Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
1
From the lives of great men we learn many things, 1 0 much
that is of value to us in our own 2 0 lives. Not the least important thing,
perhaps, which the life 3 0 of almost any great man teaches us, is that
we 4 0 have time to do those things which we most want 5 0 to do. As
young people we talk lightly of what 6 0 if only we had the time; as 7 0 old
people we look back upon lost opportunities and wish 8 0 that we had
had the time to follow this course 9 0 of action, that line of training. But
again and again, 1 0 0 as we read the stories of the lives of those 1 1 0 who
have done great things, of those whose names will 1 2 0 be forever
remembered, the knowledge is forced upon us 1 3 0 that our trouble is not
that we have too little 1 4 0 time but that we have too little desire. Our
desire 1 5 0 to move in a certain direction is not strong enough 1 6 0 to
influence us to take the necessary steps, to use 1 7 0 for that purpose the
hours which are being spent in 1 8 0 other and possibly less profitable
ways. If the desire to 1 9 0 act and the will to work are there, then we 2 0 0
shall find both the time and the opportunity.
These thoughts 2 1 0 come to the mind upon reading a
recently published book 2 2 0 in which the writer tells in outline the story
of 2 3 0 the lives of 15 great men. From the many remarkable 2 4 0 men who
have lived during the past five hundred years 2 5 0 the writer has taken
those men who, by their thought 2 6 0 and by their labor, were able to
discover a great 2 7 0 principle, some deep truth about the laws of nature
which had 2 8 0 not before been known----men who in this way 2 9 0 added
greatly to the knowledge and learning of the world 3 0 0 and so took all
men one big step forward in 3 1 0 the long march towards a better
understanding of the forces 3 2 0 which govern our world. It is not
possible to read 3 3 0 this book or indeed any book of this nature---
without 3 4 0 feeling an increased respect for the power of man’s mind, 3 5 0
an increased respect for his learning, for his continued attempts 3 6 0 to
find the truth even when faced with great difficulties. 3 7 0 The life of
each of these men, it need hardly 3 8 0 be said, differs in detail. Some of
them showed themselves 3 9 0 even as children to have reasoning powers
beyond what we 4 0 0 regard as usual; others were just simple children
2
EXERCISE NO. 4
You would therefore make the statement that a certain 1 0
sound took place at, say, five seconds past the hour, I 2 0 would say that
it happened at about two or three 3 0 seconds past the hour, while the
people at the works 4 0 would say that it took place just at the hour. 5 0 So
that when we say that a certain thing happened 6 0 at a certain time we
really mean that it happened 7 0 at that time in relation to our own
position at that 8 0 moment.
The relation of time to distance and the 9 0 relation of
immediate time to time as a whole are 1 0 0 subjects in which people grow
more and more interested. Recently 1 1 0 two plays have been written
round the idea that everything 1 2 0 that has happened in the past is still
in existence, 1 3 0 the point made by the plays being that a person 1 4 0 who
has a certain special sense highly developed can go 1 5 0 back into the
past and experience old and past events. 1 6 0 But interesting as these
ideas may be, there is another 1 7 0 and much more usual point of view
from which to 1 8 0 consider time. For all the general purposes of
everyday life 1 9 0 we all understand time quite well. We know that
each 2 0 0 day is made up of 24 hours, that there 2 1 0 are never 23 hours to
the day and never 2 2 0 25. We know that the little hands marking the 2 3 0
passing of the minutes and hours move on and on 2 4 0 at their even rate,
and that although they work in 2 5 0 our service they work without any
regard to our personal 2 6 0 and special interests. They will work no more
quickly when 2 7 0 life is taking us towards some specially pleasing event,
and 2 8 0 they will not lessen their rate when we are moving 2 9 0 towards
something less pleasing. We know that time influences us 3 0 0 in the
doing of every piece of work for all 3 1 0 work, to have its highest value,
has to be “done 3 2 0 to time.” The Chief who calls the members of the 3 3 0
Board together for a certain time must be ready when the 3 4 0 Board
meets with the facts, figures, or questions which 3 5 0 he wishes to put to
the members. He depends not 3 6 0 only upon his own work in this
connection but upon 3 7 0 the work of all directly wording with him, from
the 3 8 0 most experienced man in his employ to the most recent 3 9 0 of the
office-boys. The motor manufacturer must so organize 4 0 0 the year’s
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work of all his men that he not 4 1 0 only supplies the day to day demand
of the public 4 2 0 for his product but also has his new goods quite 4 3 0
ready for the market at the expected time. The manufacturer, 4 4 0
whatever his product may be, must supply present demand and 4 5 0 at
the same time organize future work. Goods made for 4 6 0 shipment
overseas must be ready for shipment by the date 4 7 0 on which the ship
is leaving the country. The kind 4 8 0 of market in which we are interested
makes little difference 4 9 0 ---goods must be put on the market when the
market 5 0 0 is ready to receive them. But the principal difficulty of 5 1 0 all
planning comes from the fact that we cannot see 5 2 0 time. We have
perhaps five months in which to do 5 3 0 a piece of work; there seems to
be no need 5 4 0 for an immediate start and the papers in connection
with 5 5 0 it are put on one side. When the papers again 5 6 0 see the light of
day we find possibly that we need 5 7 0 information from another person.
But to the second man 5 8 0 this piece of work is something just received,
and he 5 9 0 in his turn “sits on it” for a little while, 6 0 0 only to find when he
looks seriously at the work 6 1 0 that it requires the attention of a third
party. And 6 2 0 valuable days pass until we find that the work is 6 3 0 either
put through to time as a result of much 6 4 0 work and running about on
the part of everyone interested 6 5 0 or it is not put through with resulting
loss of 6 6 0 money and good will. Even when man has done his 6 7 0 best
Nature sometimes lets us down, and weather conditions hold 6 8 0 up
trains, airplanes, and ships and the “perfect” piece of 6 9 0 planning
works out less perfectly than we had hoped and 7 0 0 expected.(701)
EXERCISE NO. 5
While we rest peacefully in our beds at night great 1 0
machines are at work turning out thousands and sometimes millions 2 0
of copies of our morning newspapers, at the rate of 3 0 four hundred or
more copies a minute. The late hours 4 0 of the night and the early hours
of the morning 5 0 are times of hard work for most of those who 6 0 have
any connection with the first general distribution of newspapers. 7 0 But
so regularly does the paper appear on the streets 8 0 that we usually buy
it and read it through as 9 0 a matter of course, giving little or no thought
to 1 0 0 the means used to bring it to us or to 1 1 0 the great care and
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have no cause to feel you will have not cause to feel anything but
pleasure 3 5 0 at the thought of what is before you.
There are 3 6 0 two points of principal importance to
remember the first that 3 7 0 you should be able to express your thoughts
and ideas 3 8 0 in clear language in a clear voice; the second 3 9 0 that the
thoughts and ideas which you express should be 4 0 0 thoughts and ideas
in which you have a personal belief. 4 1 0 It has been said that words
were given to us 4 2 0 in order that we might keep to ourselves the real 4 3 0
nature of our thoughts. Like many such general statements, this 4 4 0
particular saying has some measure of truth in it, for 4 5 0 we all know
that words can be, and often are, 4 6 0 used in such a way as to express
something quite 4 7 0 different from the thoughts which are passing
through the mind 4 8 0 at the time of speaking. But while those who
hear 4 9 0 us speak may not at once know when we are 5 0 0 expressing
ideas in which we have little or no belief, 5 1 0 it is the case, on the other
hand, that they 5 2 0 “sense” it immediately when we are expressing ideas
in which 5 3 0 we believe, for such belief adds force and power to 5 4 0 our
words. Therefore, use those thoughts and ideas in which 5 5 0 you
believe. First write down all the different points which 5 6 0 you think are
worth consideration; out of all these points 5 7 0 take those which you
think are best for your purpose 5 8 0 and put them into order so that you
ideas follow 5 9 0 one another naturally. From these short notes write out
your 6 0 0 full talk just as you would like to be able 6 1 0 to deliver it. But do
not depend upon using these 6 2 0 full notes, as if you read the whole of
your 6 3 0 talk you will find that you lower your head over 6 4 0 your papers
and your voice will probably not carry well. 6 5 0 It is better to take out
form these full notes, 6 6 0 say, ten headings giving your principal points.
Read through these 6 7 0 headings a number of times, making sure that
you can 6 8 0 remember from the headings what you wish to say. Make 6 9 0
quite certain that you know just what your opening remarks 7 0 0 are to
be. If you can open your talk easily 7 1 0 and lightly you will find it simple
to carry through 7 2 0 to the end successfully. Do not use your voice on
too 7 3 0 high a note: try to keep it a little 7 4 0 lower than your usual
speaking voice, and speak to the 7 5 0 people at the back of the room.
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You can judge 7 6 0 from the expression on their faces whether they are
hearing 7 7 0 you. (771)
EXERCISE NO. 7
The value of the passing moment----from our earliest
days 1 0 we are told by loving mothers and by our teachers 2 0 that each
golden minute is made up of sixty little 3 0 seconds and that a minute
lost is a minute gone 4 0 from us forever. If, at the end of one 5 0 flying
minute, we can show “sixty seconds’ worth of distance 6 0 run,” then, we
are told, we shall become great men 7 0 and women, ours “will be the
earth and everything that 8 0 is in it.” But when we are children the
days 9 0 are long; an hour is not made up of sixty 1 0 0 golden minutes it is
a life-time in itself. Each 1 1 0 day, we are quite sure, will be followed by
another 1 2 0 day, and all life is waiting for us, reaching away 1 3 0 into the
far, far future. As children we cannot cut 1 4 0 up our day into so many
seconds and minutes and 1 5 0 hours; we do not measure time, and the
words of 1 6 0 our mothers and the lines in our copybooks hold 1 7 0 no real
meaning for us. But there comes a day 1 8 0 when we find that we have
“grown up,” and life 1 9 0 itself teaches us at once what we could not
learn 2 0 0 at school. We find that the days are passing all 2 1 0 too quickly,
that our happiest hours are those which seem 2 2 0 most short and we
learn, too, that our employers expect 2 3 0 us to follow the rules of the old
copybooks 2 4 0 and to make each minute hold sixty seconds’ worth of 2 5 0
work well done. We find that in most worth-while 2 6 0 work the time taken
to do the work is as 2 7 0 important as the quality of the work itself, that
there 2 8 0 is a time for the completing of every piece of 2 9 0 work, and that
if the work is not ready at 3 0 0 that time much of its value is lost. The
value 3 1 0 of the second, the importance of the minute, are things 3 2 0
which are part of every shorthand writer’s experience. The man 3 3 0
driving the train does not need his copybook to 3 4 0 tell him of the value
of the passing moment. He 3 5 0 cannot stop his train on the line and look
at 3 6 0 the beautiful country-side. The fireman working at his side 3 7 0
must put coal on the great fire when the requirements 3 8 0 of the engine
call for it, not when he feels 3 9 0 that he would like to do it. A committee,
asked 4 0 0 to report on certain conditions, is expected to get out 4 1 0 the
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you will remember that we made a 5 1 0 special offer of this kind about
this time last year. 5 2 0
Perhaps you will be good enough to write to us, informing
us 5 3 0 of the date on which you were offered 5 4 0 the goods, the date on
which delivery was made, the 5 5 0 price paid for the goods, and if
possible at the 5 6 0 same time give us a few details regarding the
young 5 7 0 man who called. The matter has, of course, been placed 5 8 0 in
official hands. We are today sending out a 5 9 0 letter to all the customers
on our books calling their 6 0 0 attention to this matter and asking them to
report to 6 1 0 the authorities if they have goods on order for delivery 6 2 0
within the next few days. We do not expect to 6 3 0 get results in this way,
however, as the manufacturer of 6 4 0 the goods would depend upon
quick action for the success 6 5 0 of his plan, and he will no doubt by
now 6 6 0 be interesting himself in quite a different line of goods. 6 7 0
We do not wish you to experience any personal loss 6 8 0 and
we will supply you with goods to take the 6 9 0 place of those in question.
No doubt you will in 7 0 0 your turn supply your customers with the new
goods in 7 1 0 place of the poor quality goods bought from you. We 7 2 0
know that you will understand our very difficult positions, and 7 3 0 we
trust that you will not let the matter influence 7 4 0 you in any way against
this company. Yours truly, (749)
EXERCISE NO. 9
“Keep that school-girl----”: we can all supply the missing 1 0
word, for we have become so used to seeing and 2 0 hearing this and
other expressions that they have become part 3 0 of our everyday life.
Advertising is an art to which 4 0 some of the best minds of the country
are given. 5 0 It is an art which plays an increasingly important part 6 0 in
modern life, bringing the seller and the buyer into 7 0 more and more
immediate touch one with the other. Day 8 0 by day advertisements
speak to us with a powerful voice, 9 0 a voice which we cannot help
hearing, a voice from 1 0 0 which we could not free ourselves if we
wished. Along 1 1 0 the roads, along the railway lines, in most of our 1 2 0
reading matter between the acts of the play---everywhere and 1 3 0 from
all quarters the voice comes to us. Few places 1 4 0 are now so distant
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that they are out of reach 1 5 0 of the influence of the advertisement. For
good or for 1 6 0 bad, advertising is with us and is likely to continue 1 7 0 to
be with us. We cannot free ourselves of it: 1 8 0 it would be useless to
attempt to do so, 1 9 0 and for the most part we do not wish to.
From 2 0 0 advertisements we may learn much about the
forces which move 2 1 0 men. The advertisement copy-writer,
understanding these forces, knowing 2 2 0 the desires which influence the
masses, uses his knowledge to get 2 3 0 our attention, to hold our
interest, to touch our hearts. 2 4 0 He offers to waiting men and women
just those things 2 5 0 which they most desire. The beautiful woman is
told how 2 6 0 she may continue to be beautiful; the woman who has 2 7 0
never been beautiful is told how she can become beautiful. 2 8 0 The
strong man is told how he may keep strong 2 9 0 and young, while the
less able man is shown how 3 0 0 he may add to his powers. We are
shown how 3 1 0 we can make more money, how from being an
employee 3 2 0 we can become an employer. We can, we learn, easily 3 3 0
buy a house of our own, and, having bought the 3 4 0 house, put into it
beautiful and lasting things. Nor does 3 5 0 the copy-writer stop here. He
plays upon our fear 3 6 0 of the future. Plans for insurance are put before
us, 3 7 0 insurance to help us while we live and insurance to 3 8 0 make sure
that should we die those who depend upon 3 9 0 us will not be left without
means. Form advertisements we 4 0 0 learn details about cars, about
labor saving machines, about books, 4 1 0 and about all the other many
interests of modern life. 4 2 0 Some people read these advertisements
with more belief and with 4 3 0 more interest than others, but few of us
could say 4 4 0 that we pay no attention whatever to them. It is 4 5 0 not
surprising that the good copy-writer should be considered 4 6 0 a most
valuable employee in the advertising office.
Wide and 4 7 0 general advertising has its advantages for
the public. It provides 4 8 0 us with the opportunity to weigh up the good
points 4 9 0 and the bad points of different products. We can form 5 0 0
judgments upon what is offered to us and make up 5 1 0 our minds as to
what we will buy. Without advertising 5 2 0 it is probable that, because we
knew little of what 5 3 0 was in the market, we would as a rule be 5 4 0
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offered that particular product which gave the biggest profit to 5 5 0 the
seller. But, as we all know, the good thing 5 6 0 becomes a bad thing
when it is overdone, and this 5 7 0 attempt on the part of each
manufacturer to be most 5 8 0 in the public eye has led to advertisements
appearing in 5 9 0 what most people feel to be the wrong places. We 6 0 0
see great boards set up in a lovely country-side 6 1 0 , for example, or in
an otherwise pleasing little street. For 6 2 0 this reason the movement
which has as its object the 6 3 0 control of advertising in public places, so
that the restfulness 6 4 0 of the country or the orderly quality of a town 6 5 0
is not taken away, is a movement which should have 6 6 0 the support of
all thinking people.(666)
EXERCISE NO. 10
Advertisements, we all agree, are sometimes too much
with us. 1 0 But we are agreed also that they play an important 2 0 and
valuable part in modern life, offering us some very 3 0 real advantages.
Not the least of these advantages is the 4 0 fact that through
advertisements a very large part of our 5 0 cheap reading matter is made
possible. We do not need 6 0 to be told that the money which we hand
to 7 0 the newsboy in the street does not cover the 8 0 cost of bringing out
the paper we receive in return. 9 0 Much labor, thought, and material
have gone to the making 1 0 0 of the paper; much money has been spent
in order 1 1 0 to provide us with that interesting and up-to-the- 1 2 0 minute
news service which we have grown to expect and 1 3 0 which we take as a
natural part of our life. 1 4 0 The very low price of the newspaper,
delivered to our 1 5 0 house early in the morning or bought by us 1 6 0 at the
station as we go home at night, would not 1 7 0 be possible were it not for
the money received by 1 8 0 the newspaper-owners for the advertisements
which take up so 1 9 0 large a part of the paper each day. A
manufacturer 2 0 0 will pay heavily for a full-page advertisement of his 2 1 0
products, or for the smaller advertisement appearing side by side 2 2 0
with the principal news of the day. Most weekly and 2 3 0 monthly papers
also depend for their existence upon the income 2 4 0 received from the
advertisements they carry, so that as a 2 5 0 direct result of wide and
general advertising more daily, weekly 2 6 0 and monthly papers can be
17
or nine times out of 1 9 0 ten with the too well-known reply: “No thank
you, 2 0 0 not today”? He will hear these words over and 2 1 0 over again
throughout the day, six days a week, and 2 2 0 upon hearing them he will
perhaps try to change the 2 3 0 mind of the person speaking, but if he
cannot he 2 4 0 must, with good-nature say: “Well, thank you, and good-
morning,” 2 5 0 and turn hopefully to the next house, where there 2 6 0 may
be a less strong will or a less hard 2 7 0 heart.
Why does he put himself to so much trouble? 2 8 0 The work
is hard; he often carries a heavy case 2 9 0 as he goes from door to door.
He is to 3 0 0 be seen on the streets in all kinds of weather; 3 1 0 many of
the doors at which he calls are not 3 2 0 opened to him, or are opened
only for him to 3 3 0 hear a short “No thank you,” with no regard
whatever 3 4 0 to the value of what he has to offer. He does 3 5 0 it because
he is trying to make a living 3 6 0 for himself. He wants employment. He is
working often for 3 7 0 very little return in money, finding additional
comfort in the 3 8 0 knowledge that he is employed, that he is standing
on 3 9 0 his own feet, that he is still a useful citizen. 4 0 0 While it is not in
our natures a ways to consider 4 1 0 both sides to a question, we have to
agree that, 4 2 0 a thought the calls of such men may cause a woman 4 3 0
some small trouble, her work of running the house is 4 4 0 very much
better than their work of going from house 4 5 0 to house, from street to
street, from town to town. 4 6 0
One important fact operates against these men. They are
forced 4 7 0 by conditions to call upon those who least need their 4 8 0
services. Their calls are usually made where houses are near 4 9 0
together, either in or quite near to a town. The 5 0 0 people in these
houses are within reasonable distance of stores, 5 1 0 and in addition the
tradesmen are most willing to deliver 5 2 0 goods. They have therefore
very little need for further service 5 3 0 of this nature. But there are other
people who live 5 4 0 in some distant place, somewhere off the important
roads and 5 5 0 away from towns of any kind. These are the people 5 6 0 who
would be pleased to have men call upon them with 5 7 0 goods of different
kinds. But in their case the 5 8 0 distance between the houses is great,
and so many miles 5 9 0 would have to be covered in going about that
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first plan in note from what he has to 3 4 0 say, out when the notes are
made he will try 3 5 0 to make his writing perfect at the first attempt.
These 3 6 0 different methods bring equally good results,
and 3 7 0 in teaching and learning we find the same thing. One teacher
may use 3 8 0 methods different from those used by another teacher, but
both 3 9 0 teachers may get good results. One learner may have a 4 0 0 very
good memory and may be able easily to learn 4 1 0 by heart a great many
facts even though these facts 4 2 0 may appear at first to have little or no
relation 4 3 0 to one another. Another learner must know the reason for 4 4 0
everything. He learns most easily if he understands what is 4 5 0 behind
the facts. But while methods of teaching and learning 4 6 0 may differ,
there is one fact common to all: the 4 7 0 learner is taken step by step
from the known to 4 8 0 the new. The learner beginning to write words for
the 4 9 0 first time is asked to write only simple little words 5 0 0 which he
already knows how to use. A teacher giving 5 1 0 instruction in the
language of another country first teaches the 5 2 0 children words which
they already know very well in their 5 3 0 own language. In the same way,
when learning shorthand we 5 4 0 do not at first want to learn the outlines
for 5 5 0 long and difficult words. The natural first step is to 5 6 0 learn to
write in shorthand those words which we may 5 7 0 be expected to know
how to write in longhand. In this 5 8 0 way learning is made simple for us,
and we are 5 9 0 taken step by step to the writing of more 6 0 0 difficult
words. (602)
EXERCISE NO. 14
We all know the person who, not liking the existing 1 0 order
of things, says that “he is quite sure that 2 0 he is not going to let his
employer make a 3 0 profit out of him,” and each day he does the 4 0 least
possible amount of work. But if an employer is 5 0 not making a profit out
of his employees his undertaking cannot continue, he will have to go
out of business, and the employees will themselves be left without
work. An employer must depend upon each one of his employees to
help him to make a profit made from another, but always there must be
this profit. The profit made from the work of one employee may be
23
more direct than the profit made from another, but always there must
be this profit in one form or another.
If an employee does bad work, of set purpose, because he
does not like his present conditions, he is first of all acting badly
towards himself and his own work, he is acting badly towards his
employer, and finally he is acting badly towards all the other
employees who work with him. It never pays to turn out work of poor
quality. We have to train ourselves to do our best work in all
conditions. If we do not train ourselves to work well under conditions
which we do not like we shall not be able to do our best work under
conditions which we like better. For we cannot reach a desired end by
the use of wrong means: if the means used to bring about a certain
desired end are bad means, then the end itself will be found after all to
be an endless worth-while than we had hoped.
It is probable that many readers of this page have quite
recently taken up employment in an office. Others may be hoping very
soon to leave school and to take their place in business life. Most
young people, beginning their working life, do so with a good will ---with
a real desire to do well, with the hope that their employer will be
pleased with their work, and with the belief that they will be very
successful. But sometimes success does not come so easily or quickly
as they expected, and this feeling of good will begins to grow less.
Perhaps a young girl who knows that she is an expert in her work may
meet one evening another girl who is not so expert, and she may find
that this girl is being paid more than she herself is getting. If you
should have some such experience, don’t make up your mind not to try
so hard in future. Go home and think about the matter, “weigh” things
up, try to find the reason for your friends, success. And if after this you
still feel that you ought to be doing better, that you are not likely to
meet with success in your present position, don’t begin to turn out
work of poorer quality. Remember that while you are working for your
employer you are at least making a living, and he has to right to expect
good work from you. If you can, do even better work, but all the time
watch for an opportunity to improve your position. Look at the
24
and Mr. Pointing will bring two or three suggestions round to your
office on Tuesday morning. We are sending with this letter a list of the
newspapers in which your advertisements would appear, together with
a list of the smaller daily and weekly papers which are known to bring
good result for products such as yours. Yours truly, (581)
EXERCISE NO. 17
We often hear it said of a man that he had had a long life
or that his life had been “cut short.” What do we really mean when we
use the expressions “long life” and “short life”? In relation to what is
the life of a particular man long or short? We are, of course, measuring
the life of the man in relation to the number of years which men in the
mass can reasonably expect to live. When we speak of the life of one
man in relation to the life of most men we can with some degree of
truth say that it was a long life. But can we use such an expression if
we think of the life of one man in relation to the time during which man
has lived on earth, and, further, can we use such an expression
regarding the life of man on earth if we think of it in relation to the time
during which the earth itself has been in existence and in relation to
the time during which the earth is likely to continue in existence? The
life of one man and the life of man as a whole are short beyond
statement when considered in this way.
Experts tell us that the different kinds of material found
upon earth show beyond question that the earth has existed in a form
more or less like its present form for at least two or three thousand
million years. When we consider that we place events in history by
using a measurement of time which finds expression in date such as
1000 a.d. and 1500 a.d. and the our present date is less than 2000
a.d., we get some idea of how very short our own history is when
considered in relation to the history of the earth upon which we live.
The mind of man is small, and it is impossible for him to picture the
passing of two or three thousand million years. When we ask, How
long has man lived on earth? The experts give us widely differing
answers. Their answers, in fact, differ from the statement that man
has lived possibly for a million years to the statement that he has lived
28
for three hundred thousand years . It is always difficult not to feel some
doubt when faced with such figures, but it seems that we must at any
rate believe that man—certainly a very different man from present man
but at all events the beginning of man as he now is ---has lived on earth
for three hundred thousand years . Taking this figure, man is quite a
recent development, something strange on the face of the good old
Earth. But we cannot stop our questioning at this interesting point. We
go further and ask, For how long is the earth likely to continue in its
present state? From the answer given to us it is clear that we need not
fear the immediate end of the world. There is every reason to believe
that life will be possible on earth, in very much the same forms as at
present, for millions of millions of years to come. Man is but a baby,
just starting out in life. It is said that if we take the possible life of the
earth as just one million million years ---a low figure---then man has at
least a million times as long as to live as he has already lived. He is
like a baby who came into the world a little over half an hour ago and
who has before him a life of 75 years.
It is a wonderful thing to think that man has perhaps
several million; million years in front of him in which to develop. He
has already shown that he can do wonderful things, and we cannot
picture the wonderful future whic h may be before him. Life day by day
is wonderful, the development of the future ---they almost certainly will
be more wonderful---and we feel that our own lives are too short, and
we wish that it were possible for us to see more than just a very little
of that development before we too become part of the past---a past,
however, which perhaps lives on . (730)
EXERCISE NO. 18
We can see therefore that the common expressions “a long
life” and “a short life” have real meaning only when thought of in
relation to the life of the man in the street, the number of years on
which insurance companies base their figures. But we seem at present
ready to ask questions and willing to hear the answers, so let us ask
one or two further questions. What do the words “long” and “short”
mean when used in regard to distances? What do we mean when we
29
when thought of side by side with the rate at which light moves? As for
movement to the north or to the south, to the east or to the west, we
know that our movement can be judged only in relation to some other
object which is at rest or which can be said to be moving at a given
rate away from or towards us. The earth itself is turning at a great rate
and we do not feel this movement of itself. We can judge the
movement of the earth only in relation to the some other object which
is not moving with it. We have probably all had the experience of not
being able to tell which way a train is moving at right when we cannot
see anything out of the windows. We cannot tell which way we are
moving or at what rate we are moving except in relation to the another
object which is not moving with us.
And so we find that many of the common expressions of
daily life have no meaning in themselves and become real for us only
when considered in relation to some other fact or object. (751)
EXERCISE NO. 19
Are you one of those people who “put off” doing things? Do
you take the words from your old copy –book: “Never put off until
tomorrow the work which you can do today”—words written so carefully
but, perhaps, sometimes against your will ---and turn them into: “Never
do today the work which you can put off until tomorrow,” taking too
little account of the statement to be found on the next line of the copy
– book that “Tomorrow never comes”?
On other pages of the copy -book were other statements,
statements for example, telling us that “Great cities are not built in a
day” and Success does not come over a night.” If, as we children, we
thought about these last two statements at all, as we copied them, it is
quite possible that our thoughts moved along the wrong lines and that
we saw in them not a reason for making more serious attempts, for
working day by day to build up our success, but rather a reason for
putting off the moment for taking action, for putting off today’s work
until tomorrow. In some fields of work such putting off of action may
have no serious results and may, indeed, have no r eally bad influence
on a person’s life viewed as a whole. But you, as a shorthand writer,
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are working in a field where any putting off of action must have an
immediately bad effect, a field where it is of the first importance that
you should not “put off.” You have been learning shorthand, probably,
because you think—and think rightly—that it will be of service to you in
your attempt to make a way for yourself in the world of business or of
industry, and in responsible shorthand writing there can be no “putting
off”. When you are acting as a shorthand writer you must, from second
to second and from minute to minute, put on to paper outlines
representing the words you are hearing, and these outlines must be
written almost at the same time as the words are said. Until you can do
this at any reasonable rate of talking you cannot be said to be a
responsible shorthand writer. You cannot put off until the next minute
and writing of the words which are said in any particular minute, and if
you cannot “put off” at the moment of writing shorthand notes, nor can
you, if you are to be successful, put off certain parts of your training
until some future date. Many young girls and boys try to put off
learning certain things, expecting that in some way they will be able to
do these things, when required without the trouble of learning how to
do them. Nothing worth-while can be learned without trying. Do not,
therefore, “put off”---do not, for example, put off learning the rules of
the system; do not put off learning the special signs of the langua ge;
do not put off making a note of outlines which are written on the
blackboard. Your teacher has not put them there in order to do a little
shorthand writing himself. He has put them there to help you. Do not
put off getting as much real writing of shorthand as possible; and do
not put off reading back your own shorthand notes. This last point is of
very great importance to you because, as you will at one agree, it is of
little advantage to you to be able to write even at the high rate of two
hundred words a minute if you cannot afterwards read back the notes
which you have written. The shorthand writer who can write and can
read back with certainly at 80 words a minute would be considered a
far more satisfactory employee from the business man’s point of view.
Do not therefore put off reading back you r own notes “until tomorrow”:
start today.
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If you know the rules of the system, if you know the special
signs, if you write clear notes which you can easily read back
afterwards, then you have a very satisfactory base upon which to build
up a high rate of writing. You are, in fact, well on the ways to being a
reasonable and, we hope, a well-paid shorthand writer. (732)
EXERCISE NO. 20
As children we expect our fathers and mothers to support
us. It is a principle of all family life that children shall be given support
while they are young, that they shall receive the care and attention
necessary for their comfort and well-being, and that they shall receive
training which will make them ready to take their place in the world
when the time comes for them to do so. According to the station in life
of the family such support may continue over more or less years; but in
every station of life some such su pport is given to children as their
natural right. In order to provide for such support our fathers and
mothers must spend money, and the money so spent has to be taken
either from their regular income or from the capital which they or their
own fathers and mothers have built up in the past. We all know people
who, by their own hard work and labor, have got together a little
money, and we know too how willingly they use this capital for the
advantage of their children. Where they are without capital they will go
without things in order to have the money to pay for the training of
their children. But by whatever means the money is provided, the
children take it as their natural right that the money should be sent
upon them.
If this is true of each small f amily of people, it is equally
true of the great family made up of all the people living on this earth.
We all look to Mother Earth to support us, to give us food and drink,
and we continue to look to the earth to provide us with these and other
things until our dying day. And as members of this great family, made
up of all the people of all the world, we are providing for our present
wants not only by taking from the regular income of the earth but also
by taking from the great store of capital which has been built up in the
past ages. The people of each age think themselves better than the
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turn to his own advantage their many properties, how to use them so
that he and his family could live more safely and more comfortably. At
first he had only the poorest means of working the iron and other
materials which he had discovered, and the use he could make of them
was small, but in time his control over material things improved, and
he made heavier and heavier demands upon this particular part of the
capital of the earth. But his use of the capital of the earth was only at
a beginning. He discovered coal and he discovered oil, and so began
to use up capital very quickly. The story of the development of man
through the ages, the story of his increasing control over the natural
products of the earth is a long and interesting story. It is a story which
is as yet without an end. Much has been added to it during the last two
or three hundred years, during which time man has learned very much
more quickly than before how to take advantage of the natural products
of the earth and how to use them to improve his own material
conditions. He has learned both to make an ever-increasing use of the
regular income of the earth by using to better and better advantage
those products which are quickly supplied again by Nature in the
course of one year, ten years, or perhaps 40 years, and he has learned
to cut deep down into the earth and to make an ever-increasing use of
its capital by taking from it large stores of iron and coal and oil and
other valuable products. Because of these increased powers of man
the living conditions of the masses of people are better than at any
time known to history;. We have better housing, better schools, better
roads, better national services in almost every respect.
While men used only the natural and regular income of the
earth to improve their own conditions Mother Earth could give her
support for age after age with little fear for the future, but modern man
asks for more than the use of her income; he is using up the capital
which took millions of years to build up, capital which cannot be built
up again, at any rate while man is on earth. Man can grow more food
but he can never grow more coal or more iron, and at some time in the
far distant future man will have to face the fact that the capital of the
earth has been used up, and he will have then to return to the old state
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of living only upon the income of the earth, depending upon the natural
course of events to provide him with food and drink, or he will have to
find out how, from the materials which are built up again by natural
means, he can manufacture products which will satisfactorily take the
place of the capital products which have gone forever. The experience
of the past few years teaches us that the second course of events is by
far the more probable, for already man is using his knowledge of the
qualities of capital products to manufacture goods which will
satisfactorily take the place of the real thing. Sometimes he is so
successful in his attempts that the manufactured product is better for
his purposes than the natural product. (664)
EXERCISE NO. 22
The fear of war often influences the people of different
nations to attempt the manufacture of new products, and during recent
years all sorts of things have been manufactured by man which were
before supplied only by Nature herself. There are countries which have
already used up their supplies of certain valuable materials; there are
other countries which have never had a store of such materials,
materials which they now regard as necessary for their continued
existence as nations. In times of peace this is not a very important
matter because such countries can readily buy from other countries
those things of which they are in principal need, selling in return things
which the other countries, might find it difficult, and probably
impossible, to buy these materials. Further, many countries today are
attempting to support themselves without help f rom other counties;
they wish to depend only upon their own labors to supply all their
needs. Because of these considerations men are at work in all parts of
the world trying to find out ways and means of manufacturing new
materials which can satisfactorily take the place of the capital material
which has until now been used; and these men are, as we have said,
meeting with great success in many fields.
There is the future fact that often, when there has seemed
to be a real danger of the world supply of one natural product running
short, a new natural product has been discovered which can
36
satisfactorily take the place of the old. Years ago, for example, men
began to talk of a future time when the world su pply of coal would be
used. Coal has become a necessary part of their existence. The
operation of ships, of trains, of machines, the warming of houses, the
making ready of food---all seemed to depend upon a lasting supply of
coal. Then oil was discovered in parts of the world where it had not
before been known to exist, and oil began to be used for operating
ships and machines. And, far more important probably from the point of
view of the future man discovered hot to make and how to use
electricity. Electricity can be used to supply the power for the driving
of trains, for the operation of machines, for the warming and lighting of
our houses for the making ready of our food, and for the purposes
beyond number. People in some countries may, at some time in the
distant future, come to the time when it is difficult to have a large
enough supply of electricity to meet their needs, for they depend at
present upon coal to make electricity; but there are other countries
whose supply of electricity should last as long as man lasts, for in
these countries water power is used to make electricity, and so long as
a weight of water continues to fall from high ground to low ground
these people can continue to make electricity. There are other
countries which still have great stores of coal which can be used for
the making of electricity. The known stores of coal in one country are
said to be enough to last for at least one thousand years.
And so the story of the development of man is written, day
by day and age by age. He has capital stores so great that it would
seem impossible finally to use them all, and it is likely that he has not
yet discovered the valuable properties of everything that is on the
earth and in the earth. Is it too much to hope that the story of man’s
history during the coming years will show that, side by side with the
development of his control over natural forces and his power to
manufacture new products, there was also a development of his desire
to use his knowledge for purposes of peace rather than of war, a
development of his will to make the world more beautiful and the
people of the world more happy? (679)
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EXERCISE NO. 23
“What is happens?” This is an old, question and for which
it is very difficult to find a direct or simple answer. Indeed, a person
very careful in the use of words would say that it is impossible to
answer the question because it is without meaning as it stands --- one
can consider happiness only in relation to some other particular person
or some special set of facts or condition of living. If, we change the
question to “Are you happy?” or “Do you feel happy about such and
such a happening?” it is more essay to attempt an answer, but the
mere statement that one or is not happy does not take us any further
towards an understanding of what is necessary to bring about a state
of “happiness.”
I happened recently to overhear a talk between two men on
this subject, which is one of never-ending interest. I had taken my
place in a long-distance train, and as the train moved out of the station
the words passed through my mind: “Among the many pleasures of life
is the pleasure of doing nothing,” and I thought happily of the several
hours in front of me in which I need do little or nothing. I had with me,
it is true, the usual kind of reading matter which one buys to “ read on
the train,” but I soon found that the many “Stops and starts” of the
train made reading a less pleasing employment than usual, and I put
down my book and let myself think of anything or perhaps of nothing. I
shortly, found however, that my attention was held by a talk going on
between two men who were sitting facing one and another. As they,
made no attempt to lower their voices it was impossible for me not to
hear what was being said. Shall I try to read again, I asked myself or
shall I give myself the perhaps doubtful pleasure of hearing the
thoughts and opinions of other people? The second course was for the
moment the easier one, and I followed. The talk was not, as one
expects it to be in these days political in nature but was about
happiness one of the men was young perhaps between 25 and 30
years of age; the other was a man of about 50. The young man was
speaking and I discovered that he was doing so many have done---he
was looking back to the past to find happiness. The cry was not eh
38
more usual cry of an old man for the wonderful days when he was
young and all life was waiting for him; it was the cry of a man who was
still young but he believed that happiness could not be found by the
grown man or woman. Happiness he said, was known only to children.
The grown man could not experience happiness because he knew too
well how troubled life was for the people of the world in which he lived.
Little children lived in a wonderful and strange world of their own
making, a world which everyday brought them something new and
something interesting. They cared little for the “past,” the future meant
probably a few hours or a few days and only the present was real. The
wants of the young were few; a little food, a little warmth, a little love
and kindness. Given these they were happy.”Yes, yes,” said the
second man quickly, taking the opportunity to break in and express his
own thoughts. “That is all very well, but you have to remember two
things. In the first place, if the little pleasures of children which seem
to us so small and of so little real account, are to them of such deep
and great importance, so also are the littl e troubles and difficulties of
the children matters of great importance for them if the pleasure of
children seem real and lasting so too do their troubles. In the second
place it is of little value for us a men and women to picture ourselves a
set of conditions under which we would like to live, conditions which
cannot be brought about in this world, to picture a world in which
people think in a different way and act in a different way from the way
in which they think and act in this the existing world; a nd then to tell
ourselves how happy we should be if we lived in such a world. I would
say that happiness can be found by the grown man or woman and one
of the ways to find it is by feeling at home in the world as it is.” (795).
EXERCISE NO. 24
At this point I say something from the window which held
my attention for a few moments, and at the next station the men left
the train. But I found myself saying: “Happiness depends in part upon
our feeling at home in the world.” “At home”: for most of us life moves
round a place which we call our home, a place which we call our home,
and our happiness depends in some measure on the degree of peace
39
and comfort which we find in our home. But in another sense we have
to regard the whole world as our home. We are all members of one
great family living in one great home, the world. It may be worth-while
to ask ourselves the questions: “Do I feel at home in the world? Do I
move about easily and freely? Can I readily make friends with other
members of this large family when I meet them? Can I face up to new
and perhaps difficult situations? Am I, in fact, as much at home in the
outside world as I am in my own small home?” as a rule we like the
person who moves about the person who moves about freely, who
shows goodwill towards every one, who can turn a hand to this and to
that. We generally like a person of this kind more than we like the
person who is backward at making friends, who believes that he is of
less importance than other people, who feels that his work is a little
too much for him, who, in fact, finds difficulty in doing this and in
saying that. If we are to feel as home in the world we have first to try
to get a true idea of our place in the world. We may move only in a
small part of the world or conditions may cause us, either for purposes
of business or of pleasure, to move from country to country throughout
the worlds, but whether the world for us is large or small, whether our
friends are few or many, we must believe in ourselves and in our power
to do useful work and in our power to work with others towards some
useful end. We know from experience that the man who is good at his
work usually shows himself to be at ease. His work may not be of great
importance, he may not meet a great many people, but he has the
certain knowledge that he does well the work which he is called upon
to do day by day and that knowledge causes him to hold his head high
as he moves among other people. To know that we can do something
worth-while and do it well, to know that we can work well with others to
reach a given end---such knowledge leads us to feel sure of our own
worth and so to feel at home in the world.
If we regard the world as our home we shall naturally want
the living conditions of the people of all nations to be as good as
possible. A writer recently said that the people of the world at present
appear to be spending most of their time and labor in making better
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more distant from the west (that is, a distance of 1/24 of the distance
round the world) we would find that day-break was an hour earlier in
our new home than it had been in our old home. If we moved only five
hundred miles towards the east we would find the difference to be only
half an hour, and if we moved only 50 miles we would find the
difference to be as little as three minutes. If we look at a table of
“lighting up times we note that these times differ widely for different
parts of the same country. But long, long ago, before the present age
with its airplanes and its wireless, men found that any form of
exchange between nations was made very difficult when there was no
order in the method of stating the time in different parts of the world.
So, to make it possible for anyone in any part of the world to know just
what time it was in any other part of the world, the following course
was agreed upon. Man had already “cut up” the day into 24 hours, and
he now agreed to cut up the earth into 24 divisions ---each division, of
course, measuring about one thousand miles at its widest point. The
time over the whole of each division was to be the same, the time in
each division differing by just one hour from the time in the next
division. We therefore have a system whereby the minutes and the
seconds are the same all over the world but the hour is one hour
earlier for each division as we move towards the east. Now we will say
that in the “first” of these divisions New Year’s Day begins. Hour by
hour New Year’s Day reaches and passes through one of the 24
divisions until at the end of 24 hours it is in the “last division.” By that
time the day is coming to an end in the first division, and the second of
January is beginning. But the last division too must have its full day
and 24 hours must pass before New Year’s Day really comes to an end
and dies in the last of the 24 divisions. The first of January lives for 48
hours. But while the first of January has been continuing its life in this
way the second of January has been moving round the world. The first
hour of the second of January reaches the last division just as the 24 t h
hour of the first of January dies, and at the same moment the third of
January begins in the first division. And so we are faced with the
strange truth that while a day lasts 48 hours there is between the first
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art, that it may not seem very necessary to suggest that more use
should be made of it, but is always surprising to find how many writers
seem not to make full use of their knowledge of shorthand. Even at
meetings of shorthand writers and teachers it is quite common to find
that only a very few of those present carry a notebook with them. In
the field of personal letter writing shorthand writers again do not take
the opportunity to use their shorthand. How many letters dose one
receive from the shorthand writer written not in shorthand but in
longhand! There are, of course, writers who has become so used to
writing shorthand that when writing, longhand he has to watch carefully
to make sure that he does not fall into shorthand, using the shorthand
sign for the full-stop and for words such as “and, to, the” and so on.
Shorthand writing can be put to many more uses than the
simple taking of notes for you Chief or your employer, or the reporting
of public meetings or committee meetings. It should be used as a help
to the memory, notes should be made of things which have to be done,
of people who have called or are expected to call. And for those who
wish to increase their rate of writing the custom of using shorthan d for
every possible purpose throughout the day is of great value. It makes
the writing of shorthand a natural thing, something which can be done
easily and without very much thought, and it increases the number of
words which can be written readily and quickly.
Recently a letter was published in a newspaper suggesting
that special shorthand tests should be read over the air. But why
should such special tests be required when already the regular and
highly interesting talks offer shorthand writers the most wonderful
opportunities for improving their rate of writing? Such talks have the
great advantage that they are much more like the real work of the
shorthand writer than are set tests, read at special rates.
I would therefore say to the shorthand writer who wishes to
become an expert: throughout the day make shorthand notes of any
points you wish to remember, make as full a note as possible of what
is said at any public meetings at which you may be present and of
other talks; write to your friends in shorthand whenever possible. In
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other words, make more use of your shorthand in every way open to
you. (752)
EXERCISE NO. 27
This is the story which my friend sometimes tells on a long
summer evening, as we sit together by the open window, finding
pleasure in the sweet clear air after the still heat of the day.
“In those days I was an even better walker than I am today,
and as you know, I still very much like a good quick walk. Well, on that
particular August morning I set out quite early, before the day was too
warm for easy walking. I carried with me enough food to meet my small
needs and was therefore able to keep away from towns of any kind. I
was healthy in the way that the young are healthy, and I walked with
quick easy steps, covering the first eight miles of the road in just under
two hours. But with the increasing warmth of the day my rate fell little
by little until in the full heat of the day I found that I was doing very
little more than two and a half miles an hour. Even the small additional
weight of the food I was carrying t roubled me, and as it was by this
time several hours since my last meal it seemed reasonable that I
should look out for a place where I could rest and have a real meal in
peace. After a time I reached a point where the road comes very near
to a small river, and I was pleased enough by that time to walk across
the field and to find near the water some undergrowth high enough to
offer me some cover from the full light and heat of the open country-
side round about. I took water from the clear quick -running river, and
built a small fire upon some stones, and so made my simple meal.
Such was the heat of the day that it was as much as I could do to keep
my eyes open but, using all my will -power, I was about to clear away
the rest of the food when I saw standing before me a little old woman.
So lined was her face that it seemed to me there was no room left
upon it for any personal expression or feeling, and her dress was as
old as her face. Standing there, she appeared to me to be not of this
day, not of yesterday, and not of tomorrow, but to represent Time
itself. But when she began to speak I found her words were common -
place enough. ‘Sir, she said, ‘Could you give me some bread and
45