"I would be true, for there are those who trust me,
I would be pure, for there are those who care;
I would be strong, for there is much to suffer,
I would be brave, for there is much to dare.
"I would be friend to all--the foe--the friendless;
I would be giving and forget the gift,
I would be humble for I know my weakness,
I would look up, and laugh--and love--and lift."
But you need quality in work too. We live in a pushing day when we
judge by quantity. Pile things up, drive ahead, keep moving, hustle
along. Do a lot of things.
Now, there is a better rule--not how much, but how well done.
I have a lovely picture with a beautiful frame that has a history. It
is the picture of The Doctor. You all have seen it.--Where the good man
is sitting by the side of the sick child, studying the case, the
lamplight shining on the face, and the father and mother in tears and
anxiety in the background.
Some Scotch craftsmen who knew me framed it in bird's-eye maple, inlaid
with basswood, and the frame has the story on it--The Iris plant on the
sides, a symbol of immortality, the Egyptian symbol of eternity above,
and the sand-glass below; all meant to illustrate the battle between
life and death in the picture itself.
Now, the frame is not very big, but it is very beautiful, because the
Scotch handicraft men have as their ideal to make every piece of work as
perfect in quality as possible.
Solid, steady, sure work tells, not always brilliant.
Lots of brilliant people in school never amount to anything afterward,
because they lack the quality of always sticking at it and doing each
thing the best way possible.
If you ever watch men bowling on the green, or curling on the ice, you
know that a shot that is too swift, that has too much quantity in it,
goes through the house; the telling shot is the quiet, steady one with
the right quality of delivery in it.
(_b_) Service.
That grocery store said, "We want to help you." It was thinking of
others and living for others.