The Art of Money Getting by P. T. Barnum (sight word books .txt) 📕

on to fortune.”

If you hesitate, some bolder hand will stretch out before you and get

the prize. Remember the proverb of Solomon: “He becometh poor that

dealeth with a slack hand; but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.”

Perseverance is sometimes but another word for self-reliance. Many

persons naturally look on the dark side of life, and borrow trouble.

They are born so. Then they ask for advice, and they will be governed by

one wind and blown by another, and cannot rely upon themselves. Until

you can get so that you can rely upon yourself, you need not expect to

succeed.

I have known men, personally, who have met with pecuniary reverses, and

absolutely committed suicide, because they thought they could never

overcome their misfortune. But I have known others who have met more

serious financial difficulties, and have bridged them over by simple

perseverance, aided by a firm belief that they were doing justly, and

that Providence would “overcome evil with good.” You will see this

illustrated in any sphere of life.

Take two generals; both understand military tactics, both educated at

West Point, if you please, both equally gifted; yet one, having this

principle of perseverance, and the other lacking it, the former will

succeed in his profession, while the latter will fail. One may hear the

cry, “the enemy are coming, and they have got cannon.”

“Got cannon?” says the hesitating general.

“Yes.”

“Then halt every man.”

He wants time to reflect; his hesitation is his ruin; the enemy passes

unmolested, or overwhelms him; while on the other hand, the general of

pluck, perseverance and self-reliance, goes into battle with a will,

and, amid the clash of arms, the booming of cannon, the shrieks of the

wounded, and the moans of the dying, you will see this man persevering,

going on, cutting and slashing his way through with unwavering

determination, inspiring his soldiers to deeds of fortitude, valor, and

triumph.

WHATEVER YOU DO, DO IT WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT

Work at it, if necessary, early and late, in season and out of season,

not leaving a stone unturned, and never deferring for a single hour that

which can be done just as well now. The old proverb is full of truth and

meaning, “Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well.” Many a

man acquires a fortune by doing his business thoroughly, while his

neighbor remains poor for life, because he only half does it. Ambition,

energy, industry, perseverance, are indispensable requisites for success

in business.

Fortune always favors the brave, and never helps a man who does not help

himself. It won’t do to spend your time like Mr. Micawber, in waiting

for something to “turn up.” To such men one of two things usually “turns

up:” the poorhouse or the jail; for idleness breeds bad habits, and

clothes a man in rags. The poor spendthrift vagabond says to a rich man:

“I have discovered there is enough money in the world for all of us, if

it was equally divided; this must be done, and we shall all be happy

together.”

“But,” was the response, “if everybody was like you, it would be spent

in two months, and what would you do then?”

“Oh! divide again; keep dividing, of course!”

I was recently reading in a London paper an account of a like

philosophic pauper who was kicked out of a cheap boarding-house because

he could not pay his bill, but he had a roll of papers sticking out of

his coat pocket, which, upon examination, proved to be his plan for

paying off the national debt of England without the aid of a penny.

People have got to do as Cromwell said: “not only trust in Providence,

but keep the powder dry.” Do your part of the work, or you cannot

succeed. Mahomet, one night, while encamping in the desert, overheard

one of his fatigued followers remark: “I will loose my camel, and trust

it to God!” “No, no, not so,” said the prophet, “tie thy camel, and

trust it to God!” Do all you can for yourselves, and then trust to

Providence, or luck, or whatever you please to call it, for the rest.

DEPEND UPON YOUR OWN PERSONAL EXERTIONS.

The eye of the employer is often worth more than the hands of a dozen

employees. In the nature of things, an agent cannot be so faithful to

his employer as to himself. Many who are employers will call to mind

instances where the best employees have overlooked important points

which could not have escaped their own observation as a proprietor. No

man has a right to expect to succeed in life unless he understands his

business, and nobody can understand his business thoroughly unless he

learns it by personal application and experience. A man may be a

manufacturer: he has got to learn the many details of his business

personally; he will learn something every day, and he will find he will

make mistakes nearly every day. And these very mistakes are helps to him

in the way of experiences if he but heeds them. He will be like the

Yankee tin-peddler, who, having been cheated as to quality in the

purchase of his merchandise, said: “All right, there’s a little

information to be gained every day; I will never be cheated in that way

again.” Thus a man buys his experience, and it is the best kind if not

purchased at too dear a rate.

I hold that every man should, like Cuvier, the French naturalist,

thoroughly know his business. So proficient was he in the study of

natural history, that you might bring to him the bone, or even a section

of a bone of an animal which he had never seen described, and, reasoning

from analogy, he would be able to draw a picture of the object from

which the bone had been taken. On one occasion his students attempted to

deceive him. They rolled one of their number in a cow skin and put him

under the professor’s table as a new specimen. When the philosopher came

into the room, some of the students asked him what animal it was.

Suddenly the animal said “I am the devil and I am going to eat you.” It

was but natural that Cuvier should desire to classify this creature, and

examining it intently, he said:

“Divided hoof; graminivorous! It cannot be done.”

He knew that an animal with a split hoof must live upon grass and grain,

or other kind of vegetation, and would not be inclined to eat flesh,

dead or alive, so he considered himself perfectly safe. The possession

of a perfect knowledge of your business is an absolute necessity in

order to insure success.

Among the maxims of the elder Rothschild was one, all apparent paradox:

“Be cautious and bold.” This seems to be a contradiction in terms, but

it is not, and there is great wisdom in the maxim. It is, in fact, a

condensed statement of what I have already said. It is to say; “you must

exercise your caution in laying your plans, but be bold in carrying them

out.” A man who is all caution, will never dare to take hold and be

successful; and a man who is all boldness, is merely reckless, and must

eventually fail. A man may go on “‘change” and make fifty, or one

hundred thousand dollars in speculating in stocks, at a single

operation. But if he has simple boldness without caution, it is mere

chance, and what he gains to-day he will lose tomorrow. You must have

both the caution and the boldness, to insure success.

The Rothschilds have another maxim: “Never have anything to do with an

unlucky man or place.” That is to say, never have anything to do with a

man or place which never succeeds, because, although a man may appear to

be honest and intelligent, yet if he tries this or that thing and always

fails, it is on account of some fault or infirmity that you may not be

able to discover but nevertheless which must exist.

There is no such thing in the world as luck. There never was a man who

could go out in the morning and find a purse full of gold in the street

to-day, and another tomorrow, and so on, day after day: He may do so

once in his life; but so far as mere luck is concerned, he is as liable

to lose it as to find it. “Like causes produce like effects.” If a man

adopts the proper methods to be successful, “luck” will not prevent him.

If he does not succeed, there are reasons for it, although, perhaps, he

may not be able to see them.

Men in engaging employees should be careful to get the best. Understand,

you cannot have too good tools to work with, and there is no tool you

should be so particular about as living tools. If you get a good one, it

is better to keep him, than keep changing. He learns something every

day; and you are benefited by the experience he acquires. He is worth

more to you this year than last, and he is the last man to part with,

provided his habits are good, and he continues faithful. If, as he gets

more valuable, he demands an exorbitant increase of salary; on the

supposition that you can’t do without him, let him go. Whenever I have

such an employee, I always discharge him; first, to convince him that

his place may be supplied, and second, because he is good for nothing if

he thinks he is invaluable and cannot be spared.

But I would keep him, if possible, in order to profit from the result of

his experience. An important element in an employee is the brain. You

can see bills up, “Hands Wanted,” but “hands” are not worth a great deal

without “heads.” Mr. Beecher illustrates this, in this wise:

An employee offers his services by saving, “I have a pair of hands and

one of my fingers thinks.” “That is very good,” says the employer.

Another man comes along, and says “he has two fingers that think.” “Ah!

that is better.” But a third calls in and says that “all his fingers and

thumbs think.” That is better still. Finally another steps in and says,

“I have a brain that thinks; I think all over; I am a thinking as well

as a working man!” “You are the man I want,” says the delighted

employer.

Those men who have brains and experience are therefore the most valuable

and not to be readily parted with; it is better for them, as well as

yourself, to keep them, at reasonable advances in their salaries from

time to time.

DON’T GET ABOVE YOUR BUSINESS

Young men after they get through their business training, or

apprenticeship, instead of pursuing their avocation and rising in their

business, will often lie about doing nothing. They say; “I have learned

my business, but I am not going to be a hireling; what is the object of

learning my trade or profession, unless I establish myself?’”

“Have you capital to start with?”

“No, but I am going to have it.”

“How are you going to get it?”

“I will tell you confidentially; I have a wealthy old aunt, and she will

die pretty soon; but if she does not, I expect to find some rich old man

who will lend me a few thousands to give me a start. If I only get the

money to start with I will do well.”

There