Part 23

Some day the good fellow is taken sick and dies. He has not a cent to his name, and the other good fellows take up a collection to bury him. The only persons at the funeral are the other good fellows, and the only requiem he receives is "Well, he was a good fellow."

The good fellow at fifty is working for the good business man. The good fellow is like the butterfly, and sips life's pleasures, and shows off his fancy colors, living for today only.

The successful man is like the ant, he works and puts something away each day, where he can get at it in the future.

When winter comes with its chilling blasts, the butterfly has nothing in reserve and it starves to death, while the ant keeps himself alive on the product of his own labor.

Some day the good fellow finds himself in need. He goes to other good fellows, but they can't help him because they are in the same boat themselves. Then our good fellow grows pessimistic, and finds out too late that it does not pay to be a good fellow.

Good fellows don't get good jobs very often. When they do get them they don't hold them very long.

It is a mighty poor recommendation to be referred to as a good fellow. People seem to think that the words "good fellow" cover a multitude of sins, and when a man has done wrong, or makes a mistake, or uses bad judgment, the other good fellows try to excuse his faults by saying--"Well, he is a good fellow, anyhow."

The good fellow bursts upon us with his halo about him. As time passes the halo dims and the good fellow peters out.

The good fellow who is so popular at the Club today is found tomorrow trying to eke out an existence selling books and life insurance to other good fellows.

There is nothing in good fellowship that can be negotiated at the bank. The credit man of the wholesale house does not give credit on good fellowship.

Hard Work

It is a mistaken idea that hard work kills men. Hard work never killed a man. It is the improper care of oneself when he is not working that does the damage.

The more a man does with his brain the less his hands will have to do. The better a man's reasoning and common sense are, the more successful he will be. It requires hard work these days to keep up in the race.

You cannot make a success unless you work hard. Hard work will be much easier if you keep worry out of it.

Hard work brings success, but to do hard work, the machinery must be in good order. You must keep your constitution up, you must have plenty of sleep and you must learn to eat and breathe properly.

No story of success has ever been truly written that did not depict hard work in every line.

Success comes by inches, not by leaps or bounds. Success is the pushing forward each day by hard work.

Burn the candle at one end only and you replace each day what you have burned, by rest, sleep and recreation. By burning the candle at one end only and replacing it fully each day, your candle will not burn out.

Kindness

"A little word in kindness spoken, A motion or a tear, Has often healed the heart that's broken And made a friend sincere."

There's nothing in business that pays so well as kindness. A man may spend his money, and in proportion as he spends it he reduces his principal. With kindness the matter is different, for in proportion as you spend kindness your principal increases.

Lincoln said "You can catch more flies with a drop of honey than with a gallon of vinegar."

Kindness is beautiful. It brings round you many persons who are ready to say kind words to you. This subtle, potent influence of having lots of friends to help you by their actions and showing their hearts is a great blessing. It is surprising that people know so little of the value of kindness.

The word "gentleman" is really a compound word, meaning gentle-man, and these words together in their simplicity are the true definition of the word gentleman.

Kindness means gentleness. No man is a gentleman who is not kind.

People are glad to recognize goodness and kindness in an individual. No one can act the part if he is not sincere. We must cultivate kindness, if there is little of it in our makeup. We must take an inventory of our qualities, and if the weeds of mean impulses are crowding out the delicate flowers of kindness, we should pull out those weeds and give the flowers a chance to grow.

Lincoln was a kind man, kindness was his chief delight, and his examples of kindness have been of untold benefit to millions of people. You remember he said, "When they lay me away let it be said of me that as I traveled along life's road I have always endeavored to pull up a thistle and plant a rose in its stead."

Life at best is short, and the only things we really get out of life are happiness, health and love. Money cannot buy these things.