The majority of the men of note in this country are not the sons of
those fathers who could give them all they want, and much more than
they should have, but are those who were brought up in cottages and
cabins cutting their way through difficulties on every side to their
present commanding position.
It is not prosperity so much as advertising, not wealth so much as
poverty, that stimulates the perseverance of strong and healthy
natures, rouses their energies and develops their character. Indeed,
misfortune and poverty have frequently converted an indolent votary of
society into a useful member of the community and made him a moving
power in the great workshop of the world, teaching men and developing
the powers which Nature has bestowed on them.
It can’t be too often repeated that it is not the blessings of life,
its sunshine and calms, that make men, but its rugged experiences, its
storms and trials. Thousands of men are bemoaning present indigence
who might have won riches and honor had they only been compelled by
early poverty to develop their manhood. Poverty does more, perhaps,
than anything else to develop the energetic, self-reliant trait of
character, without which the highest ability makes but sorry work of
life’s battles.
Of all poverty that of the mind is the most deplorable, and is at the
same time without excuse. Every one who wills it can lay in a rich
store of mental wealth. The poor man’s purse may be empty, but he has
as much gold in the sunset, and as much silver in the moon, as
anybody. Wealth of heart is not dependent upon wealth of purse.
Thus the evils of poverty are much exaggerated, and the evils, if
evils they be, are often all for our own ultimate good. Poverty is
the great test of civility and touch-stone of friendship. It is one of
the mysteries of our life that genius, the noblest gift of God to man,
is nourished by poverty.