Secret of Success

What is the secret of success in business asked a friend of Cornelius Vanderbilt. "Secret?" he replied, "There is no secret about it. All you have to do is attend to your business and go ahead."

"I have worked twelve hours a day for more than fifty years", was Daniel Webster's reply when someone asked him how he had mastered the art of oratory.

"Work, work, work", was Sir Joshua Reynolds answer whenever he was questioned as to the secret of success in painting. Said he, "Whoever is resolved to excel in painting or indeed in any other art must bring all his mind to bear upon that one object from the moment he rises 'til he goes to bed."

"The old maxim - There is no royal road to success has been heard so often it seems commonplace", writes columnist John R. Gunn. "Nevertheless it is not to be sneered at. Whatever may be your trade, profession or business, the price of success is hard work. Back of all worthwhile achievements there lies an astonishing amount of incessant toil. Wit without work seldom accomplishes anything."

You are fortunate in any degree of native genius you may possess, but it will not do to depend solely on that genius. Many a brilliantly endowed man has been surpassed by the man of plodding industry. Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might was the law of success laid down by Solomon thousands of years ago and that law still holds good today.