PREFACE

“Experience,” says the proverb, “is a dear school, and none but fools learn therein.” The inference is that to be wise one must suffer himself to be taught by the experience of others. This volume contains the life stories, told by themselves, of many successful men and women, with emphasis on those experiences which to them appear to have been the turning points in their lives.

It is not likely that there is anywhere in existence a similar collection of heart-to-heart talks with distinguished people of equal value to this. The idea of requesting the leaders in invention, manufacture, transportation, commerce, finance, in political and public life, and in the professions of the ministry, the law, literature and art, to bequeath in their own words the stories of their lives, their ideals, and the lessons of their experience, to the American public, originated with Orison Swett Marden, and contributed in no small degree to the immediate and remarkable popularity of Success, in which many of these interviews first appeared. The early files of the magazine are long since exhausted, but the interest in, and demand for, these articles is sufficient assurance that they are of enduring merit, and deserve to be collected in permanent form.

We regard them as a trust. We do not feel that we have a right to withhold them from the public. We have accordingly fulfilled our obligation by presenting them in attractive form, and we are well assured that young and old alike who are striving to attain their ideals in life will recognize the fact that the highest form of self-interest will lead them to read and absorb the practical helpfulness contained in these pages. Many and varied careers have been selected, so that each one may find his ideal of success fulfilled in real life, and be aroused to a lofty aspiration and resolute determination to achieve like eminence. With Emerson we say, “Hitch your wagon to a star,” and, with Lowell, “Not failure, but low aim, is crime.”

While for the most part the experiences portrayed in this book occurred upon American soil, in several instances persons born or now living abroad, but prominently identified with American life, have been included.

We acknowledge our indebtedness to the publishers of the “Literary Digest,” of “Collier’s Weekly,” of the “American Review of Reviews,” and others who kindly loaned valuable photographs for reproduction, and also to members of the Success editorial staff for valuable assistance in the preparation of this volume.

The Publishers.

CONTENTS INVENTION. CHAPTER PAGE I. Hard Work, the Secret of a Great Inventor’s Genius—Thomas Alva Edison 17 II. A “Down-East” Yankee Who Dictates Peace to the Nations—Hiram Stevens Maxim 35 MANUFACTURE. III. A Poor Boy Who Once Borrowed Books Now Gives Away Libraries—Andrew Carnegie 51 IV. A Good Shoemaker Becomes Detroit’s Best Mayor and Michigan’s Greatest Governor—Hazen S. Pingree 71 COMMERCE. V. Determination Not to Remain Poor Made a Farmer Boy Merchant Prince—Marshall Field 80 VI. Honesty the Foundation of a Great Merchant’s Career—John Wanamaker 92 VII. A British Boy Wins Fortune and Title by American Business Methods—Sir Thomas Lipton 108 FINANCE. VIII. A Self-made Man Who Strives to Give Others a Chance—Darius Ogden Mills 117 IX. Thrift, the Secret of a Fortune Built in a Single Lifetime—Russell Sage 125 X. Cut Out for a Banker, He Rose from Errand Boy to Secretary of the United States Treasury—Lyman Judson Gage 131 XI. A Young Millionaire Not Afraid to Work in Overalls—Cornelius Vanderbilt 138 TRANSPORTATION. XII. A Messenger Boy’s Zeal Lifts Him to the Head of the World’s Greatest Telegraph System—Robert C. Clowry 144 XIII. Enthusiasm for Railroading Makes a Section Hand Head of the Metropolitan System—Herbert H. Vreeland 152 LABOR. XIV. A Factory Boy’s Purpose to Improve Labor Makes Him a Great Leader—Samuel Gompers 164 PUBLIC LIFE. XV. A Puny Boy, by Physical Culture, Becomes the Most Vigorous of American Presidents—Theodore Roosevelt 173 XVI. A Brave Volunteer Fights His Way to the Head of the American Army—Nelson A. Miles 188 XVII. Making the Most of His Opportunities Wins a Coveted Embassy—Joseph H. Choate 196 XVIII. A Village Boy’s Gift of Oratory Earns Him Wealth and Fame—Chauncey M. Depew 207 XIX. A Chance-Found Book the Turning Point in a United States Senator’s Career—Jonathan P. Dolliver 219 XX. Varied Business Training the Foundation of a Long Political Career—Thomas C. Platt 225 XXI. A Magnate, the Courage of His Convictions Makes Him a Reformer—Tom L. Johnson 234 EDUCATION AND LITERATURE. XXII. A Backwoods Boy Works His Way Through College and Becomes University President—Jacob Gould Schurman 243 XXIII. A “Jack of All Trades” Masters One and Becomes the Poet of the People—James Whitcomb Riley 252 XXIV. A Farm Boy Who Devoured Books Writes One of the Greatest Poems of the Century—Edwin Markham 263 XXV. A Famous Authoress Tells Literary Aspirants the Story of Her Struggle for Recognition—Ella Wheeler Wilcox 272 XXVI. A Printer’s Boy, Self-Taught, Becomes the Dean of American Letters—William Dean Howells 283 XXVII. A Famous Novelist Atones for Wasted School Days by Self-Culture—General Lew Wallace 296 XXVIII. A Social Leader, Having “Eyes That See,” Earns Literary Laurels—Mrs. Burton Harrison 305 ART. XXIX. Painstaking the Secret of a Celebrated Painter’s Success—Edwin Austin Abbey 311 XXX. A School Girl, Not Afraid of Drudgery, Becomes America’s Foremost Woman Illustrator—Alice Barber Stephens 321 XXXI. A Schoolboy’s Sketches Reveal the Bent of a Talented Illustrator—Frederic Remington 327 XXXII. Rebuffs and Disappointments Fail to Repress a Great Cartoonist’s Genius—Homer Davenport 334 XXXIII. Being Himself in Style and Subjects the Secrets of an Artist’s Wonderful Popularity—Charles Dana Gibson 342 XXXIV. A “Printer’s Devil” Whose Perseverance Wins Him Well-Earned Reputation as a Fun-Maker—Frederick Burr Opper 353 XXXV. “A Square Man in a Round Hole” Rejects $5,000 a Year and Becomes a Sculptor—F. Wellington Ruckstuhl 358 XXXVI. During Leisure Hours he “Found Himself” and Abandoned Law for Art—Henry Merwin Shrady 366 AMUSEMENT. XXXVII. Deformed in Body, His Cheerful Spirit Makes Him the Entertainer of Princes—Marshall P. Wilder 371 XXXVIII. Energy and Earnestness Win an Actor Fame—Richard Mansfield 379 XXXIX. A Father’s Common-Sense Gives America a Great Bandmaster—John Philip Sousa 384 PHILANTHROPY. XL. Blind, Deaf and Dumb, Patient Effort Wins Her Culture and Rare Womanhood—Helen Keller 391 XLI. Jay Gould’s Chum Chooses “High Thinking, Not Money-Making,” and Wins Success Without Riches—John Burroughs 402 XLII. A Millionaire’s Daughter Makes Inherited Wealth a Blessing to Thousands—Helen Miller Gould 413 XLIII. A Self-Made Merchant Solves the Problem of Practical Philanthropy—Nathan Strauss 420 DIVINITY. XLIV. A Varied Career Develops the Resourceful Head of a Great Institutional Church and College—Russell H. Conwell 426 XLV. An Inspiring Personality Wins a Noted Preacher Fame—Frank W. Gunsaulus 432 XLVI. From the Forge to the Pulpit, a Life of Devotion and Application—Robert Collyer 441 CANADIANS. XLVII. Canada’s Leading Conservative Extols “the Country of the Twentieth Century”—Robert Laird Borden 447 XLVIII. An Eminent Scholar Advocates the Union of Canada and the United States—Goldwin Smith 454 XLIX. After Failure as a Grocer, He Becomes the Ablest Administrator Quebec Has Ever Had—S. N. Parent 460 L. Canada’s Leading Economist Tells Her Sons to Seek Fortune in Her Own Domain—Andrew G. Blair 470 LI. A Distinguished Educator Has Found Contentment in the Simple Life—James Loudon 479 LII. Beginning as Telegraph Operator He Built the Canadian Pacific—Sir William C. Van Horne 485 LIII. An Immigrant Boy Becomes a National Figure in Reform—Samuel Jones 498 LIV. A “Forty-niner” who Seized Opportunities Others Failed to See—Philip D. Armour 511 LV. The Blind Yacht Designer Attributes His Conquests to His Mother’s Early Care—John B. Herreshoff 528 LVI. A Great Vocalist Shows that Only Years of Labor Can Win the Heights of Song—Lillian Nordica 541