3. How To Be Insignificant
Honor and shame from no condition rise ;
Act well your part, there all the honor lies. - Pope.
" To be at ivork, to do things for the world, to turn the currents of the things about us at our will, to make our existence a positive element, even though it be no bigger than a grain of sand, in this great system where we live, - that is a new joy of which the idle man knows no more than the mole knows of the sunshine, or the serpent of the eagle's triumphant flight into the upper air. The man who knows indeed what it is to act, to work, cries out, ' This, this alone is to live! ' " - Phillips Brooks.
The world is full of insignicant people. They are born, they go to school, they work, they eat, they sleep, they talk - rather frivolously, they live - very aimlessly, and one day they die, and the world is not much the poorer because of their disappearance. A few men struggle to the front, rise beyond the humdrum level of the crowd, and make their voices heard above the common clamor. But as for the rest, they are insignificant. Why? Because it is the easiest thing in the world.
Probably the surest way to be insignificant is to inherit wealth. It is generally the greatest possible curse for a man to begin life in opulence. It ties his hands, lowers his ambition, and narrows his sympathies. He is fettered by fashion, and bound tightly by the conventional prejudices of society. He will not succeed in journaHsm, for he cannot bend his back to begin with the daily drudgery. He will hardly consent to soil his hands in trade ; and as for science and art, why should he endure the long toil and severe training of the student when he can occupy the pleasurable position of the patron ? Except in a few remarkable cases, the young man who enters on life's tragedy to the music of jingling gold plays an insignificant part, far from danger, and therefore far from honor.
My brother, be extremely thankful if you are thrown entirely on your own resources. Many of the men who have won the highest success in commerce and science and art, many of the boldest reformers, most brilliant writers, and most forceful orators, have been men who commenced life without a penny in their pockets. One of the best men I have ever known once thoughtlessly sneered at a young journalist because he lacked the supposed advantage of a college education. He did not know that the successful journaHsts in the city of London this day who can put B.A. after their names can be comfortably counted on the fingers of one hand. The smartestjournalist in that city to-day had no schooling after he reached twelve years of age, except what he gained by his own unaided efforts. It may seem the strangest paradox, but it is nevertheless a simple undeniable fact; that poverty is often one of the greatest blessings a man can have in beginning his career. It nerves him for the battle, it hinders self-indulgence, and it is a sure preventive of laziness.
Another certain method of acquiring insignificance is a love of ease. "Anything for a quiet life" is the motto which has ruined the prospects of thousands. The man who is content to exist - the man who says that work is an excellent thing, and he would rather enjoy a short spell of it, but he feels that " to work between meals is not good for the digestion" - that man will always be miserably small and contemptibly insignificant. You have got to clitnb the ladder of life - there is no elevator to take you up. There are prizes to be had, but you must ivin them - they will not drop into your hands. Do you wish to avoid insignificance and rise to some nobler height of work and character and attainment ? Then you must be ready not only to take opportunities, but to make them. You must be trenuous in effort, dogged in perseverance, indomitable in courage, and cheerful and alert in mind. When Cromwell was asked to postpone an enterprise and "wait till the iron was hot," he bravely replied that he would make the iron hot by striking it. That is the dauntless spirit we want to-day - the spirit which laughs at difficulty, and is not to be turned aside from its ambition by all the amiable warnings of prudence or timidity. There is one hymn which is sometimes sung at revival meetings - we do not hear it so often now. It begins -
Oh, to be nothing, nothing.
Now if that is your ambition, you can easily gratify it. Nothingness is soon achieved. But surely no young man with a healthy mind and a Christ-like spirit will be deceived by this hideous mockery and caricature of true humility. To want to be nothing is an insult to the God who made you. Was it worth while bringing you into the world to whine and cant about being nothing ? Rouse yourself and think ! God has surrounded you with a wealth of privileges and an infinitude of priceless blessings. You inherit all the wisdom and genius and benevolence of the ages - riches that are vast, golden, immortal. You are placed within reach of the noblest possibilities ; you have all the help and advantage which come of dwelling in a Christian and civilized land ; you live in an age when the zeal and ardor and strength of young men are greatly in demand, and when the opportunities for usefulness are singularly favorable ; and yet in the meanest, laziest, most spiritless fashion you ask to be " nothing, nothing." Give up, once for all, this cowardly and characterless whimpering. Be something. Be a man I Shake off your dull sloth and rise to a nobler life. Do you murmur about the fierce and relentless competition ? There is no competition <3;/ the top. The crowd is at the bottom ; but look ahead, battle forward, fight your way against every difficulty, valiantly overcome every obstacle, and by the time you have climbed half-way to success you will find that the throng which once pressed around you begins to thin and disappear. And when by skill and industry, faith and fortitude, pluck and perseverence, you have attained the height you set your young heart on reaching, you will discover that there is no competition there - you will then be able to dictate your own terms, and claim the adequate reward of honest, skillful, earnest work.
Yet another most fruitful cause of insignificance is what I should call " timefrittering." Some months ago several of the most prominent ministers in New York were persuaded to give their views on "The Best Use of Leisure," for the guidance of young men. I am not sure that there is any topic of much greater importance than this, for you can generally tell the character of a man with almost infallible accuracy, by the way in which he uses his leisure hours. Time-frittering is undoubtedly the besetting sin of the young men of to-day. Thousands of fellows turn with horror from actual dissipation. But their virtue is of a negative and therefore of a very worthless kind. They abstain from evil, but they never do any good. The worst and njost costly extravagance of which you can be guilty is to throw away your evenings. They are golden opportunities for which you are responsible, and of which you should make the best and highest use. One of the most popular of our writers and orators was once asked how he managed to get through such a prodigious amount of work. " Simply by organizing my time," he replied. It is by this invaluable habit of organizing your leisure hours that you will be able to " wrestle from life its uses and gather from life its beauty." It is wonderful what may be accomplished by devoting the evenings to some useful study or helpful recreation. Earnest and persistent students have learnt several languages in the odd hours of a busy career. Never be afraid of giving up one or two nights a week to your books. " Knowledge is power " all the world over, and what you learn will be sure to come in useful one day. It is an old saying, but I may repeat it with advantage, that " Time-wasting in youth is one of the mistakes which are beyond correction." Let me mention two more paths to insignificance. One is the loss of a good name. A blasted reputation will carry you into nothingness at express speed. Lose your character, and men will drop you with stinging promptitude, and you will sink into the lowest depths of insignificance. Scarcely anybody will want to know you - nobody will employ you, and only a few Christ-Hke souls will be ready to lend you a helping hand. We are too apt to read the Bible nowadays as if it were an old-world story, which has no bearing on the practical matters of everyday business. But has it never struck you that " a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches," even as a worldly investment ? Punctuality, concentration of effort, ceaseless energy, and many other qualifications, will help a man forward ; but, possessing all these, he may yet be a miserable failure if he has not a good name. Character stands for a good deal, even in these days of fraud and deceit. A band of thieves will want an honest treasurer, and men who are themselves full of trickery will appreciate a sturdy, honest character in others. The young man whose word cannot be relied upon, whose honesty is not beyond suspicion, and whose personal life is not clean, will search in vain for a position in the business world to-day. Be careful that you never lose your good name. It may take you ten or twenty years to gain a high and spotless reputation, but you can easily destroy it in ten minutes ; and a man who has once proved himself unworthy to be trusted will find it an almost helpless task to win back confidence and regard. He may even possess influence, and family position, and hosts of friends ; but the way upward will be hard and thorny, because he once surrendered his reputation. Be on your guard, be watchful and vigilant ; let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. Count your good name as a possession above price, and by the strong help of your Father God, never permit it to soiled or sullied. Honesty is better than brilliance ; purity and uprightness are greater than dash and cleverness.
I must refer to one other way in which you may become insignificant - it is by turning your back on God. Do that, and although you are decorated with all the tinsel honors of the world, your selfish, shrivelled, narrow little soul will be a daily torment to you. The foundation of all true success is an unswerving fidelity to the highest religious principle. I like to think of George Moore - the uncouth country boy - going to London with little education, less money, and no introduction ; indeed, with nothing but a brave heart and a fervent trust in his God. At first he met with the keenest disappointments, but his manly courage never gave way. He was determined not to sink into nothingness and insignificance. He pushed, and prayed, and persevered, and the opening soon came, as it always does to vigorous and high-minded fellows, and after some years George Moore, the merchant prince, was giving away money at the rate of $80,000 a year. He would not have achieved this if he had been a thoughtless, shiftless, lounging ne'erdo-well. The great secret of his wonderful success was his simple unaffected piety. Men trusted him implicitly because of his genuine godliness. Brothers, never imagine for a moment that Christianity is a vapid, fastidious, sentimental thing. The truest heroes have been the truest Christians. Think of Paul and Luther, and Havelock and Gordon, General Lee and strong, noble, manly souls, unfettered by guile or meanness, unfaltering in their transparent sincerity of character, and in their unbending loyalty to truth. Believe me, nothing will do so much to save a man from insignificance as a chivalrous, upright character, and a simple, stalwart faith in God.
Go forth 'mong men, not mailed in scorn,
But in the armor of a pure intent ;
Great duties are before you, and great aims,
And whether crowned or crownless when you fall,
It matters not, so be God's work is done.