudely appealed to on each trifling theme;
Therefore maintain your rank, vulgarity despise,
To blaspheme is neither brave, polite nor wise.
You would not do so upon the bed of death;
Reflect! Your Maker now could stop your breath.”

“AMEN!”

Many years ago when the Duke of Gordon was spending the day in
a Scotch village a company of soldiers was drawn up under the
window of the room in which the duke and a party of friends were
enjoying themselves. The officer in command was inspecting his
men’s arms and clothes, and if anything displeased him he berated
the soldier with blasphemous oaths. The duke, who abhorred such
language, expressed a wish that the inspection might soon be over.
“If your Grace desires it,” said one of the company, “I will clear the
coast of this man of oaths without noise or bloodshed.” “Do so, and
I’ll be obliged to you,” said the duke. The gentleman stepped into the
street, took his station behind the officer and pulled off his hat. As
the officer swore, the gentleman, with the grave solemnity of a parish
clerk, said in a loud voice “Amen.” “What do you mean?” asked the
officer, hastily turning around. “I am joining with you in prayer,”
answered the gentleman with a grave face. “I thank you, sir,”
rejoined the officer, “but I have no further need for a clerk. Soldiers!
to the right-about, march!” And he and his soldiers departed, much
to the amusement and happiness of the duke, after teaching an
important lesson to the officer that it is wrong to call upon God to do
this or that, or to belittle others by vile epithets which never fail to
bring in due time just retribution.
My boy, the only language to use is the pure and refined. By-
words, slang phrases, profanity and blasphemy are only uttered by
lips whose heart is bad, for “out of the abundance of the heart the
mouth speaketh.” Let your tongue utter sound sentences, choice
words and pleasant expressions, then will they be musical to the ears
of the good, sweet to the soul of the pious, educational to those who
associate with you, and beneficial to all. From this day put into
practice the last words of the eloquent John B. Gough. He was
lecturing in the Presbyterian Church, Frankford, Pa., on the night of
February 19, 1886. In the course of that lecture he said: “I have seven
years in the record of my own life when I was held in the iron grasp
of intemperance. I would give the world to blot it out, but alas! I
cannot.” Then, stepping forward, with an impressive gesture, he
added, “Young man, keep your record—” but he was unable to finish
the sentence, for he sank insensible into a chair from which he was
never able to rise. Evidently he meant to say, “Young man, keep your
record clean.”
Do not forget that improper words have a reflex influence. A fable
is told how a bee took an offering of honey to Jupiter, which so
pleased him that he promised to grant the bee whatever it should
ask. The bee said, “O glorious Jove, give thy servant a sting, that
when anyone approaches my hive to take the honey, I may kill him
on the spot.” Jupiter answered, “Your prayer shall not be granted in
the way you wish, but the sting you ask for, you shall have; and when
anyone comes to take away your honey, and you sting him, the
wound shall be fatal, not to him, but to you, for your life shall go with
the sting.” So is it to this day. He that curseth others, curseth himself.
Therefore my boy, control your tongue, and keep the door of your
lips, remembering:
“’Tis reason’s part
To govern and to guard the heart,
To lull the wayward soul to rest,
When hopes and fears distract the breast;
Reason may calm this doubtful strife,
And steer thy bark through various life.”
 CHAPTER V
Be Ambitious

INTRODUCTION TO CHAPTER V

By Booker T. Washington
Our natures are like oil; compound us with anything,
Yet will we strive to swim to the top.

—Beaumont.

Writing of the gentleman who introduces this chapter—the

Washington of his people in industry, education and religion, Paul
Dunbar, the negro poet, says:
“A poor Virginia cabin gave the seed;
And from its dark and lowly door there came
A peer of princes in the world’s acclaim,
A master spirit for the nation’s need.
Strong, silent, purposeful beyond his kind,
The ark of rugged force on brow and lip,
Straight on he goes, nor turns to look behind,
With one idea foremost in his mind
Like the keen prow of some on-forging ship.”

I would say to every young man, no matter what his color, to choose
as early as possible a good, clean-cut business, something that will
help make the world better, and then strive in every worthy way to
make that business the most successful of its kind in the world. The
boy who lets obstacles overcome him will not succeed. The great
thing is to succeed in spite of discouragements.
 CHAPTER V
Be Ambitious

Many a pen has been used against this inward passion, declaring it a
“secret poison, a gallant madness and the mother of hypocrisy.” The
great Wolsey cried, “I charge thee, fling away ambition.” Bowes said,
“The most aspiring are frequently the most contemptible,” but there
are exceptions to the rule. Where there is no aspiration, there is no
endeavor. It is not wrong to strain mental and physical energies to
succeed, provided it is to be good and to do good. The ambition of
Napoleon to lay waste the town of Acre was wrong, that of
Wellington to intercept the “scourge of Europe,” right. “To be
ambitious of true honor, of the true glory and perfections of our
natures, is,” as Sir Philip Sidney said, “the very principle and
incentive of virtue.”
One of the customs of the Norsemen was that of wearing a pickaxe
crest with the motto, “Either I will find a way or make one.” An adage
of the day reads, “Where there’s a will there’s a way.” What one wills
to do can usually be done. George Stephenson determined to make
an engine to run between Liverpool and Manchester at the rate of
twelve miles an hour. The Quarterly Review ridiculed the idea,
saying, “As well trust one’s self to be fired off on a Congreve rocket.”
He did it, nevertheless. Prince Bismarck’s greatest ambition was to
snatch Germany from Austrian oppression and to gather round
Prussia, in a North German confederation, all the States whose tone
of thought, religion and interest, were in harmony with those of
Prussia. “To attain this end,” he once said, “I would brave all dangers
—exile, even the scaffold. What matters if they hang me, provided the
rope with which I am hung binds this new Germany firmly to the
Prussian throne?” And, he did it.
 ASPIRE HIGH.

There is nothing wrong in aspiring high. George Washington

proposed to carve his name higher than any other on the Natural
Bridge in Virginia, and did it. Alfred Harmsworth, “king of the penny
press,” said on entering journalism, “I will master the business of
editing and publishing.” At twenty-one he had a little capital, at
thirty he was a millionaire, and later became head of the largest
publishing house in the world.
Emerson once said, “Hitch your wagon to a star.” It is but a natural
condition of a healthful life when energies seek an outlet in some
lofty activity. Better endeavor if but to fail, than never try at all. “I
know,” says Morris, “how far high failure overleaps the bounds of
low successes.” The sense of such makes us capable of a grave and
holy sense of the real soberness and meaning of life. George Eliot in
writing the last words of her most powerful book, exclaims, “It is so
much less than what I hoped for.” A great artist was once highly
praised for a beautiful painting which he had just completed. “Ah, do
not praise me!” he sadly said, “it may be very beautiful, but I aimed
at perfection.” When Napoleon started on his campaign he was
ridiculed and nicknamed “The Little Corporal,” which cut him to the
quick, but it proved to be a goad which stirred him to become a great
general. In one of our courts a poor carpenter was once planing a
magistrate’s bench, when an onlooker inquired, “Why are you so
careful with such a rough piece of furniture?” “Because I wish to
make it for the time when I shall sit as judge upon it,” was the reply.
And that time came.

INSTANCES OF SUCCESSFUL AMBITION.

In 1805 there was born in London a boy of a hated and branded

people. When sixteen years of age he became a clerk in a solicitor’s
office, and, to the amusement of his companions, he was wont to say:
“I intend to be prime minister of England.” He had no liberal
education, yet he won honors of literary skill and scholarship. He
was ambitious, and eventually won his way to Parliament. When he
attempted to deliver his first speech, his highflown style and
extravagant gestures provoked laughter and hisses, so that he took
his seat with great mortification. In doing so, he uttered a
remarkable prophecy, “I shall sit down now, but the time will come
when you will hear me.” True to the utterance, that time came to
Benjamin Disraeli, when, in Shakespeare’s words he could have said,
“People and senators! be not affrighted; fly not; stand still;
ambition’s debt is paid.”
Years ago a poor German boy named Schliemann read of the siege
of Troy, and made up his mind to find the ruins of that ancient city.
He procured books and taught himself six or seven languages. He
persevered and prospered until as a merchant he made a fortune.
Every step of his study and money-making was taken with the aim of
fulfilling the vow of his boyhood. In due time he started eastward
with a company of laborers, and for long years pursued his search. At
last success crowned his efforts. Troy was discovered and the gold,
silver and bronze articles of the Trojan king were dug out of his
palace, and placed on exhibition at South Kensington, England.
One day while wandering about Cincinnati a young artist saw a
sign which read, “Peter Skinner, Chairmaker.” “Why can’t I make
chairs?” he asked himself. He straightway entered the establishment,
resolved to ask for a position. In order to get to the office, he had to
pass through the paint room, and the sight of several busy workers
prompted him to inwardly exclaim, “Anyway I can paint chairs.” The
firm wanted a hand, and he was engaged to come the next morning
to work in the paint shop. As he wended his way back he tarried a
moment to see how the painters did their work. That evening when
he reached his room in the boarding-house, he borrowed a brush and
an old chair, and began practising. Next morning he was on hand at
the chair factory and there continued to work for two months at nine
dollars per week. No one ever discovered that he was not an
experienced chair-painter. During his leisure time at the boarding-
house he made pencil drawings and dropped them carelessly on the
floor so that they would attract attention. The landlord, a colonel in
the militia, possessed a strong, characteristic face and the artist drew
him in uniform, and dropped this picture on the floor of his room.
His chief ambition was to return to portrait painting. He thought the
drawing would please the colonel, and it did; so much so, that it led
to his receiving a commission to paint the portraits of the colonel and
his family, consisting of five members, at five dollars each. With this
work to occupy him he left the chair factory, and soon the reputation
of James H. Beard, the celebrated portrait and animal painter, was
made.
History records thousands of those who have pressed their way
upward until they were crowned with success in spite of the
distressing, discouraging, circumstantial law of gravitation, in which
poverty and uncouth ancestry have played an important part. What
these have done, any other boy can do, providing he argues not
“Against heaven’s hand or will, not ’bate a jot
Of heart or hope, but still bear up and steer
Right onward.”

THE SPIRIT OF DISCONTENT.

There is, however, a spirit of discontent manifested by many who

envy those a few rounds higher on life’s social or business ladder,
and who are determined to surpass them at whatever cost. Such
ambition is justly foredoomed to disappointment, like Alexander’s,
who wept because there were no more worlds for him to conquer;
and like Pisistratus, to whom the Athenian law-giver said, “Were it
not for your ambition, you would be the best citizen of Athens.”
Ambition that rises from discontent or selfishness is false. It lacks
conscience to engineer it. A boy is only fit to go higher as he
demonstrates faithfulness where he is. A boy that simply wants to
climb without endeavoring to do well in the position he holds is, as
Beecher said, “Neither fit to be where he is, nor yet above it; he is
already too high, and should be put lower.” “Out of the frying-pan
into the fire,” though not his motto, will doubtless be his result.

MASTER OF HIS CRAFT.

Not long ago, at Ellis Island, a large number of immigrants were

awaiting examination. Among them was a tall Polish lad with a little
black bag under his arm. When his turn came to answer the
inevitable question, “How much money have you?” he smiled, and
frankly answered “None.” “But don’t you know you can’t come in
here if you have no money, and no friend to speak for you? Where
are you going?” asked the inspector. “To Fall River first. I have a
friend there. Then I shall see the whole country. You will hear of me,”
he answered. The inspector proceeded rather sharply, “How will you
get to Fall River? Where will you eat and sleep to-night?” “I shall be
all right,” replied the lad confidently. “With this,” tapping the black
bag, “I can go anywhere.” “What is it?” The Pole laughed, and
opening the bag, took out a cornet. It was a fine instrument, and gave
evidence of loving care. “Can you play it well?” asked the officer,
kindly. In answer the young man stepped out into an open space, and
lifting the horn to his lips, began the beautiful intermezzo from
“Cavalleria Rusticana.” At the very first note every one in the great
building stood still and listened. The long lines of immigrants
became motionless. The forlorn waiters in the pit looked up, and
their faces became tender. Even the meanest among them seemed to
feel the charm of the pleading notes. When the music ceased, there
was a burst of applause. Shouts of “Bravo,” “Good boy,” “Give us
some more,” came from every side. The physicians, who a few
moments before had made their hurried and not over-gentle
examination, joined in the applause. The officer who had questioned
him so sharply slapped him on the back. The commissioner himself
had come up from his office at the sound of the horn, and asked for
particulars. When he had heard them, he turned to the agent of the
Fall River boats, and said, “Give this lad a passage, including meals,
and charge it to me.” “I will charge it to myself,” said the agent, and
he took the young Pole by the arm and led him away. “With this I can
go anywhere,” showed not only his ambitious spirit, but
demonstrated faithfulness in the prosecution of his studies, which
now stood him in good stead and made him master of the situation.
How true, as Massinger sang,
“Man was marked
A friend in the creation, to himself,
And may, with fit ambition, conceive
The greatest blessings and the highest honors
Appointed for him, if he can achieve them
The right and noble way.”
 HINTS TO SUCCESSFUL AMBITION.

Ambition, to succeed, must seize opportunity by the forelock.

“Behind she is bald; if you seize her by the forelock, you may hold
her; if suffered to escape, not Jupiter himself can catch her again.”
“Do that which lies nearest you,” is an injunction worth obeying, and
though not the most satisfactory, may be the stepping-stone to
something higher. John D. Rockefeller, who is computed to be worth
three hundred million dollars, earned his first money hoeing
potatoes, and when thirty-five years of age owned but a thousand
dollars. When Edison was a very poor young man, walking the
streets in search of work, he happened to step into an office in Wall
street. The telegraph recording machine was out of order, and no one
could make it work. Instead of pleading his case in general
statements, he simply asked if he might try his hand on the balky
machine. He was permitted, and was successful. This was the turning
point in his career toward fortune. He not only had knowledge and
skill enough to make a machine go, but he had wit enough to
perceive the opportunity just at hand. Some things are difficult to
perceive because they are close to us. But this is all the more reason
why we should look for them and with the barest possibility seize
them.
Ambition which ennobles, must do well whatever there is to be
done. Gladstone’s advice to boys was, “Be thorough in what you do,
and remember that, though ignorance often may be innocence,
pretension is always despicable.” President Garfield tells of a
schoolmate who established a factory for the single purpose of
making hammers, which he had brought to great perfection, and in
which he took a great pride. The statesman said to his old friend, “By
this time you must be able to make a pretty good hammer.” The
hammer-maker, who was shipping his wares by the thousands to all
parts of the earth, replied: “No, we do not make any pretty good
hammers; we make the best hammers that can be made.” “I
commission thee, my son,” said an aged artist, whose eye was failing
and hand trembling, “do thy best.” The young man hesitated,
thinking the duty too vast to finish his master’s work, but the
injunction “do thy best” rang in his ears. With prayer for help and
high purpose in heart, the young man began. As he wrought, his
hand grew steady, his conception cleared, each stroke became a
master-stroke until with tearful exultation, the aged artist gave over
into the hand of Leonardo da Vinci the task from which his own
trembling hand was dropping, which task for da Vinci meant a
world-wide reputation.
“I was invited,” said the late D. W. Richardson, “to give an address
at St. Andrew’s University, and to listen in the evening to a lecture by
another man—like myself, an outsider. I was not personally
acquainted with this other man, but I knew that he filled an
important judicial office in Scotland, and was considered one of the
most able and learned, as well as one of the wittiest men in that
country. He chose for his subject ‘Self-Culture,’ and for an hour held
us in a perfect dream of pleasure. For my own part, I could not
realize that the hour had fled. The lecture ended at seven o’clock, and
at eight I found myself seated at dinner by the side of the lecturer, at
the house of one of the university professors. In the course of the
dinner I made some reference to the hall in which the exercises of the
day had been held, how good it was for sound, and what a fine
structure to look upon. ‘And did you like the way in which the stones
were laid inside?’ asked my new friend. ‘Immensely,’ I replied, ‘the
man who laid those stones was an artist who must have thought that
his work would live through the ages.’ ‘Well, that is pleasant to hear,’
he said, ‘for the walls are my ain daein’.’ He had the Scottish accent
when in earnest. ‘Fortunate man,’ I replied, ‘to have the means to
build so fine a place,’ for I thought, naturally enough, that, being a
rich man, he had built this hall at his own expense, and presented it
to the university. ‘Fortunate, truly,’ he answered, ‘but not in that
sense. What I mean is, that I laid every one of those stones with my
ain hand. I was a working mason, and the builder of the hall gave me
the job of laying the inside stone-work; and I never had a job in my
life in which I took so much pride and so much pleasure.’
“While this man was working with his hands he was working also
with his brain. He took his degree, went to the bar, and became a
man honored throughout the country. We applauded his brilliant
lecture; but those silent, beautiful stones before him, which echoed
our applause, must, I think, have been to him one cheer more, and a
big one.”
 Be ambitious, my boy. Embrace every opportunity, for such “is the
small end of a big thing.” The small end comes first and may be good
as a handle. “My chance has come,” said Commodore Dewey to a
naval captain with whom he dined just before leaving Washington to
assume command of the Asiatic squadron early in 1898. “You know,
Farragut did not get his chance till he was over sixty, but he took it,
and—” something interfered with the conversation and the sentence
was never finished in words, but the rest of it reverberated around
the world from the roar of Dewey’s guns at Manila. Keep your eyes
open. Hear, but say little. Count the cost before you bargain. Weigh
matters before you buy, and if there is a possibility of success, grasp
it. Spare no labor, nor shrink from danger, for in the words of
Montrose,
“He either fears his fate too much
Or his deserts are small,
That dares not put it to the touch
To gain or lose it all.”
 CHAPTER VI
Be Industrious

INTRODUCTION TO CHAPTER VI

By John T. Rich
Industry—
To meditate, to plan, resolve, perform,
Which in itself is good—as surely brings
Reward of good, no matter what be done.
—Pollock.

Industry stimulates honesty,—honesty for its own sake, not because it is the best
policy.
Such sweetened by courtesy, seasons our attainments with a delightful relish and
portends a rich reward.
—H. D. Wilson.

Industry means success in life. Without it, genius, ability, scholarship

and good intentions are of no avail. By industry, poverty, lack of
opportunity and the greatest obstacles in human life may be
overcome, and success in life assured.