Hidden Treasures Or Why Some Succeed While Others Fail

Two ways are open before you in life. One points to degradation and want, the other, to usefulness and wealth. In the old Grecian races one only, by any possible means, could gain the prize, but in the momentous race of human life there is no limiting of the prize to one. No one is debarred from competing; all may succeed, provided the right methods are followed. Life is not a lottery. Its prizes are not distributed by chance. There can hardly be a greater folly, not to say presumption, than that of so many young men and women who, on setting out in life, conclude that it is no use to mark out for themselves a course, and then set themselves with strenuous effort to attain some worthy end; who conclude, therefore, to commit themselves blindly to the current of circumstances. Is it anything surprising that those who aim at nothing, accomplish nothing in life? No better result could reasonably be expected. Twenty clerks in a store; twenty apprentices in a ship-yard; twenty young men in a city or village—all want to get on in the world; most of them expect to succeed. One of the clerks will become a partner, and make a fortune; one of the young men will find his calling and succeed. But what of the other nineteen? They will fail; and miserably fail, some of them. They expect to succeed, but they aim at nothing; content to live for the day only, consequently, little effort is put forth, and they reap a reward accordingly. ABOUT THE AUTHORS Harry A. Lewis entered Harvard College in 1964 and discovered his passion for computer programming during a part-time job in a Harvard psychology laboratory. He graduated summa cum laude in Applied Mathematics in 1968. Lewis served as a commissioned officer of the US Public Health Service during the Vietnam War, worked on image processing and systems programming, and later earned his PhD in Applied Mathematics. He became a Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science at Harvard and authored books on computer science and higher education. Lewis also served as Dean of Harvard College from 1995 to 2003 Orison Swett Marden (1848–1924) was an American inspirational author who wrote about achieving success in life and founded SUCCESS magazine in 1897. His writings discuss common-sense principles and virtues that contribute to a well-rounded, successful life. Many of his ideas are based on New Thought philosophy. His first book, “Pushing to the Front” (1894), became an instant best-seller. Marden went on to publish fifty or more books and booklets, averaging two titles per year

This book is a timeless classic that examines the lives of well known successful people who started at the bottom and grew to become successful icons. It has some of the greatest stories ever told. It also describes the principles that lead to success as well as failure. The book provides the answer to "why some succeed while others fail".

Excerpt from Hidden Treasures: Or Why Some Succeed While Others Fail Every young man is now a sewer of seed on the field of life. The bright days of youth are the seed-time. Every thought of your intellect, every emotion of your heart, every word of your tongue, every principle you adopt, every act you perform, is a seed, whose good or evil fruit will prove bliss. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Some succeed while others fail. This is a recognized fact; yet history tells us that seven-tenths of our most successful men began life poor. As our title indicates, we shall endeavor to show "why some succeed while others fail." Knowing that everybody desires success, and recognizing the old adage, "Example is the best of teachers," we have selected representative characters from the multitude of successful men who have climbed the ladder of success, beginning at the bottom round. These we have followed from childhood to manhood, dwelling at length on the traits of character that have made them so rich and successful, believing that a careful study will convince all that the proverbial "luck" had little to do with it. On the contrary, one is taught those lessons of self-helpfulness and self-reliance which are so essential to success in life's struggles. It is fearful to think how many of our young people are drifting without an aim in life, and do not comprehend that they owe mankind their best efforts. We are all familiar with the parable of the slothful servant who buried his talent-all may profit by his example. To those who would succeed, we respectfully present this volume.